Chapter 6

Candace dropped the tray of medications on the floor, scattering the pills across the everywhere. She opened her mouth to scream, but no matter how hard she tried, no sound came out. Joseph continued to stare at her with only one eye in place, and a lunatic laugh escaped his mouth, getting louder and louder. When her legs finally came back to life, she rushed to the door and desperately opened it.

"Help! Help!" She screamed and, quickly, Scott appeared there, startled. She was running, looking back, towards Staton's room and ended up being hugged by Scott, after she bumped into him, who stopped and toke her by the shoulders.

"What happened??" He asked and, seeing that she didn't say anything coherent, he shook her and she finally mumbled something.

"His eye is no longer there. B-bleeding." Scott let go of Candace and ran to Room 647. He saw both the tray and the medicine on the floor, but Joseph Staton was in bed, sleeping peacefuly. How the old man didn't wake up to all that screaming, he had no idea.

Scott closed the door carefully, and when he saw that a few other nurses were coming to the rescue, he shook his head and went after Candace. She was sitting in the staff room, with Mildred stroking her back.

"Very well, what kind of joke is this?" he asked Candace. She looked at him confused.

"Joke?"

"Yeah. Patient 647 is sleeping like an angel. In one piece. The only thing wrong with that room is the countless pills scattered all over the floor, Candace." Scott had his hands on his hips.

"This is impossible. He was sitting on the bed, one eye missing and bleeding!" Candace said, eyes wide. She wasn't crazy.

Scott pressed his lips together in a thin line. He though Candace was cute and all, but she was not right of her mind. Not that it would matter if he just wanted one night stand with her, or that sort of relationship.

"Look, you must be tired. And part of the blame is mine. I ended up having a little problem and I was late, so they had to call you. But I'm already here and you better go home, Candace. Try to rest." He said, putting his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it slightly, and she sniffled.

"That's right, Cady. You had better rest. You've been working too hard and you must be tired." Mildred added to what Scott had said.

Candace didn't want to go home, though. She was afraid of hallucinating again. The difference is that there, she would be completely alone and vulnerable.

"Can I sleep here? I have a noisy neighbor and I didn't sleep at all tonight." She lied. Obviously, she wouldn't say she'd been seeing things around the house.

Mildred looked at Scott, who was looking at Candace with a worried face. But it was better for her to stay there, under their supervision. So, if she were to have any kind of fit outbreak, they could help her.

"Right. Stay the staff bedroom and take a nap. You can change your clothes if you want." Mildred said, rising from the chair. "I need to go back to reception, because if the boss shows up there, he's going to want my head." Scott and Candace nodded in agreement and Mildred left.

"Anything, just let me know, okay?" Scott said in a soft voice. He wouldn't mind kissing her to calm her down, if she was open to that. As Candace only nodded and said nothing, he did like Mildred and left the room.

Candace was very confused. She was sure of what she had seen and heard. But Scott would have no reason to lie, especially when it came to a patient's health. She got up from her chair and went to the little bedroom. She didn't change her clothes, just lay there and closed her eyes, waiting to sleep.

Candace found herself in an open space, with lots of greenery around her. She heard some whisper and approached the noise. Three women had their backs to her, talking. A branch snapping behind Candace caused them to turn together to see what was it.

Candace turned around and saw a handsome man, white, with brown eyes and slightly wavy hair, and he looked to be between twenty and thirty years old. He was tall and apparently worked around there, by his clothes. Some kind of builder or lumberjack, she wasn't sure. But his clothes were a bit old-fashioned.

Apparently, no one noticed her presence. Candace looked down but saw nothing. It was as if she was invisible, even to herself. She turned to the three women. Two of them appeared to be close in age, between twenty and twenty-three years of age. The third was younger, with a maximum of fifteen years. They were clearly natives, with beautiful long, glossy dark hair. All three wore braids that reached their waists.

Then the scenario changed. Candace saw the man standing by a tree and he smiled, looking to his left. There is a rustle of leaves and then one of the older sisters appears. They huged and kissed. He put his hand on her belly and they hold hands walking away. Both carried a bundle of clothes. Candace noticed that the woman had a bracelet, just like the one her own grandmother gave to her.

Then, everything went dark. Candace couldn't see anything at all. Suddenly, a very dim light was in the background. She started walking forward, towards the light.Next to that light, another one appeared, and as Candace got closer, those lights looked more and more like eyes. An old face appeared in front of her, floating. She was one of the sisters, only more mature. Her face was bitter and she looked angry. Candace tried to take a few steps back but failed as there was a wall in the darkness behind her. The face opened its mouth and engulfed Candace, who woke up, sweating.

Candace sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. It was a dream. She was at the asylum, with no old native wanting to devour her. She went to the sink and splashed water on her face. She looked in the mirror and saw how downcast she was. She decided to go visit Mr. Staton. She wanted to make sure he was okay.