Clara Kate awoke. She was in a perfectly white room that smelled faintly of chemicals. She glanced to her left. She had an IV attached to her arm. Every time she moved she could feel the pull of the IV on her skin. She did not recognize her surroundings. It reminded her a little bit of the clinic, but the rooms were padded and the walls were even more stark white. It took Clara Kate a couple of minutes to realize the pounding in her head had been replaced by a dull ache in all of her body. A weary nurse came in to check on Clara Kate. Seeing she was awake, the nurse turned and was about to leave, when Clara Kate spoke,”excuse me....Where am I?”
The nurse looked startled and said “I think you of all people would know what the mental health wing of the Good Samaritan Clinic looks like.”
Clara Kate had never been to this side of the hospital. She had never been good with the crazies. They made her nervous and she didn’t have the patience. They would babble about nothing. Then it occurred to her....she was a paniet at the mental health wing of the Good Sam. Why? She who had authorized her admittance? She was perfectly healthy. The only issue she had was the pounding she had in her head. Now that it was gone. She should be fine. In the time it took Clara Kate to ponder these questions, the nurse had darted out.
Clara Kate dozed off to sleep. When she woke up, a face loomed above her bed. She blinked twice and sat up. She couldn’t believe who she was seeing. The face was one out of her family history book. Or maybe it was the picture that was hung above the mantle. Regardless, she had seen this man before, but she knew he shouldn’t be alive....
“Who are you?” Clara Kate could feel the doubt and fear in her voice.
The man replied “You know who I am, I am Fredrick Stern Hollaway.” I am the heir to the Hollaway fortune and director of the Good Samaritan Clinic.
How had this strange man stolen her job, the one that she worked so hard for and the fortune that was rightfully hers? Because of this man she is going to be left with nothing. She turned her head and broke down. He had admitted her into this institution. Well she wasn’t going to just stay here feeling sorry for herself. So she decided to take a walk. She moved slowly, taking her IV with her. Making her way to the door, she jiggled the lock expecting it to be locked. The door slowly inched open. “Rookie mistake” Clara Kate mumbled to herself. She slowly made her way down the white hall. Past dark rooms. She stopped in front of a small office door. Dr. Muse, psychiatrist was painted firmly on the plaque next to the door. She heard screaming. She was scared, but she knew she had to figure out what was causing all of the ruckus. Clara Kate cracked the door and peered through just in time to hear a white haired man say “It’s for your own good, Sile! I NEED TO FIX YOU!” With that the old man thrust a needle into the poor man’s arm. Clara Kate heard footsteps come up behind her and Clara Kate felt her knees buckle and she hit the floor.

Clara Kate was tired of the same old routine. So many patients had been through the clinic. Clara Kate just needed some rest. Her head was pounding and her eyes were drooping. She had been working for 13 hours straight. Her shift was long over by now, but the clinic was so crowded that she was sure that if she left, patients would be waiting for hours. The backup would be even worse when she got back. 13 hours! Had it really been that long in that sterile environment, where even the air you breathed was filtered? Clara Kate missed the sunshine, the fresh air and most of all she just wanted the pounding in her head to go away. There must be some Aspirin or something around here. Clara Kate had been popping the Aspirin like the pills were candy. At least one every hour or so since the start of the day. She finally found the bottle. There were only 5 left. The bottle was half full at the beginning of the day. How many had she had? Clara Kate could not remember. She felt nauseous. She couldn’t tell if it was a because of the headache or because of the aspirin. She decided one more couldn’t hurt. Clara Kate knew better than to take that many Aspirin but she just had to get through one more patient and then she could justify going home. Just one more...She slowly swallowed the pill. And wearily walked out into the lobby. She slowly made her way to the reception area. And then she started to feel numb. Her limbs would not function her knees buckled. She did not remember hitting the floor. She was enveloped into the deep darkness. A darkness not of this world.  

Clara Kate was on a beach, she was thirteen years old and prancing around in her new bathing suit. It had been a birthday present from Aunt Esther. Clara Kate loved the pink frills. The two piece cut made her feel big and grown up. And maybe a little uncomfortable with the amount of skin showing (but she never wanted to tell anyone lest they think she was a prude).They had been vacationing on the Caribbean for a month when it happened. Clara Kate decided she wanted to swim out to the sand bar about half a mile off shore. She was paddling as fast as she could, when all of a sudden the sky grew dark and the wind nipped the waves. Clara Kate could feel the waves swell around her. She panic. She could feel herself sinking deeper and deeper into the water.

Clara Kate startled and woke up. That vacation had been a good one. It was the first time she had been happen, since the death of her parents. Aunt Esther had been good to her, but Clara Kate never felt like she fit in. She did not connect with her old maiden aunt the way she and her mother had connected. Also, she did not make friends easily. Clara Kate was awkward and shy. Most people believed that she was being stuck up, but Clara Kate was just afraid. She was afraid that if she loved something, it would disappear, just the way her parents had. Clara Kate could not figure out why this memory had formed. She had tried for many years to suppress it. But She had fallen asleep at her desk and it had come to her mind and haunted her like a ghost. For many years the fateful Caribbean trip, Clara Kate had been scared to get into the bath. Putting her head underwater was torture.

But it was 11:30 at night and she had just begun her shift, she should not think of such things. Clara Kate had patients look after. A young woman walked by her office door. Her name was a season, like Summer or Autumn maybe. Clara Kate found it strange that she refused to leave Linda’s bedside. Linda’s husband was on the way, but this girl with the name of a season would not leave. Clara Kate had never seen a stranger so interested in the life of another. This girl must have a story. Clara Kate knew she was too shy to ever ask, but she knew it was a story she needed to hear. As much as Clara Kate hated the clinic sometimes. She was happy to get a chance to talk to people. It helped her to remember there were actually good people out there. Clara Kate knew she would say the wrong thing. She was shy and awkward around strangers, but she so badly wanted to meet this woman.

I'll Fly Away Oh Glory

Clara Kate woke up early, for once. It was 6:30 and the air was perfectly still. The thickness of the air weighed her down as she struggled with the damp covers. The dead silence of the old house made the still morning seem even more eerie.

From the beginning of the day at the clinic Clara Kate knew it was going to be an interesting day. It all started with Taunya Phat’s invitation. Taunya was one of those people who loved to hear the sound of her own voice. She was one of Clara Kate’s special patients. A patient who required lots of patience. Somehow Taunya got into her head that Clara Kate and she were to be friends.
Taunya approached Clara Kate in a way that made Clara Kate cringe. Clara Kate knew Taunya was going to try to start a friendship, but she never expected the way in which Taunya was going to start this friendship. But that was Taunya for you, always doing the unexpected. Taunya wanted to go sky diving, an activity that Clara Kate had dreamed of doing since she was a little girl. On her eighteenth birthday she had asked her aunt to pay for one lesson. Grudgingly, her aunt had agreed, knowing that soon she would have to break the news to Clara Kate about her lost fortune. Clara Kate had loved the feeling of the free fall. When you fall that fast, you have the illusion that you are flying. She loved that feeling of flight, the pure freedom. Clara Kate felt like herself in that free fall for the first time. She longed to feel that sense of freedom and peace once again, so she jumped at the chance to go parachuting again. While she was discussing the details of the jump with Taunya, a woman marched up to her and stuck out her hand saying, “Hi my name is November Murphy and I am looking for a job as a doctor.” Clara Kate was not prepared for this. Only in her dreams would someone ask to be doctor at a free clinic. Clara Kate’s workload would lighten and she might actually be able to take a vacation. Clara Kate felt like she was floating above the city as she replied with a simple, “I would have to look at your application, but if you come in tomorrow I will be happy to talk to you further.” With that simple sentence the deal was closed. 

Memories all alone in the moonlight

Clara Kate slowly walked down the hall and out into the street. For once she did not have to rush to be somewhere. She had requested the day off and her boss had gladly given her the day all to herself. She glanced back at the door and her mind conjured up that fateful moment so long ago. Those doors were a constant reminder of that moment. A moment when a five year olds world comes crashing down. Those doors, her only anchor in an ever changing world, reminded her of that day in September when her parents left and never came back. She was told that they went to a better place, that they were finally happy. All she knew was that they had abandoned her, they did not want her and she must live with her maiden aunt. Why did her parents leave for this happier, better place without her? They just told her they were leaving for the Opera in the big city nearby. The sense of sheer depression and abandonment still stung Clara Kate and made the hairs on the back of her neck tingle with agitation. Why did she always have to carry that memory around? Yes, it had shaped the rest of her life and molded her into the person she is today, as cheesy as that sounds even to herself. Why could she not remember all those happy moments in her life when she had felt loved and needed? For example, when her uncle had tried to claim Clara Kate and bring her home, just because he wanted to receive a slice of Clara Kate’s supposed fortune and Clara Kate’s maiden aunt rightly put him in his place and took her as her own child. Clara Kate’s aunt became a doting mother. Why could Clara Kate not remember that? Instead, when she had the day off to be happy and find peace she and all she could think about was the doom those ornate doors symbolized for her.

It's All a Matter of Perspective

Clara Kate was just leaving the clinic after a long, hard day of work. Too many patients to see in too little time. And each patient seemed sicker than the one before it. The sun dipped just below the horizon and it was getting dark. As she stepped out onto the still, damp street ,the nippy March air whipped around her, tossing her hair and tugging at her scrubs. Clara Kate decided to go for a walk. Work had been difficult that day and she needed to clear her head. Poking around the old Sawmill always made her feel better. She had so many fond memories of watching the work of the mills; she always fancied that she was its owner and responsible for the beautiful freshly hewn logs. Now, just an old theater, the mill reminded her of better days. The sweet, piney smell of cut wood that still lingered about the mill always reminded her of her father. So lost in thought, Clara Kate scarcely noticed the setting sun. Her wandering had taken her around the far side of the Sawmill where she was alone and away from the eyes of passing drivers. As she ambled about the old mill, Clara Kate heard a rustle. She turned around quickly, running head-long into a bushy haired man with a unkempt mustache. The impact cut her lip and knocked the man’s wallet, which he was carrying in his hand, to the ground. Distracted by the man’s presence, she unconsciously bent over to pick up the wallet, expecting to return it to the stranger. The bending motion released a gush of blood from the gash on her lip. Bleeding everywhere, Clara Kate quickly dropped the wallet and sprinted toward the clinic. She was so shaken by the experience she did not even notice that she ran straight into Emma Gerber. Mumbling a hurried apology, Clara Kate rushed on to the clinic, seeking both sanctuary and medical attention.

1,700 Volts

“How is it already the 22^nd of December?” Clara Kate wonders.

The months are flying by and Clara Kate’s money is running out. Thankfully, she still has her job at the Good Samaritan Clinic. It helps her to pass the time. Each day Clara Kate repeats the same routine over and over. The onset of the holiday season helps Clara Kate to realize just how sad her life has become. In the last several months she has not had more than a five minute conversation with anyone, except maybe Rosa. Lately, Rosa has been driving her crazy. Not only is her accent difficult to decipher, but also she has been constantly texting and calling her mother while she is at work. Clara Kate knows she should give Rosa a break because Clara Kate comes to work late just about every day, but she was not in the mood to have her clinic staff being dysfunctional. Clara Kate was dysfunctional enough for them all.

Today was particularly trying day for Clara Kate because she had stayed late the day before trying to clean up Rosa’s mess. Rosa could not even handle the last patient of the day. He was the typical crazy you expect to see at a free clinic, yet he somehow decided the Clinic was at fault for the Swine Flu. Rosa, who was trained to deal with these minor issues, was incapable of consoling him.  Clara Kate had to stop her work, stitching up an unfortunate old man, to sedate the crazy man who became riled beyond control.

In the midst of the chaos of the clinic this morning, Clara Kate mentally lists all the things that need to be done. Rosa prances in, covered with snow, a whole hour late! She provides no explanation. She just saunters in and sits at her desk, acting as if she has been there all morning. For all Clara Kate knows, Rosa could have been ice skating out on the pond with the rest of the town, while Clara Kate was in the clinic acting as a receptionist and juggling all the incoming supply shipments that have to be stocked and inventoried.  There are already fifteen patients waiting for medical services and there was no one here to check them in. Clara Kate knows she should forgive Rosa’s tardiness, as Rosa often looked the other way when Clara Kate came in a few minutes late, but Rosa was a whole hour late. This is just unacceptable.

Furious, with her blue eyes flashing, Clara Kate storms up to Rosa who is sitting at her desk. Clara Kate lets out a litany of condemnations. She is not even sure what she is saying.  She just embraces the red hot passion of pure fury and she relishes the look of pure surprise and fear on Rosa’s face.  But the moment is spoiled by a shriek and a flash of black heading straight for her. Clara Kate feels the bruising impact, a blow that feels as if she has been hit by a bus. With a groan she falls to the ground. Someone has tackled her. She glances up just in time to see Shaniqua Washington King’s face looming over her. Clara Kate blacks out.

Clara Kate revives just in time to feel someone pounding on her chest. 

“What has happened to me?” she wonders.

Clara Kate’s eyes focus as a clear plastic mask is placed over her face. She feebly pushes it to the side.

“I am breathing just fine, you idiots! I don’t need CPR!! You always need to check the patient’s pulse first!!” Clara Kate screams.

“We did,” replies one of the nurses. “You did not have one.”

“What?! What do you mean I did not have one? I am very much alive. Are you telling me I almost died?” Clara Kate demanded.

“The AED did not pick up a pulse. It delivered 1,700 volts of electricity,” countered the nurse.

Puzzled, Clara Kate insisted she be told every detail, starting with the last thing she remembered, the face of Shaniqua Washington King hovering over her.