<h4>Chapter 167: Her Crude Memory</h4>


    (Author’s POV)


    <strong>"A cursed child ~ Ill fated ~ A bane,"</strong> the olddy named Elizabeth Cooper kept on mumbling despite Tucker holding her.


    The nurse came inside Tucker’s office frantically and panted while saying, "As soon ... <i>*huff*</i> as I was ...... <i>*huff*</i> trying to .... give her medicine ... <i>*huff*</i>, she ran off."


    "Give me the injection," Tucker said in a reprimanding tone while holding his wife. He was suppressing his anger as well as helplessness.


    The nurse gave him the injection, her hands were shaking, which Tucker roughly grabbed and injected his wife.


    Slowly but gradually, Elizabeth’s foul words reduced as she inhaled and exhaled heavily. Soon, the medicine kicked in and she lost consciousness.


    Myra was scared. Her eyes were red and teary by olddy’s sudden outburst. It had triggered some of those memories which she wanted to escape. The time she spent in the orphanage. It was like a gruesome cursed in her life, a childhood trauma, which she wanted to cope up withpletely.


    The people there, especially the warden, used tosh out, beat her to a pulp. But more than that she would curse at Myra out loud, calling her all sorts of names just like how Elizabeth was doing now.


    It took a lot of time and care for Myra to forget those things. Although, she would get nightmares about that time asionally. But she was healing slowly and steadily.


    As soon as the olddy came inside and started using profanity, Yelena ran towards Myra and hugged her tightly, patting her back gently. Sheforted her, "Myra, don’t listen to what she is saying. She is sick and just spouting shit. Rx."


    Myra was already feeling under the weather and this had set another panic attack. She shivered and kept looking at thedy who was taken away by two nurses.


    Tucker came by their side and apologized, bowing his head repeatedly, "I am sorry on behalf of my wife. This kind of thing won’t happen again."


    He was truly apologetic but Yelena was having none of it.


    "Dr. Tucker Cooper, right? A simple apology cannot fix this. I understand your wife isn’t mentally stable right now. But such negligence is just unforgiveable. She kept on harassing my friend and saying nonsense stuff. I am involving the police," Yelena said. Her words weren’t mere threats as her tone was resolute.


    Myra held her hand tightly and mumbled, her lips were colorless, "No, police Yelena. No ... police."


    If the local authorities got involved it would only escte the matter and reach Sandra and William. Myra didn’t wanted any of that to happen.


    Yelena gazed at Myra, she pressed her lips in a thin line and released a long breath, "Okay."


    She then turned towards Tucker and said, "We won’t be pressing charges against your wife but that doesn’t mean this all is over." Yelena warned Tucker. "Come Myra, I am getting you out of here."


    Tucker kept his head down all the time. He didn’t dare to say anything though, he wanted to tell Myra that, back in the day, his wife used to be a fortune teller. But right now, he thought it wasn’t right to reveal such thing and distress Myra even more.


    With Yelena’s help, Myra got out of the ce, but her mind was still stuck with what Elizabeth said. Those words echoed inside her head.


    Yelena settled Myra in the passenger seat and drove away from the ce as she cussed out loud, "What a shitty hospital. They can’t even keep an eye on their patients."


    Myra kept quiet, she looked outside the car, her eyes lost.


    After taking her frustrations out, Yelena felt relieved. She turned to look at Myra who was totally out of it.


    Yelena sighed and called out to her, "Hey, let’s forget going to any other hospital. I will call my family doctor. He cane and check on you at my apartment."


    Myra still didn’t say anything, no answer, nothing.


    Yelena stepped on the brakes and her car came to a sudden halt. But before she could utter anything, Myra asked, in a in and emotionless voice, "Yelena, am I ... am I a cursed person?" Her voice was calm but the question she asked was chilling.


    "Aye, what are you saying? Don’t take those words seriously. That olddy was a mental patient. So, don’t fret on it. You, my friend, are nothing but the most genuine and kind soul I have ever known. Don’t degrade yourself because of some random person’sment, who wasn’t even sane to begin with," Yelena concluded, her words filled with conviction.


    Listening to her friend’s heartfelt words, Myra blinked several times. She cleared her throat andposed herself, "You are right. I shouldn’t sulk because of some random stranger’s words. It means nothing to me. I am nothing like that."


    "That’s the Myra I know," Yelena beamed at her and gave her a long, affectionate hug.


    Myra pulled away and then said, "Before going back, can you take me to a ce."


    "Where?" Yelena questioned with a perplexed expression.


    "To give my phone for repair and buy a new one. I need to call my folks today to update them about my dy," Myra told her the reason.


    Yelena nodded andmented, "Yeah, we have to do that." She then drove them to a nearby cellphone store. Myra remained inside the car while went inside the shop.


    Though, Myra was a lot moreposed her mind drifted off to a crude memory.


    It was a memory when Myra was a five-year child. Some sponsors were visiting the orphanage and everyone was dressed up ording to the decorum. For the first time, in three years, all the children from the orphanage were given news clothes.


    They all were excited and thrilled that finally they were getting something nice. There clothes weren’t patched up but brand new, even they gave every child a new and refreshing haircut.


    The warden, unlike her usual stingy self, would smile and sweet talk with them. Even the food which they would get was no longer stale bread and milk.


    Children no longer looked gaunt. Myra was truly happy to see that finally, finally the warden was behaving like a good adult. She was no longer scolding or beating her. Even their beddings were changed.


    This went on for a whole week till the day the highly anticipated sponsor visited their orphanage.


    The day of the visit everything was going well. Some children were ying, some were studying, all in all, everyone was having fun.


    The orphanage director came with a posh looking man. He seemed to be a striking person, with his impable looks and imposing personality. Nothing was amiss. He was impressed by how well the children were kept and how happy they seemed.


    The warden, Palmer Hill, was dressed up innocently, in baby pink, expensive looking pastel sundress. She wanted to make a good impression on this person, though, she already had a boyfriend.


    She was showing sitting with the director and the sponsor and telling them about the progress about each child, which she had obviously made up. Myra, for once was relieved and wanted to do something well.


    She went inside the kitchen and brought them freshly made orange juice. As she was serving them with a smile, Palmer praised her for doing good. Myra extended her hand to serve the sponsor and some of its content spilled on Palmer’s new dress.


    As soon as this happened, Myra froze and looked at Palmer.


    Palmer’s face crunched but she somehow concealed the rage she was feeling when she saw the man was watching her and Myra’s encounter closely. She didn’t let herself loose and held Myra’s hand, "Ohhh gosh dear, are you alright? My poor baby got scared." She embraced Myra, suffocating her. The rose perfume she was wearing was overwhelming and Myra had the urge to vomit but she held on.


    The day went on casually and Myra thought that everything was finally over. She was about to go and rest when, the warden, now dressed up in her usual cheap clothes asked for her to go to her room.


    Honestly, Myra was scared. But from the past few days, Palmer was behaving kindly. This made her a bit rx.


    She went inside Palmer’s room. The warden was calm and didn’t seem upset. She asked her to take a seat and locked the door. She offered Myra a warm ss of milk which made her guard down.


    Palmer made small talks, asking about how Myra felt about the experience. Myra was chatty and told her about how she felt. But as she was talking, she could feel her eyes getting drowsy and heavy. She kept yawning and soon dozed off.


    As she was closing her eyes, Palmer got up from her bed and came close to her. She saw a malicious glint in her eyes as she said, "Ohhh dear, today is going to be a long, very long night."


    To Be Continued . . . . . . . .