Yours

Chapter 3: Late Night

Sylvia woke up from her nightmare in a cold sweat. She tried erasing the memories but they were there and they were haunting her. Her parents assured her they would go away, but she was beginning to think that it wasn't going to happen.

She felt so alone. So isolated. She was an outsider.
She grabbed her phone, texting Carol.

Can I swing by and help with anything?

It's awfully early. Shouldn't you be sleeping?

Can't sleep. Need a distraction, I'll do anything...

Alright hun, just this once.

Sylvia sighed in relief. She knew that Carol had a soft spot for her and she knew that just this once meant that as long as she was helpful she would be welcome.

She quickly changed into a simple yoga set and headed out. She could've walked, it's how she used to always get around in her old town. But now she couldn't bring herself to. She still didn't want to be out in the open quite yet. What if she was recognized?

She parked her car and quickly walked into the hospital, smiling at the nurses. Carol must've given them a heads up because they didn't stop her when she grabbed her badge and went behind the desk. She had started cleaning it up a couple days ago and decided now would be a good time to finish.

"Willing to do a coffee run?" Patty asked, yawning.

"Sure," Sylvia answered.

"You're the best, I don't care what Carol says," Patty teased.

Sylvia headed to the cafeteria and grabbed two cup carriers, working on filling up eight cups of coffee. She luckily could remember most of the nurses preference with their coffee and even if she didn't get it quite right they still drank it.

She finished up, stopping at the front desk before heading to the second floor, dropping off their coffee.

"You're a saint," one of the nurses praised.

Sylvia was distracted, staring at the door to the room that held a certain somebody in it. "What's his story?" Sylvia asked.

The nurse raised her eyebrows. "HIPAA."

Sylvia sighed, tapping her finger on the desk.

"I can't tell you anything but there's no law against asking him to tell you."

Sylvia glanced at the nurse. "I wouldn't want to bother him."

"Bother him? Please, the poor kid needs visitors."

"He doesn't get any?"

The nurse sighed. "Just one, which is sad if you ask me. He needs friends and so do you if you're coming here this early in the morning at your own choice."

Sylvia rolled her eyes.

"Go see him."

"He's probably asleep."

"I doubt it with how loud he plays his tv."

Sylvia slowly made her way to the door, tired of being pestered and softly knocked.

She opened the door and saw Theo laying in his bed, watching whatever sitcom was on.

"I thought visiting hours were limited," he stated.

"I'm a volunteer," Sylvia answered.

"They have you working nearly as much as the doctors."

"It's my choice."

"Workaholic. Sexy."

Sylvia chalked the flirting up to the late hours and probably the medication he was on.

"Do you, uh, need anything?" She asked.

He glanced at her with a soft smile. "Yeah... Come sit."

Sylvia hesitated.

"Oh come on, you won't deny a cripple his request will you?"

Sylvia heard the crack in his voice as he tried to play it off as a joke but failed. She made her way to him, not seeing a chair in the room.

"You can sit," Theo said, patting the bed. "I don't bite, unless you're into that."

Sylvia slowly sat down, not wanting to hurt him if he was in any pain. She stared at him, his bandage on his head had been replaced with a tiny one on his temple where there were stitches.

"Should leave a nice scar, I hear chicks dig it," Theo chimed.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't stare."

"Why?"

"It's rude."

"How is it rude to be captivated by my amazingly good looks?"

Sylvia snorted, covering her laugh with her hand.

"Ouch, you show no man any mercy," Theo sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I enjoyed hearing you laugh."

Sylvia looked at him, wondering what he was doing and why.

"Are you going to ask?" He asked.

"Ask what?"

"What happened? Where did it go all wrong that I've now ended up like this?"

"It's none of my business," Sylvia quickly said standing up. "I should go."

She quickly left without waiting for him to try and stop her. She headed out of the hospital after finishing the file cabinet and headed home.

~

She walked in to her mom pouring herself a cup of coffee. She quickly went and grabbed herself a mug. Her mom watched her sympathetically.

"Your father and I think it would be a good idea if you saw a therapist."

Sylvia froze, the spoon stirring her coffee stopped. "I'm not broken, I don't need fixing."

"No, we know that. Of course you're not broken."

"I don't need to talk about it, I need to forget about it."

"You can't just forget something like that."

"Not if we keep talking about it."

Her mother bit back her words and nodded. "Fine, I'll back off."

Sylvia's dad walked in with a smile. "Hey kiddo, how was the hospital?"

Sylvia shrugged. "It was okay... I um, the nurses made me sit with this one guy, his name was Theo," Sylvia started, fishing for information.

"Theo Engler?"

Sylvia shrugged. "I don't know, why do you know him?"

"Know him? He's in the middle of the whole town serial killer."

Sylvia stood there a bit stunned. Of course he was.

"I don't want you near that boy, you understand me, we've had enough. You understand me?"

Sylvia took a sip of her coffee, nodding. She headed up to her bedroom and closed the door. Of course she understood. It wouldn't be wise for her to get close to him, not that she wanted to. However she couldn't stop thinking about him. It didn't help that when she was told to not do something she wanted to do the exact opposite. That was the whole reason they were here now. But Slyvia went to bed with the thought of Theo at the front of her mind, the first person to make her laugh since she moved into this town.