Past or Present?

After the pointless psychological session ended, Lena’s nerves tightened as Dr. Floyd gave Charlie a knowing smile and tilted his head towards the office door. Even though she had been anxious to leave the man’s company since entering the room, she could not help but feel that something bad was about to happen to her. Since the Doctor had not given her his diagnosis of her mental stability, she assumed that she had not convinced him that she was really from the past.

Lena sensed Charlie as he walked up behind her. She wanted to stand from the stool and turn to face him but before she could move, she felt his handcuffs as he secured them around her wrists. Lena had never felt threatened since she had arrived at Base Nine, but once the metallic restraints enclosed around her hands, she suddenly was able to feel her heart as it pounded rapidly in her chest. She did not say anything to the Doctor as Charlie lead her out of the room; she knew that there was no further chance of convincing him. She was also afraid that if she said another word Dr. Floyd would twist it around to further prove she needed a one-way ticket to the Funny Farm. 

Her heart rate did not decrease as they entered the long concrete hallway down the middle of the Hospital’s third floor. In fact, beads of sweat started to form on the crease of her brow as she stared at the fluorescent lights flickering above them. It was not the dread of being hauled to an uncertain destination that frightened her, rather the fact that no one believed her claim of having lived over ninety years ago. But nothing scared her more than not knowing what fate lay ahead of her in this new day and age. 

Any normal person probably would have done as their armed capture told them and continued to walk down the hall, but Lena had never been one to follow the rules. Even though her hands were tied behind her back and Charlie was holding her elbow firmly, she tried to pull herself away from his grasp. Her efforts were hardly effective since Charlie was not a weak man, her attempt to escape only made him grip her arm more. 

“Nope, you’re not getting away that easy,” he said as he pulled her close to his side again.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked, not being able to stand the uncertainty any longer. 

“I’m taking you to the psychiatric ward on the next level,” Charlie said, though his voice sounded more reluctant as if it gave him no pleasure to escort her there. 

“What?” Lena asked in mild shock, she knew that the doctor had not believed her but she did not expect him to think she was completely out of it, “I’m not crazy!”

“Of course you’re not,” Charlie said in a condescending tone, “we do believe you’re from the past, we just need to keep you under surveillance for a while until we figure out how to build a magic time machine to send you back home, okay?”

“Ugh!” Lena’s frustration reached its boiling point as she once again pulled her arms away from Charlie, this time succeeding. She hit the concrete wall of the building as she moved away, causing a loud thudding sound. She yelped out in pain but she continued to speak as tears began to form in her eyes, “I’m not crazy! I am from the past. Before I woke up last week, the last memory I have was from the year 2309.”

Charlie stared at her for a short moment, it was as if he were trying to scan her brain with his eyes, Lena knew that he thought she was mental just from the way she looked at her. The air felt cold around her and Lena wanted to cry more even though she knew it was ridiculous, there was no point in crying when the only person around to see it thought she was missing a few screws. But just as all hope seemed lost, Lena heard Charlie say something she did not soon forget.

“Okay look,” he said as he folded his arms and shifted his gaze away from her and toward the end of the hall, “I don’t think you’re completely crazy.”

For a moment Lena thought she heard him wrong because she thought there was no way he could have believed her. But once his words clearly registered in her mind she looked straight at him, “You… You believe me?”

Charlie shrugged and slowly turned his gaze back to her, apparently not wanting to appear invested in their conversation, “I don’t really know yet, but I have seen people who are mentally unstable and you don’t seem completely out of your mind like they do. You seem to believe what you’re saying and it doesn’t sound completely impossible to me.”

Lena drew in a shaky breath as she let more tears fall from her eyes and slide down her cheeks. She put her hands to her face and began to wipe the salty liquid away before it fell into her mouth. Even though Charlie did not actually admit to believing her, Lena found it relieving to know he did not think she was mentally ill.   

     Through her blurred vision she could see Charlie staring at her, but once their eyes met, he quickly looked away and put his hands in the pockets of his dark jacket. He stood still as he waited for her to stop crying. He did not make a move while she finished draining the water from her eyes and it gave him almost a robotic likeness. She knew that her tears were making him uncomfortable, and she wished that she had not been so emotional in front of him.

“Sorry,” Lena said as embarrassment spread to her cheeks, “Do you still think I could be sane?”