Page 8 of Monsters of Desire and Nightmares of Passion

No, this can’t be. I force myself to stop and look at her, but she screams and fights against her restraints, showing no sign she’s aware she just said my name.

Did I imagine this?

“Who are you talking about?” I ask with a scared voice, trying to control the shiver that moved through my entire body.

Lisa keeps screaming. I walk inside the small bathroom connected to her room. The white neon light flickers and I see them for a split second. They stare at me through the mirror.

The monsters.

My monsters.

The three dark creatures that fill my mind and torment my sleep. One of the reasons I pick up every night shift I can is because I hate sleeping at night. They always visit my dreams. I want them gone.

Calm the fuck down, Ivy. You haven’t had an episode in years.

I fumble with my necklace. It has a tiny pill container with one of my For Emergencies Only pills. I open the small container, put the white pill on my tongue, and swallow it without water.

I’m not a basket case, I tell myself.I experienced trauma. Trauma scars the soul.

I look in the mirror at the young woman who watches me from there and blink. I breathe chaotically—my pulse races like a hare in a mad dash through wonderland. There’s no way Lisa could know who I am. And why would she repeat the sentence used by the monster men that haunt my dreams?

Just for a second, I see Draw, the Scorpion man, in the mirror again, his long slender fingers and claws wrapped around my neck. I have an instant reaction.

Need.

Lust.

A small scream escapes my lips as I touch his hand and feel something on my neck.

“No.”

“Are you okay, Ivy?” Dr. Martin’s voice sounds from the other side of the door.

God, I hope he didn’t hear me scream like a lunatic at an image I saw in the mirror. They know about my stay at a mental clinic, but I’m considered healed. I finished Nursing School with no problems. I managed to hide what plagued me for so many years, only to tip over the edge because a patient who had a psychotic episode said something that sounded familiar.

“Sorry, I just saw a big spider.” I try to insert humor in my voice. Dr. Martin’s nice, one of the calmest people I have ever met in my life. Being around him feels like being in the sunshine, warm and safe, and so damn boring.

I leave the small bathroom and face him. Tall and rather on the thin side, Dr. Martin wouldn’t be called a handsome man. He’s non-descriptive. His glasses cover a pair of brown eyes. Brown hair and a short beard complete the image.

“Are you really okay, Ivy?”

“Yes.” I nod. I look towards the young girl who had stopped screaming but now cried a silent cry of deep despair.” What can we do to help her?”

“We have to give Lisa time. I hope she’ll be ready for therapy sessions in a month if she gets the right treatment. This episode looks worse than it is.”

We leave the patient’s room and head the long corridor down. He walks with me as I check on each room. Pegg keeps encouraging me to ask him out, or at least give him a sign I want him to ask me out, but how can I? My life is crazy complicated. I often have a hard time differentiating between dream and reality. The last thing my poor mind needs is for me to get involved with some man.

As we enter the nurses’ station, Dr. Martin helps himself to a coffee and asks Pegg and me if we’d like one. Pegg busies herself and departs after a few minutes, leaving me at the desk with Dr. Martin.

“Do you like horror movies?” he asks, a sweet and innocent smile on his face. “Because there’s a horror movie festival this weekend and I’m thinking about going. It’s not far from here. If you like… I mean, only if you would like... I’d like you to go with me. I already declared my intention with HR, so you don’t have to worry.”

A doctor is not my boss, but Dr. Martin is always considerate about everything.

“I… I have some plans this weekend.”

The poor guy deflates like a soufflé. I see his shoulders drop and the smile fade.

“It’s only Monday. Maybe you could think about it? If your plans don’t sound that good later, maybe you’d like to go. I mean… just saying. Would you?”

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