Chapter 2

"Miss Taylor," he murmured, taking the list from me, which I fervently wanted to just hand in and run home, but of course, that was just my wish. "I've had a look at your undergraduate record and from what I've seen, you're on the right track for psychology. Will you continue or will you use your postgraduate studies for other purposes?"

"Philosophy," I concluded, and he nodded and checked the list.

"I don't give extra lessons to students, but I'm available if you want help with your projects. Your CV shows much more than a young woman looking for a title to her name, I value those who have a path already defined."

I thanked him, it wasn't my custom to pull the strings of my teachers and it wouldn't be any different now. Maybe that would make it harder for me to get through the semester, but what could I do? My inability to ride people was leading me down the right path in life.

So I ran, my life wasn't just about studying. Work was waiting for me, thirsty for my poor, rushed life.

"How are things, Sarah?" Emily told me, "You don't stop at home anymore, don't make me worry, daughter." I rolled my eyes, looking at the part of the sky I could see from my living room since the other side was also made up of more apartments.

"Nothing to worry about, I've started the new semester and I'm working. You should be worried about the children you have to look after now." My mother had been married shortly before I went to college, to a man a few years younger, and with him came two fourteen-year-old boys. "Don't worry, I'm not slowly killing myself with drugs or alcohol."

Erick was a nice guy, but to me, he was just a guy who was looking for the lap he didn't have from his mother when he was little. Perhaps my perception of the person he was was the fault of the psychology I was studying and practicing with the internship at the hospital, but I also had my certainties about the guy.

"They're growing up, but you're my only daughter and I need to make sure you don't do what your father did. If only he'd taken it a bit easier..." Another sigh, my mother blamed herself for my father's death. In her mind, if she had made him work less and spend more time with his family, he would still be alive. But he was in the military, so we didn't have much to do with his work.

That's why I didn't get into college early like all the other students, I spent four years dealing with my mother's grief and my own. They were difficult years. But as soon as she recovered and found Erick, I moved out and started to get my life on track, even if it was four years late.

"It's okay, I'm not killing myself at work or college, Mom, I have to go now. Take care."

She sighed again and hung up the phone. I didn't blame her, apart from working tirelessly like my father, my appearance reminded her of him all the time and so she took extra care.

And it got worse when we saw each other in person, I was as red-haired as he was, which always impressed her. But the green eyes and curvy body were her gifts, which impressed me. I could be mistaken for a wild strawberry at any moment, in terms of curvature and color, we were like twins.

I threw my bag on my back and ran to the hospital. The internship didn't pay much, but it was enough for me to pay the rent on my apartment and live as a wanderer between work and college. My home was almost nowhere to be seen.

I immersed myself in my work just as I immersed myself in my studies. My patients were like little pots decorated with different kinds of colors, each with its particularities and challenges, and this helped me forget about the outside world.

I checked the paperwork piled up on the reception desk and ran down the corridors searching for the patients that most professionals refused to treat. It was difficult, yes, but they were all ordinary people living their lives before they were caught off guard by their brains.

"Home, do you know that word, Sarah?" I ignored it, no matter how many hours I spent inside the psychiatric ward, it never seemed to be enough time. "If I give you a warning, will you stay at home?"

"Not," I replied, continuing my rounds as Michael chased me down the corridor.

"So I'll have to suspend you? Come on, you're an intern and you can't do more than six hours a day, Sarah, do you want me to lose my job?"

"I'll clock out on time and you'll pay me out of pocket like you always have." I didn't look at him, I knew he'd look like a dog without an owner to me, it was as if he didn't have the chest to be under supervision if it wasn't for his impeccable work. "Good morning, Jack! How did you spend the night? Did you take the medicine Mrs. Jones brought for you?"

"Like bullets." Jack laughed, he was an elderly man who helped me get around Michael when he stubbornly sent me home at the start of the shift.

"Tell her to go away and get some rest, Jack, I'm going to lose my job over this and who's going to supervise this madwoman?" I took a deep breath before rolling my eyes at Mike, Jack coughed after laughing some more.

"Without that redhead, you would have been fired by now, Dr. Michael."

"You see, Jack knows things and that proves that his Alzheimer's is a little more under control! Not even he can hold it against you, Jack."

"Okay, you two will cause my dismissal." Mike sighed defeatedly and I winked at Jack. "But I feel duty bound to congratulate you, Jack, you've been taking your medication without complaint, a source of pride for my psychiatry."

"Hang a plaque for me, doctor." Ah, I loved my precious, Jack. "Redhead, send me that pudding, I'm suffering from withdrawal here."

"You got it." I blinked again and we left him with the television on full volume.

Jack was in his last stage, and we knew he would be leaving soon as his family had abandoned him at the hospital door, I persuaded Mike to admit him even though there was no way of treating him, his medication was starch capsules or some kind of agglutinate so that it wouldn't interfere with his system. And with that, he would have a place to stay. He wouldn't have to die abandoned on a sidewalk, we could give him a decent place and a lot of care before he left. His sudden improvement only indicated the obvious, we would soon lose him.

"Kill me, Sarah." Mike ran his hands through his brown hair before turning back to look at me worriedly. "You need to go home and I need some peace."

I laughed and continued my walk around the ward, it wasn't going to be today that he was going to scream me out of there.

I spent too much time rushing around with the paperwork and forgot that after the shift I had to go back to college, maybe Mike was right, cutting back a little on the hours I was on duty could help me.

I ran across campus making sure I lost some of my pens during the marathon, I would miss the start of class and that would be bad for my student record.

I forgot about the elevators and ran down the stairs expecting to find the classroom in its fuse of small talk and the lack of a teacher in class.