Free WHITE WALLS by Lauren Hammond Page A

time I've ever seen her have an outburst like that. I'm not sure what triggered it, but I am sure that Aurora knows because of the way she's cradling, Suzette in her lap, smoothing back her hair, and trying to comfort her the way a mother would comfort a child. Seeing this reminds me of my own mother and the way she'd kiss my knee when I'd skinned it.
    It's too heart-wrenching to think about.
    So I look away.
    Several members of the staff invade the room. I don't know who exactly because I can't bring myself to look in that direction, but I can hear the squeaking from the soles of their shoes as it rubs against the tile floor.
    “Stop!” I hear Aurora shouting. “It's not her fault! She has issues with men!” Then I hear a lot of grunting, followed by Suzette sobbing, and I assume the staff members are trying to pry Aurora away from Suzette. “God damn it!” Aurora again. “Don't you morons read our files?” There's a loud bang. Now Suzette is screaming. I finally muster up the courage to look in their direction. Aurora is slumped against the wall, wincing as she touches the back of her head. Suzette is being dragged from the room by two nurses and she's reaching for Aurora, a glimmer of fear present in her hazel eyes. “Rory!” she cries, her fingers clawing at the air in a desperate attempt to get Aurora's attention.
    Part of me feels useless and awful, sitting here and watching everything, but I honestly don't know what I could have done to help.
    Getting up from my seat, I walk over to Aurora and extend a hand to her. She slaps it away with a scowl. “Thanks for all of your help.”
    I remain in my spot, my hand still directed toward her. “I didn't know what I could have done.”
    With a shake of her head and a grunt, Aurora takes my hand, grips tightly and I help her to her feet. Her balance is unsteady, but she uses her free hand to steady herself against the wall. “Something, Addy. You could have attempted to do something,” she mumbles.
    I follow her back over to our table and Aurora hisses, rubbing the back of her head. “Damn that was painful.” She widens her eyes and blinks. “I'm still seeing white spots.”
    “What happened, exactly?” I inquire. I don't bother telling her that I couldn't look.
    “Marjorie.”
    “Oh.” I look down at my hands. I, as well as every other patient at Oakhill knows exactly how forceful Marjorie can be and that she knows exactly how much pain to inflict to get her point across. “I'm sorry.”
    Aurora shrugs. “Eh. It's just a bump on the head. I'll go to the infirmary in a little bit and get an ice pack for it.” That still doesn't really explain what happened, but I take it as that's as good of an answer as I'm going to get.
    My attention shifts and I stare out into the empty hall. Even though it's deserted now, I swear I can still hear Suzette's high-pitched squeals. I swear I can still smell antiseptic wafting through the air like they were going to rub Suzette down with cotton before stabbing her with a needle. “Where do you think they took her?”
    “I don't think anything,” Aurora harrumphs. I turn my head to look at her and notice that she's gone back to coloring. “I know where they took her.”
    “So where is it then?”
    “The basement.”
    I lift an eyebrow. “The basement?”
    “Yeah. That's what I just said, the basement.”
    “Well, what goes on down there?” That's something I've always wondered about. I've seen unruly patients being taken down there, but I never really knew what they were being taken down there for.
    Aurora sticks her tongue out and scribbles with an orange crayon. “Trust me, you don't want to know.”
    “I do, though.”
    “No you don't.” Aurora chucks the orange crayon at the table and stares at me deadpan. “But, I can tell you this; once they take you down there,” she exhales and looks out the large rectangular window behind her, “well, I haven't known anyone that's come back the same.”

Chapter