Missy's Book of Madness

Waiting Room

"Thank you so much, Ruth," Missy said gratefully.

"No problem, dearie. Are you sure you don't want me to ring the doorbell with you? Your parents will have been expecting you for quite a while."

Missy shook her head and Ruth gave her a small, understanding nod. Raising her hand in goodbye, Ruth returned down the sidewalk, with her dog, Sweetie, hot at her heels. With a quick glance around, Missy knocked on the door, letting herself in before anyone had even greeted her.

"What are you doing round here, Missy?" Meemaw asked as she scrutinised her granddaughter's face.

Luckily for Missy, it seemed her parents hadn't told Meemaw about the holiday or about Missy storming off. She wandered into the kitchen and sat down at one of Meemaw's chairs.

"I hurt my leg. I wanted you to take me to see the doctor."

"And how exactly did you manage to do that?"

"I fell. Down the stairs." Missy lied.

Meemaw made a sound somewhere in between a huff and a laugh. 

"I'm not taking you to the bleeding doctors because you fell down some stairs. That's your problem. I'm sure your mother is capable of driving you."

"No! They're out."

Meemaw squinted out the window, trying to spot whether the family car was still parked up.

"Out of it! As in sleeping. Yes, they're all sleeping right now. It was a really tiring holiday, lots of exercise and no good sleep," Missy rambled.

"It's 3pm."

Missy didn't say anything, not trusting her mouth to come out with any more silly lies. Seeing that Meemaw wasn't convinced, she pulled up the leg of her jeans and stuck her foot out for Meemaw to see. She made sure to make a fuss of it, wincing in pain and setting a grim expression on her face. Meemaw just stared, contemplating what to do.

"Get in the car, kid."

"I told your mother that camping was not a good idea," Meemaw grumbled once Missy had filled her in on the holiday.

She had made sure to leave out the parts where she had gotten in trouble, spending more time exaggerating the cold nightly chill, terrible food and uncomfortable sleeping mattresses. Missy was sure that Meemaw sensed some things being left out, but she knew that it was likely her grandmother would find out from someone else anyway. The hospital carpark was filled the brim, with not a single space left. Without any thought, Meemaw drove her way onto the grass and turned off the ignition. She returned Missy's horrified look with a gleeful smile as she grabbed her purse and headed to the doors.

"Do you have to do that?" Meemaw said.

For the past hour or so, Missy had been humming the same tune over and over again. In such a bleak place, it was her only form of entertainment. Everything in the waiting room was white; white walls, white chairs, white floors, white coats. It was like all the colour had been sucked out of the room and all that was left was emptiness. It was hardly a positive and inspiring place to be. Missy had never been to this part of the hospital before. In fact, she only remembered going here on one other occasion, when her dad had had a heart attack. But even then it had been late and her memories were blurred together. The vending machine glowed a bright white light that matched everything else in the building. An array of sweets, chocolates and chips lined the shelves, all calling out to her from behind the glass.