Dear fellow poets and writers,
I'm sharing this in the spirit of mixed fun and seriousness. I enjoyed the Nanowrimo experience but I had to stay at home to write and not to go to any write-ins because not all writers had laptops and my domestic partner had been ill from September and even until now. Sobriety helps me to be honest with you and admit that I need comments/feedback from you for me to be able to revise my very rough draft that may be found at http://maeann66.blogspot.com.
Please visit the site from time to time as I toil on my first ever novel. And since you got to this part and finished reading my Prose, please know that I am grateful.
) You give good insight into the characters and my interest was aroused from the start and was held throughout. I may have to check your blog and see where this leads.
Here's the 2nd part of Qu33nsgambit's novel-in-progress.
To accomodate her large contribution here, we broke it up into 2 halves. Read Part I following this link, then Part II here below.
For more of the story, she invites you to her blog: http://maeann66.blogspot.com
When the other guard arrived, Lola Lydia’s grandson held the still unidentified woman by the elbow and led her to the Admissions Department.
A nurse was trying to interview the shabbily dressed and dirty-looking woman ushered in by the guard. The guard had handed her the note and told her that the woman seemed to need help and he had stayed. Even if the woman had not shown an iota of violence, he had to make sure. He would wait till Nurse Terry Salvador told him to leave.
He positioned himself behind the chair on which the woman sat, regarding her with feigned disinterest. He felt pity for the woman and memories of Lola Lydia came with the feeling. He reminded himself to concentrate on what Nurse Salvador was saying to remain alert.
Terry jotted down the woman’s appearance, her affect, and her behavior. One glance and she was able to take it all in then she started probing, coaxing and imploring the woman to talk about her feelings and thoughts and who cared enough for her to bring her to the center. After all, she had been doing this thing for years ever since her graduation from a nursing school a decade ago. She went on to attend short courses on psychiatric nursing when she realized that her calling was to serve the mentally afflicted.
And her country needed her just as she needed her country. She felt she could not join the exodus of nurses leaving for abroad.
A puzzle sat in front of her waiting to be solved and she knew that her skills would be tested. The woman had neither relative nor friend whom she could interview to get the woman’s background. What was the matter with her?
“I’m Terry and I’m here to help you. I would like to ask you some questions first, if I may? Here is the note that you’ve given our guard, Mr. Ramos. Can you tell me who wrote this?” Terry Sandoval repeated the words for what seemed like an eternity. Years of caring for a bedridden sister now resting in God’s peace came to her aid.
“Mother, oh, Mother, please forgive me. I should not have hurt you.” The woman’s fingers trembled as she reached out to touch Nurse Salvador’s face and she slid down on the floor.
The guard and the nurse rushed forward to catch the woman as she fainted. The guard then carried the woman in his arms, totally forgetting that the dirt and grime on her had repulsed him earlier. He lowered her gently on a clean gurney and lifted its sides to prevent the woman from falling off it. Lola Lydia had done a superb job of raising the boy. Nurse Salvador hurriedly jotted the woman’s name and personal information, at least what she had gleaned earlier, down on the log. She thanked the guard and dismissed him. They had both been shaken by what had just occurred but tact prevented them from using the woman as fodder for conversation. Idle gossip would not help her. For now, Terry Salvador could not tell what would.