Hiatus

Chapter 1 BEATRICE'S POV

I have often said, seemingly in jest, that my favorite two words are “THE END.” They mean that the tale has been told, the journey completed.

Jane was a ten-year-old patient with dark, flashing eyes, curly hair, and an impish smile. I examined her at the City General Hospital, where her mother had brought her for a diagnosis. A cloud of tension hung in the air between the little girl and her mother, but I noticed that Jane seemed eerily unafraid. She sat on the edge of the padded table and watched impassively as I began to remove blood-soiled bandages from her feet.

Testing her swollen left ankle, I found that the foot rotated freely, the sign of a fully dislocated ankle. I winced at the unnatural movement, but Jane did not. I resumed unwrapping the bandages.

“Are you sure you want these sores healed, young lady?”

I said, trying to lighten the atmosphere in the room. “You might have to start wearing shoes again.” Jane laughed, and I thought it odd that she did not flinch or whimper as I removed the dressings next to her skin. She looked around the room with an expression of faint boredom.

When I unwrapped the last bandage, I found grossly infected ulcers on the soles of both feet. Ever so gently, I probed the wounds, glancing at Jane’s face for some reaction. She showed none. The probe pushed easily through soft, necrotic tissue, and I could even see the white gleam of bare bone. Still no reaction from Jane.

As I puzzled over the girl’s injuries, I remembered that her mother told me Jane’s story.

FLASHBACK

“She seemed fine as an infant. A little high-spirited maybe, but perfectly normal. I’ll never forget the first time I realized she had a serious problem. Jane was six years old. Usually I kept her in the same room with me, but that day I left her alone in her play pen while I went to answer the phone. She stayed quiet, and so I decided to begin dinner. For a change, she was playing happily by herself. I could hear her laughing and talking to herself. I smiled at myself, wondering what new mischief she had got into."

"A few minutes later, I went into Jane’s room and found her sitting on the floor of the play pen, finger painting red swirls on the white plastic sheet. I wasn't able to grasp the situation at first, but when I got closer I screamed. It was horrible. The tip of Jane’s finger was mangled and bleeding, and it was her own blood she was using to make those designs on the sheets."

“I yelled, 'Jane, what happened!’ She grinned at me, and that’s when I saw the streaks of blood on her teeth. She had bitten off the tip of her finger and was playing in the blood.”

I almost gasped when suddenly a sweet melodic voice was heard.

"Doctor, do you believe that you shouldn't ruin a good day today by thinking about the bad yesterday?" I gaped at the little girl, looking at me with her cold eyes. Finally she spoke!

But I don't know how to answer her when all my memories from my childhood have been forgotten.

"Never wish them pain, that's not who you are. If they cause you pain, they must have pain inside. Wish them healing," she added nonchalantly. I swallowed the lump in my throat and I watched her eyes filled with unnamed emotions, questioning myself how to answer her question, but she just grinned.

"I read that quote from a book but it's quite unfair, right? You wish them healing, then who would wish for yours?" I stood speechless before looking away. This kid makes me uncomfortable.

"You have scars on your wrist, doctor." My eyes widened because I wasn't aware that the scars on my wrist were visible from my slightly agape lab coat.

"Y-Yeah, accidents happen a lot. Just like yours." I tried to reason out and she just smiled, a knowing smile.

"Yeah, just like mine. You also have the gift that nobody wants." I stared at her again and she moved forward to whisper.

"Pain doctor, it's a gift that we both have. Isn't it addictive? Until it drowned your bones and nerves to numbness.” I narrowed my eyes and sighed.

“You’re too young to utter such words—”

“Am I?”

Is she?

“Seeing you right now, it’s disappointing that in the end I might end up just like you.”