Outpatient - A Story of Horror and Madness by Clifford Beck - HTML preview
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Chapter 12
Nancy had left the campus after her last class and upon returning home checked her answering machine. It was Monday and, knowing that Catherine had gone to her psychiatrist's appointment, became concerned when she saw that there had been no messages from her. She remembered a conversation they'd had the day before, and Catherine tearfully spoke about her fear of going back to AMHI. Nancy made her promise to ask Dr. Beach if a return to inpatient care might be on the horizon. Now, she was beginning to wonder if she'd made the mistake of pressuring Catherine at a time when she may have been at her most vulnerable. Nancy also wondered if she may have received an answer from her doctor that may not be sitting well with her.
“God, I hope she's okay,” she thought.
She picked up the phone and rang Catherine's number, but only got her answering machine and, remembering how far the drive was from Stratton Pond to Farmington and back, decided to give her another 30 minutes. When that time came and went, Nancy tried a number again – still with no answer. Her intuition now took over and she became gravely concerned.
“Something's wrong,” she whispered to herself.
As she was about to hang up the phone, something grabbed her attention. Usually, when she returned home, the first thing she did was turn on her TV. After teaching quantum physics all day, she needed a bit of mind candy. But this had been interrupted by an emergency announcement, and Nancy watched with rapt attention. Her concerns had become greatly magnified when she saw the images of the large storm moving up the state, with the strongest of it centered on the Carrabassett Valley.
“Shit!” Nancy said aloud.
Without the least hesitation, she flew out of her apartment and jumped into her car. She knew how long it would take to get to Stratton Pond, but she also knew that Catherine was in trouble. However, she would not realize how much until she got there – until it was too late.