This Mirror Of Mine

Twelve

It took Kay a while to get the feeling of crawling maggots out of her mind; days in fact. Only when she stepped out of Thomas's car did she realize the sensation had finally passed.

"I'm gonna take off. I'll be back in an hour," Thomas said lingering on her every step.

"Alright. I'll meet you by the street," Kay looked back one last time to confirm his attentiveness.

He smiled, "by the street. Thanks." He put some gas in his take-off, but not enough to match his last Ghost Rider peel-off.

Kaylee waited until he disappeared from the premises before pulling out a cig. She looked over the rolled tobacco, studying it intensely. Contents fell out when she flicked the tip, but that was okay. It was such an insignificant amount, it was caught in the wind never to be seen again. She popped the butt in her mouth, then pulled in from her lips. Once more she looked it over, popped it in, then pulled it out. Swinging her leg, she kicked up some of the leaves. Too were they picked up by the wind before tumbling along the parking lot, then she put the cigarette back in her pocket and headed for the elevator.

###

"Ms. Connards, I would say it's a surprise to see you after our last session. Then again, this is you we're talking about."

"I wouldn't cancel on you, Ms. Willow," Kay said with a half smile.

The therapist's lips opened a hint, a genuine concern in her eyes. "Wow, that greeting... did something happen, Kay?"

I ton happened, Ms. Willow! She wanted to shout so loud the heavens could hear her. Sammy is me! I'm the one having the dreams and now they're changing! Mrs. Doyle died and I broke into a nursing home and was attacked! And—and—and...

But Kaylee kept it all inside. Locked it away and threw the key in the Mariana, not even James Cameron could find it.

As Kay took a silent seat on the couch, Ms. Willow took a stand. Not once in all of their sessions had Ms. Willow touched Kaylee in any form, not even a handshake. It might have been a formality for her to never physically interact with her patients or maybe she had in the past and an incident occured. However, this once, Ms. Willow laid a hand on Kaylee's shoulder. It wasn't a gentle touch by any means. Her hand was freezing and her bones were stiff, but it was a touch, the first motherly touch since her mom passed.

"I found something, Doc. I don't know what to do next."

"Well let me get my pencil and we can have a chat."

Kaylee skipped over the part about how she broke into the nursing home, but she did inform her listener about the few particulars she found, two of which related to her parents. One was an overdue library book ticket to her mother. Nothing special considering that near the end she less borrowed the books and more so stole them from the library, never returning after check out. The second was the most jarring. It was a news article kept in pristine condition. The headline read: Local Wife Beater Unfit For Trial.

The moment Kay saw this newspaper, it was burned into her mind. But after arriving home from the tentless camping trip she took behind the Atrium wasn't the first time she saw the article. It was the week her father was committed to the ward.

"This is all very interesting, Kay. Do you happen to know what the date was in the newspaper?"

Of course she did, that too was burned into her mind. "October Twenty-Fourth."

Ms. Willow marked her pad, "Do you remember the medical facility your father is staying at?"

Again an easy question, Kay didn't even need to think, "Rosabe Medical." It was the one treatment center within the nearby counties that accepted special cases like her father's. The people locked up there weren't loonies too far gone and neither were they harmless butterflies that ended up there on their concerned relatives request. Theft, financial fraud, and even domestic violence were all accepted there. As long as the individual hadn't killed anyone, they were seen as curable cases by the faculty. They just needed to be accepted on special admission which her mother, Amanda, had filed the paperwork for. She loved him till the end, Kay supposed.

"The book on the overdue ticket, do you remember the title?"

Kay felt a sudden itch on her scalp. She itched it but no amount woke the memory. "Sorry, Ms. Willow. I don't believe I do."

"Come on," she said, slamming her pencil down on her pad. Once the aura of friendly support now left the room heavy; Kay was drowning in it. "You have to give me something? We were making good progress, were we not? Don't you want to feel better, Kaylee? Isn't that what your mother would've wanted?" Ms. Willow pushed her glasses to the top of her head massaging her face in frustration.

When her hands receded, the old woman's brows furrowed and she stood from her chair. "Look here," she said as the sound of carpet dragging followed her every pace. "You need to understand that if you don't tell me everything, you'll never get better. You'll never find closer. Why won't you sell the house, Kaylee?"

"Ms. Willow," she didn't know how, but Kay felt she pushed the woman too far. "I think that's out for—"

"You're not going anywhere!" The older woman was spry for her age. Any other woman her age would injure themselves slamming their hands on the head of the couch like that. She was now holding herself up over Kay as her golden-hazel iris stared into the young woman's. "For once, you'll answer my questions!"

"That's enough!" Kaylee shouts. It was the first time she had ever done so to Ms. Willow. The older woman had always picked at her as Kay did so in return, but never like this; never this far. Kay slid off the couch ducking under Ms. Willow's armpit. She reached for the door's handle but a grip meant to hurt prevented her from completing her escape. Turning back, she saw her therapist's mischievous smile. "I've got you now, child. Now tell me what you know!" Willow cooed as she licked her pink wrinkled lips.

"Please, Ms. Willow. Get off me!" Kaylee tried to yank her arm away, but the grip was that of a snake, only tightening tighter.

"Think of your mother, Kaylee. What would she want?"

"She would want you to get the fuck off of me!" Kaylee lifted her foot closest to Willow and imitated a mafia-style curb stomp against the woman's shin. A crack bounced endlessly betwixt the office walls as Ms. Willow collapsed to the floor. Her leg lay mangled, her knee surely broken.

With the execution of Willow's ability to stand straight—possibly for the rest of her life—Kaylee managed a tug strong enough to rip away from the woman's grasp. To her dismay, there was no scream of agony. Willow only sat there on the floor, holding herself straight with the palms of her hands acting like crutches. She could think of nothing to say, only that she must escape. Jumping out into the lobby, she slowed her pace before passing the secretary.

"You come back here right now, young lady," the grim voice of a woman not in pain but sounding on the brink of hysteria echoed into the hall as Kay opened the door.

The desk lady looked at Kaylee before coming down with a sickly look. Kay wasn't sure what kind of face she was wearing, but it must have been any good since it sent the oversized lady running from her desk to check on her boss.

Kaylee flung herself into the hall, but as the door slowly shut behind her, again, Ms. Willow cooed, "You're making a big mistake, Kaylee."

The elevator dinged then a woman—most likely the secretary—screamed. Kaylee wasn't sure which caused her to jump higher. She jumped into the metal box and smashed the ground-level button several times before the doors finally shut.