Chapter 39
Katherine
I opened my eyes the following morning. The first thing I noticed as my eyes tried to get into focus was the smell of paint.
I slowly sat up and looked around. That was when I saw it.
A different painting sat on the easel. One I didn’t paint.
I climbed out of bed and slowly walked over to it.
It wasn’t the beautiful cottage that gave me peace.
This painting made my stomach tighten and my heart race.
A dark forest with towering pines surrounded a shadowy figure of a woman wearing a long, black trench coat, her back turned.
Her hands were buried inside her coat pockets.
The longer I stared, the more an eerie feeling crept inside me.
It looked like she was waiting for someone.
Or, watching someone. I scanned the bottom right corner for a signature. There wasn’t one this time.
I reached out and let my fingertips lightly touch the woman.
Something about her felt familiar. As if I’d felt her before.
Like someone standing in the doorway. The key being inserted into the lock startled me.
The door opened, and George, the orderly, stepped inside, holding a tray with my breakfast.
“Good morning, Katherine. Here’s your breakfast.” He set the tray on the desk.
“Thanks, George. Can you do me a favor?”
“What do you need?”
“Can you please tell Dr. Bondi that I need to see her immediately? It’s very important.”
“Yeah. Sure. I’ll go find her now.”
I took a seat at the desk and picked at my scrambled eggs. The door opened, and Dr. Bondi walked in.
“George said you wanted to see me and that it was very important,” she said.
“Look.” I gestured to the painting.
She walked over and studied it. “Do you remember going to sleep, Katherine?”
“Yes.”
“And waking up?”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“But nothing in between?” she asked.
“No.” I shook my head. “Who do you think that is?”
“I’m not sure.” She squinted her eyes as she scanned the painting. “Katherine, did you notice this?” She pointed.
“Notice what?”
“There are six tiny cottages amongst the trees. These five have warm yellow lights in their windows, and this one is totally dark.”
“That’s odd,” I said.
Then Dr. Bondi whispered, “Who’s living in that sixth cottage?”
“Dr. Bondi, when can I go out to the main area with the other patients?”
She glanced at me. “Today. In fact, why don’t you get dressed and I’ll have George escort you to the day room where the TV and games are?”
“Thank you.” I smiled. “I’d like that.”
After I changed out of my gown and into a pair of gray sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt, I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and George led me to the day room.
“You don’t have to stay long.” He smiled.
I looked through the narrow window of the double doors.
“This is the day room?”
“Yes. If you don’t like it, you can always go back to your room.”
“Okay. Thank you, George.”
He nodded, pushed his keycard against the metal on the wall, and the doors opened.
The room was bigger than I’d expected. Sunlight poured through many of the windows that lined one wall.
I walked over to the window as the sunlight poured through it and stared out at the courtyard where some of the patients were watering the flowers with the staff.
In the corner, there was a TV mounted to the wall with an old sitcom playing.
I glanced at one of the large tables, where a man who appeared to be in his sixties worked on a jigsaw puzzle.
The furniture looked like something comfortable you’d find in a home, not a hospital.
There were soft gray sofas, oversized armchairs with knitted blankets draped over the backs, and tables with different books spread out.
A woman with silver hair sat at one of the tables, working on a crossword puzzle.
“Come over here.” She waved.
I walked over and took a seat across from her.
“You must be Katherine.”
“You know my name?” My brows furrowed.
“Everybody in here knows when someone new arrives.” She smiled. “I’m Evelyn.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Evelyn.”
“I’ve been stuck on seventeen across for,” she glanced up at the clock, “almost an hour.” She turned the crossword toward me.
“Flowers that bloom in clusters.” I smiled. “Hydrangeas.”
“Yes. That’s it!” Evelyn’s face lit up. “I knew it started with an H, but I couldn’t quite remember the word.”
We talked for a while, and some of the other patients walked over and joined us. They all seemed nice and content. Maybe this place wasn’t as frightening as I thought it would be. Another woman walked over with a puzzle box and dumped all the pieces onto the table.
“Can you help me with this?” she asked.
“Of course.”
When I reached for a puzzle piece, I looked up and out the window.
I saw Sydney, who sat beneath a tree with a sketchbook balanced on her knees.
She looked up and saw me staring. She looked frightened and then continued drawing in her sketchbook.
I was confused. What was she doing here?
I looked away for a second, and when I looked back, she was gone.
It was three o’clock when George came and got me for my therapy session with Dr. Bondi.
“How did you like the day room?” he asked as we walked down the long hallway.
“I liked it. Everyone here seems nice.”
“Most of them are. But then there are those,” he paused. “Just be careful who you befriend.”