Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Writing challenge- Seeing Ghosts part 1 of 2
“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” asked Vic as he drove thru the hospital gates his wife sitting beside him.
She looked at Vic sadly but didn’t respond.
He pulled to a stop in front of the wide vestibule leading up the sanatoriums steps “Well I’m going to tell them in there. They’ll make you go away”
Yet Vic didn’t get out of the car, he sat hands clamped on the wheel staring up at the front doors uncertain if this was the right choice or not. He’d gone crazy that much was certain but he wasn’t hurting anyone maybe he could just live with it. He looked at his wife of 16 years sitting next to him and a lump formed in his throat he couldn’t live with her anymore, not this way. She had been too beautiful in life to face her as a ghost for the rest of his days.
She’d died almost a year ago now. At first when she reappeared it had felt wonderful to see her again to watch her move around their home but it wasn’t the same, he couldn’t hold her couldn’t even have a conversation with her. She didn’t speak or interact with him in any way she was just there with a look of sorrow and longing on her face. He couldn’t face it anymore.
The car door felt much heavier than normal as he pushed it open and walked slowly up the stairs not looking back to see if she followed or not. He looked up as a woman pushed open the front door, she wore a nurses uniform and had a smile on her face. “Victor Stoughton?” She asked
Vic nodded “We got your call and have you all set up, you’ll have a nice rest and get you back on your feet in no time” She was still smiling as she led him into the foyer and past the clerks sitting at the desk down a long hallway filled with all sorts of people wandering around, some looked perfectly normal to him some clearly not. He only hoped he wouldn’t become one of those who were clearly beyond the realm of normal.
Nearly a month after coming to the hospital Vic was beginning to think these people couldn’t help him if anything he felt even worse than when he’d first walked through the front doors. His wife still followed him from place to place, sitting next to him as he talked to the doctors, walking the halls with him watching everything he did.
If possible she looked sadder and more forlorn then before and now he had also begun to feel sick all the time, the food here which was all quite clearly out of cans wasn’t agreeing with him and he’d give anything for a cup of coffee but the only thing he had to drink was water from the fountain. His stomach was constantly in knots from the food and it seemed the place had developed a permanent musty smell which irritated his nose. He was always cold here and he worried the food and the cold was beginning to make him sick.
He’d thought about leaving a few times but she still followed him so how could he just go back to his life, he knew having walked in voluntarily he could leave whenever he wanted and his doctor had made it quite clear that he felt Vic would be ok in the real world despite seeing ghosts. In fact it seemed his doctor wanted him to leave to just accept the ghosts as part of his life and move on. He couldn’t seem to do it though these people didn’t look like he’d grown a second head when talking about all the ghosts and weird things that had happened to him since his wife died. They really seemed to understand.
Part 2
“Hey you hear from Vic?”“No, He said he needed to take some time off although I think I should talk to the Captain about him, he hasn’t called or anything in nearly a month” his partner answered not looking up from his paperwork.
He dropped his pen onto a stack of papers and looked up “After all he’s been through maybe we shouldn’t just be leaving him alone. You know what I haven’t taken lunch yet care to join me we’ll pop on over to his place see how he’s doing”
“Hey Vic, open up” Vic’s partner and the junior officer with him had been standing on Vic’s top step pounding on the door for the past five minutes.
“I don’t know man, doesn’t look like anyone has been here for awhile”
“No it doesn’t, you know what don’t mention this to the Caprain but I need to see what’s up here” Vic’s partner said as he bent down to examine the lock taking out his wallet and two thin strips of metal from inside at the same time.
It took just a moment to pop open the cheap lock and walk in. Right away you could tell that no one had been there for some time, the air was stale and musty. As the two cops walked around the main room Vic’s partner stopped beside the phone and read off the pad next to it. “Bayside rehab and sanitorium”
“That place closed down like five, ten years ago didn’t it?”
“Yeah it did” Vic’s partner said thoughtfully “but we’re going to take a drive over there anyways”
“VIC, HEY VIC YOU IN THERE”
Vic lifted his head from where it rested on his arm looking over at the woman sitting next to him, “what are they doing here” she only shrugged in response.
“I don’t think I’m ready to see them yet, maybe I should just stay quiet” Vic mused as his partner and a young cop walked through the door to the common room. “or not, hey Andrews how you doin”
“Vic what are you doing here?” He asked a look of horror on his face.
“Well I thought the answer would be obvious, I’ve been having a few little problems and I thought these fine people could help me out.”
“Vic no one else is here, the place closed down 7 years ago.”
