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 It took Clara Kate a couple of minutes to realize the pounding in her head had been replaced by a dull ache in all of her body.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.