“Are you nervous?”
Helen definitely did not have enough energy for the beginning of this conversation. When Karen had offered to drive Helen to work this morning, Helen was hoping it would be a conversation-free ride. Oh, how wrong she was.
“Not really”
Helen lay her head on the top of her seat belt, letting out an intense sigh, hoping it would deter Karen from any more small-talk. She saw her roll her eyes out the corner of her eye and focus on the front window.
Helen remembers a time when things between her and Karen were never like this, when they could talk about everything and nothing and never feel awkward or bored of each other’s presence. As they got older and life changed, they drifted further apart. Anyone else would think this was a natural part of life, as you grow older you become more independent and don’t need your family always around. Helen wished she’d never grown up.
“James told me about last night”
Looks like Helen was not successful in her pursuit of a silent ride.
“He told you what?”
Helen obviously knew what James had told her, she was shocked Karen hadn’t asked her earlier. James could never keep his big mouth shut about things that didn’t involve him, he just loved to gossip about his crazy sister-in-law.
“He told me what happened last night, about you standing in the dark and screaming”
Of course, he had to say it like that, make it seem worse than it was. She just had a bad night, everyone has them. She still couldn’t explain what happened, but if she put it out of her mind, maybe it wouldn’t happen again.
“That’s what he told you? Trust me, it wasn’t that bad. I just had a bad night”
“Helen, even I heard the screaming, I’m sure people on the street heard the screaming. I just want to make sure you’re okay. Are you sure…. are you sure it’s not your problem again?”
Just as Karen was finishing her sentence, Helen noticed the large sign for Azure Heights Psychiatric Institution and she knew she could make her escape without answering Karen’s annoying questions and intrusions.
As the car pulled to a stop on the front road of the institution and Helen opened her car door, she turned back to Karen’s distressed expression.
“I’m fine Karen and this problem you think is coming back or whatever…it isn’t, so don’t worry, now I better get inside. Thanks for the ride”
Helen shoved herself out and slammed the door closed, letting out a tiny huff in frustration. As she began walking up the road towards the front gates, she began questioning herself.
A problem? I have no problems, what even is Karen going on about? It was just a bad dream or the dark messing with me again, no problem. I don’t have a problem.
But you do, don’t you?
No! Now shut up! Just shut up. I need to be calm for work.
Helen slowly cleared her mind and breathed in deep as she stood at the front gates, looking up at the huge monstrosity of a building she was now expected to clean.
I hope today is a good day.
……………………………………..
Blue was not Helen’s colour no matter how hard she tried. This uniform was ugly and looked even worse on her thin, pale body. Why anyone thought a bright blue dress down to below the knees would be flattering, she’d never know.
Earlier, after entering the front gates, she finally let the grandeur of Azure Heights Psychiatric institution take her in. It was a large, grey stone building with four floors and a soaring clock tower at the back which sat above the rest of the building. From the gates to the front doors was a long drive-way with a patch of grass in the middle with a small fountain. The front doors were a blood-red with stone stairs coming off and onto the drive. All in all, the building put Helen into awe.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Why she didn’t notice it the first time she came, she wasn’t sure.
After finding her way to the reception, she was handed over to the cleaner’s team leader, Jacqueline, who led her to the staff room she had been in the day earlier.
Now, here she was, pulling her hair into a bun and messing with the skirt of her dress to make sure it didn’t budge up near her thighs. Today felt like it might be tiring.
“Not your style?”
Helen looked over from her locker to find Jacqueline standing against a locker-free wall, her arms-crossed and a brash smile on her face.
“Not exactly, the uniform seems a bit much for a cleaner”
“You could say that again, the owners of this place like to make sure everyone looks professional and ‘ready for the work day ahead’, so to speak. Doesn’t matter how comfortable we are while lugging bins and dirty sheets around”
Helen didn’t reply. Seems like Jacqueline wasn’t that fond of her job, which wasn’t shocking considering she looked like she might fall down half-dead any minute. When Helen was first handed over to her, she assumed for a moment she was a patient. She was hunched over and her hair lay in half-crazed curls on her head, going in every direction. She seemed quite old, with shallow tan skin and deep-set wrinkles on her neck and face. The colour blue didn’t suit her either. It amazed Helen that she could lug around large bins in her age and not get hurt.
“Looks like they’ve placed you with me today for your first shift, so I could show you the ropes and what-not. Now, you better listen good cause I’ll only be saying this stuff once and then you’re on your own”
At the end of her mini speech, Jacqueline flounced out the door with a speed Helen didn’t know she was capable of.
“Are you coming or not?” Jacqueline echoed down the hall and into the staff-room.
“Coming!”
………………………
Jacqueline had them spending the first 2 hours emptying every bin in sight in the left wing of the institution. Black bins were for general rubbish and yellow bins were for used medical supplies and anything covered in blood or bodily fluids. Those had to be handled with care and be properly disposed of otherwise you’d be lucky if you still had a job, or so Jacqueline says.
While traversing the left wing, Helen got a feel for what kind of patients were ending up at Azure Heights. Most seemed calm or non-reactive in anyway. They stood quietly around the halls or in their rooms, always within sight of a nurse of doctor. Overall it didn’t seem half as bad as Helen worried it’d be.
“The patients weren’t as bad as I thought they’d be” Helen said as they made their way back to the staff room to collect the mop bucket and cleaning supplies.
“That’s cause those were the patients of the left wing, most of them are suffering with head trauma or depression. It’s the patients of the right wing you need to worry about, those fuckers don’t give a damn about anyone or anything, just causing mayhem”
“Sounds…horrible”
Jacqueline gave Helen a teasing look, knowing her reply had frightened her beyond relief.
“Don’t worry though, we don’t put newbies on the right wing, would give them too much trauma. We leave the right wing to people who know how to handle it”
Helen wasn’t sure why, but the answer almost offended her in some way. It’s not like she’s a child, she was sure she could handle it.
After collecting their supplies, they started mopping the front entrance of its dirty scuff marks and footprints, making sure that by the end of it they’d be able to see their reflection in it. Next, they needed to change the left wing’s first and second floors beds. Helen found most of the mattress sheets were either covered in dried blood or urine, usually caused by the patient sleeping on it. By the time they finished it had gone 2pm and Jacqueline allowed them a short 20-minute break. Jacqueline spent it smoking a cigarette while Helen ate a sandwich she bought from the reception’s vending machine. The rest of the day was spent on odd jobs and anything Jacqueline didn’t want to clean she left for Helen, which was a lot. By the end of her shift at 6, Helen felt like she might pass out and was ready to hop on her bus home.
After they both collected their things and Jacqueline locked up the staff-room, they said their goodbyes in the reception.
“You did good today kid, didn’t completely freak out like I thought you would”
Jacqueline had an annoying habit of referring to Helen as kid, which Helen didn’t quite understand as she was twenty-five, but she guessed as people got older everyone became like a kid to them.
“Thanks” Helen replied while buttoning up her jacket and watching a slight drizzle of rain begin to sprinkle through the front windows. Looks like it was going to be a wet walk to the bus stop.
Just as Helen had prepared herself for the cold and began walking to the door, she heard a yell behind her.
“Jackie! Jackie! Don’t leave yet!”
Helen looked back to find Jacqueline had been stopped by a small, pale old man in green shirt and trousers. He was holding on desperately to the sleeve of Jacqueline’s coat.
“What is it Walter?”
Seems like Jacqueline knew the man in hysterics.
“I need your help Jackie. There’s been an accident on the second floor of the right wing, a nurse was attacked and there’s a mess everywhere. We need it cleaned up before the other patients see it and begin losing it”
“Why can’t you do it? My shift’s over”
“I’m busy taking care of the nurse and making sure no patients find out. Please Jackie, just do this one things for me?”
Jacqueline sighed in deep and then her head turned to Helen, a resolute look on her face.
Helen knew what she was asking and she couldn’t say no. It was her first day and she didn’t want to make a bad impression, but she also was not looking forward to entering the right wing either.
Helen just hoped she was brave enough to handle it.