Cardiff Wales,
1984
Ten-year-old, Ora Rickward was bound in a straightjacket and thrown into her hospital room. She landed on a white padded floor. The iron door was about to be closed, Ora jumped to her feet and ran charging for the door. “No!” She screeched, but it was too late, before she even reached the door, the orderly had slammed it shut. Through the iron bars of the cell door, Ora recognized the smirking face of her stepmother; she was the reason Ora was brought here. Ora pounded on the door with her fists. “Let me out of here!” She cried. Her stepmother ignored her cries of despair, she turned on her heels and walked away; not once did she turn to look back at her tortured stepdaughter, Ora continued pounding on the door until her knuckles bled; after realizing it was hopeless, she stopped pounding. With her back now facing the door, Ora slid onto the floor. “This can’t be happening to me?” She whispered with her hands smothering her face. Ora felt her eyes becoming heavy, and in no time, her senses calmed down and she eventually drifted into unconsciousness.
~~~
Ora came to in unusual surroundings, the walls and floor were bright white, just as the door was too; even the bed under her was dowsed in white, Ora soon realized this room was not her own, and began to panic. She leapt off the bed and flung herself at the door. “Let me out of here!” She pounded at the door with her firsts. When admitted to the hospital, her stepmother insisted she be heavily sedated, she pounded until it seemed no one was listening; Ora gave up and collapsed back onto her bed. Only one solitary ray of sunlight entered into the room, there was a small, arch shaped window, which pervaded almost no light at all, Ora’s eyes began to swell with tears. “I’m never going to get out of here!” She rested her head on her knees and shook her brown, kinky locks. “I don’t want to be here!” She chose to look up at that moment, before Ora, stood a nurse with the brightest smile Ora had ever seen, and even though she looked friendly enough, Ora still remained on her guard.
“Who are you?” Ora smirked. “Good morning, Miss Rickward, how are you feeling today?” The young nurse warmly greeted her. “You tell me!” Ora’s voice was meek. She noticed the nurse was carrying a silver tray with three sets of needles. Ora’s eyes widened and she jolted back against the wall. “What are those for?” She snapped. “They are to help you calm down.” She sweetly replied. “What do you call this?” Ora’s jumpy behavior wasn’t helping her case much. “It will help the voices go away, Ora.” The nurse gently rested her hand on Ora’s shoulder. “I don’t want them to go away. They need my help!” She screamed. “Miss Rickward, you won’t get any better, if you don’t allow me to give you these shots.”
“I’m fine, it’s Veronica who thinks I’ve gone bonkers!” Ora replied. “Is Veronica one of the voices you’ve been hearing?” The nurse asked. “No, that would be my stepmother, the old cow!” Ora whined. “I apologize, Miss Rickward, I’ve never worked with a person like you before, I guess you could say, we’re both the new kids on the block.” She sat down right next to Ora on the bed. “That’s why, new girls like us should always stick together, I need you and you need me.” She smiled. “What do they call you?” Ora asked. “Nurse Devane.” She extended her hand out to Ora. “It’s nice to meet you, Nurse Devane, I don’t suppose the other nurses are anything like you.” Ora sulked. “Afraid not, you should be very grateful to me.” Nurse Devane smiled. “For now I won’t force you to take the injections, but only because you would probably like some time to think on your own, be assured though, tomorrow morning I will come back again.” Nurse Devane took the unused needles and slipped them into her pocket. “Your secret is safe with me.” Ora winked. “Get some rest, Miss Rickward, at least pretend you’re asleep for my sake.” With her suggestion, Nurse Devane quietly slipped out of the room.
