She shook her head, clasping her hands together. “Her medical history states her mother was schizophrenic. We called in any of her labs, but I can only presume her tumor was nowhere as big then as it is now. She didn’t have a doctor to go see. It was a series of unfortunate events that led to the wrong dots being connected. Like I said, we can start treatment, but since she tried to commit suicide, we needed to talk to family first.”
“Have you told her?”
“Yes, her heart rate spiked, and she couldn’t calm down, which is why we put her to sleep.”
I nodded, trying not to imagine how she’d felt at that moment.
“I’ll wait until she wakes up and talk to her.” I put a hand over my mouth, closing my eyes. I could still see her screaming in my room, saying over and over how Crossroads wasn’t the place for her. She was right and I, like everyone else, hadn’t listened to her.
“If she hadn’t tried to kill herself….” I trailed off, not wanting to say it.
“If she hadn’t tried to
kill herself, she wouldn’t have had the seizures which made us do the MRI, and yes, she still might have been labeled a schizophrenic,” she finished for me.
“This whole time she’s been crying out for help, and because no one bothered to be around her long enough, she suffered in every way. Her mother died, her father left her to fend for herself, her doctors couldn’t even get her sickness right, and on top of that, she was humiliated time and time again by people who thought that because she had a mental illness, she was somehow less than a person. She’s been alone….”
“She had you.” Dr. Knight smiled sadly. “She isn’t alone because you stayed, because you cared. You were the first person she asked for when she woke up. That isn’t nothing. Yes, the fact that this happened to her is horrible. But things can only improve from here, right?”
Part of me wanted to tell her to take her positivity and shove it, but I clung to the hope in her words anyway. What else could I really do? Before she could say anything else, her beeper went off.
“Ms. Ford is in room 342. Follow the yellow lines on the floor. I’m so sorry. I would walk you down myself, but an emergency just came in. I’ll be back to see you both as soon as possible.”
She didn’t wait, she ran… right past Nolan, my driver, who was holding a bag and looking around the hospital in confusion.
“Nolan?”
He turned to me. “Sir.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Tom, the bellhop, informed me of what happened. I came… I came because I was worried about Ms. Harper. I brought some of her things.” He lifted the bag. “Is she all right?”
I smiled. It seemed one more person cared about her too. “She’s going to be. Thank you for bringing this. I’ll call. In the meantime, go home to your family.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry—”
“Don’t apologize for caring. I wish more people did.”
After he left, I followed the yellow line to Felicity’s room.
I had so many regrets.
Not listening to her. Leaving her alone to begin with. Worst of all, telling her to go back… There were so many things I wanted to say, but the biggest was I was sorry. When I reached her door, seeing her asleep, I slid it open quietly. The only sound was the beeping of the machines and her light snoring. I smiled at that. Snoring was good. It meant she was resting and not dead. Brushing her hair back, I kissed forehead before pulling up a chair next to her bed.
“Shit,” I muttered, opening the bag to get her phone. The only people who called her were Rosemary and me. Pulling out my phone, I realized there were more than thirty missed calls from my aunt. If Nolan knew something had happened in my penthouse, I’m sure she did too.
I texted her: I’m fine. Can’t talk.
Lorelei: Are you sure? I heard something happened with that girl. She didn’t do anything to you, did she?
I wanted ask what the hell did she think Felicity possibly did to me.
Me: Can’t talk now.
I put my phone away, then put Felicity’s on silent before putting it back in her bag. However I stopped when I noticed a thick brown notebook in there as well.
“My…n…no..te…book…see,” I remembered her saying to me. Shaking my head, I tried not to remember seeing her like that. Leaning back, I opened the book.