Creative Writing: The Restricted Wing

A sharp wail cut through the silence of Woodbridge Mental Hospital. A nurse immediately rushed towards the far end of the hallway, her footsteps echoing off the walls of the hospital. As she approached the door of the patient’s ward, she heard equipment crashing to the floor and shattering. She fished out her cell phone and dialed a number.

Ten minutes later, a ravishing woman sashayed down the halls of the hospital, oblivious to the ear piercing shrieks of the woman at the far end of the hallway. “We weren’t able to calm her down, Miss Hale.”

The guards nodded at her as she approached the entrance of the ward and let her in. The ward was a mess, shattered glass covered the ground and broken lab equipment lay haphazardly all over the
I waited for ages but you didn’t show up, so I just went ahead.”, said Natalie, a resident I’d befriended on my second day. I’d completely forgotten about meeting her for lunch that day and I was so intrigued by what had happened that I didn’t think before asking her, “Who lives in the Restricted Wing?” Natalie blinked at me blankly, and then asked accusingly, “Why?” I immediately realized my mistake and played dumb, shrugging my shoulders and saying, “Just wondering.” Natalie relaxed and looked around, “Okay, I’ll tell you.”

Rumor had it that in the Restricted Wing lives a scientist by the name of Danica Hale, world-renowned for her substantial contributions to cancer research. She had laid the building blocks for hopes of eventually finding a cure for cancer. She was in the prime of her career, so close to finding that cure when she disappeared from the scientific world. The woman I had seen earlier was her younger sister, Emily Hale. She was a prolific fiction writer who had several international best sellers. Eight years ago, she had donated a large sum of money to build an entire new wing in the hospital.

Natalie wouldn’t tell me any more than that, but I was determined to find out the story behind how Danica had ended up as a patient in Woodbridge Mental Hospital - a mental breakdown
There was no known cure, but her sister, Danica, was inches away from finding one. After successfully testing her drug on mice, all Danica needed was to get the drug approved for human tests. Meanwhile, her sister’s condition was worsening and with her sister’s life on the line, she couldn’t possibly have waited 6 months for the Health Ministry to respond. It would have been too late for her sister.

Throwing caution to the wind, she decided to test the drug on herself. She monitored herself closely and after 2 months, without noting any adverse effects, she decided it was safe for her sister to take it. After six doses over a period of three months, a scan showed that Emily’s tumor had shrunk to the size of a bean. At six months, there was no sign of it anymore.

In a sick twist of fate to what would have been a happy ending, Danica began to behave strangely and often did not seem like her usual self. At first, she was simply suspected to be developing symptoms of bi-polar disorder. Emily, however, was filled with a sense of foreboding that this could be related to the drug. Gradually, Danica’s mental state worsened and her mood swings became more violent and difficult to handle. Emily thought it best to remove her from the research