The Outlier

It had been three days since Anita’s procedure, and she was getting ready to leave AFMA for good. It was in the midst of packing one of her suitcases that she realized that she was forgetting something important.

Louise walked in at that very moment and paused, wondering what captivated the teen.

“Rasha,” Anita answered before the young woman could ask. “I haven’t said goodbye to her yet.” She turned, looking at Louise who stood stunned in the doorway. “Is it okay if I see her? Is that allowed?”

Louise cleared her throat, still trying to get used to Anita’s refined abilities. “Of course you can see her. I just have to warn you, it’s a little...off-putting.”

“She’s still in a coma...it’s almost as if you’re looking at someone who’s-”

Louise froze mid thought, remembering who she was sharing a space with.

“Someone who’s what, Louise?”

She sighed. “Someone who’s dead. She’s hooked up to all kinds of machines to keep her alive while she’s still under.”

“I still wanna see her,” Anita pressed. “I know it’s going to be weird. But I need to say goodbye to her before I leave.”

Louise nodded. “I’ll make sure you can get some alone time in with her. You both deserve that much.”

With that, Louise left the room and Anita felt a pang of guilt run through her chest. She didn’t mean to make Louise feel uncomfortable by reading her mind. Anita just forgot to turn off her powers every once in a while.

The teen continued packing, trying to push the feelings of regret aside. After about twenty minutes of silence, Louise cleared her throat and startled Anita.

The red head spun around, looking at the young woman leaning against the door frame. “I got you some time. Not a whole lot, but enough for you to say goodbyes and such.”

Anita nodded, feeling gracious. “Thank you, Louise.”

She smiled. “Don’t mention it, kid.”

As she turned to leave again, Anita took a step forward. “Louise? What about after I leave? Will I be able to come back and visit her?”

“As long as she’s here, you can come see her whenever you want. You might be competing with the medical staff, though.”

She suppressed a laugh, knowing exactly what Louise meant. “Thanks again.”

She nodded and left the room, allowing Anita to finish packing her things.

****

Anita walked into the wing of AFMA that was designated solely for coma patients carrying all her luggage. Once she was done spending time with Rasha, she was finally going home.

“You must be Anita,” the young man behind the desk said with almost a bored tone. “You can’t take all that stuff with you into the room, you’ll have to leave it out here by the desk.”

“I hate my job. I hate this place. That dumb red-head probably doesn’t have a soul.”

Anita bit her tongue as she handed her first duffle to him. “What’s your name?” she asked him.

“Jerry,” he replied bluntly.

“Nice one. She’ll never guess your name is actually Anthony.”

Anita couldn’t hold back. She rolled her eyes and stifled a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” he demanded.

The teen shook her head. “Nothing, nothing.”

He looked at her skeptically and brought the rest of her stuff behind the desk. “Okay, Rasha is in the fourth room on the right. You have half an hour, if you’ll even need it. Once you’re done, please sign out.”

Anita nodded. “Thanks, Jerry.”

“Mmhm,” he replied hesitantly, wondering what it was that she knew about him.

The redhead walked down the hall until she reached Rasha’s room. A nurse was just exiting as Anita reached toward the doorknob.

“Oh goodness! You scared me! I take it you’re here to see Rasha.”

Anita nodded.

“Okay, I just wanna give you a head’s up: it’s going to be a huge shock. She won’t look like she did last time you saw her.”

The teen nodded again. “Okay. Thank you.”

The nurse nodded and shuffled out of Anita’s way so she could move into the room.

Louise and the nurse were both right. The sight of petite Rasha lying in a bed hooked up to machines and tubes was enough to cause Anita to gasp. Her once sleek black hair looked dull and sprawled across the pillow with no rhyme or reason. Her thin arms were lying at her side, completely motionless.

Oh, God… Anita thought to herself as she looked away.

“Anita? Anita, is that you?”

The teen quickly looked back at Rasha’s. She stared at the young woman. She obviously didn’t speak, so why did she hear her voice?

“Anita, are you still there? Please don’t leave me.”

Anita quickly sat down in the chair next to Rasha’s bed. “Yeah, I’m still here. Can you hear me?”

There was a moment of silence, and the sixteen year old started to worry that maybe she had imagined the whole thing.

“You can hear me?”

Anita chuckled a little, thinking how silly it was. Of course I can hear you. My powers are actually working now.

“So the procedure worked for you?”

Yeah, the teen thought. And it looks like it worked for you, too.

“And I am so thankful! This is the first time someone’s been able to hear me. I’ve been trapped in my mind for so long, I can’t take it.”
I have to tell somebody. If they knew you were still conscious-

“Don’t worry about me, Anita. They know I am still alive. They won’t do me any harm. But you need to be careful. A lot of people are going to look at you differently now. They’re all looking for something wrong. Don’t give them any reasons to think that maybe there is something.”

Anita didn’t quite know what to think about that. What do you mean they’ll be looking for something wrong?

“They want to make sure you’re not going crazy. Like Noah.”

Noah?

“The boy who killed himself. He started going crazy.”

The teen’s blood ran cold. The thought that she could be like any of the other test subjects frightened her, but what was most frightening was how calm Rasha seemed to be. Her thoughts took on a flippant tone and were to the point.

“That’s how thoughts are,” Anita said to herself.

“Ms. Nash,” one of the nurses said softly as she poked her head in the room. “I’m sorry, but we’re gonna need to ask you to leave now.”

“Anita?” Rasha called out in her thoughts.

It’s okay, Anita thought, not taking her eyes off Rasha. I’ll come back to visit. I promise.

She finally looked at the nurse, gave a small smile. “Thank you, I’ll be out in just two seconds.”

The nurse nodded and closed the door softly to allow the teen her last goodbyes.

“Well, you know where I’ll be. Here. Alone.”

You’re not alone, Rasha.

“I’m so lonely, Anita. So lonely.”

****

To her parents, the car ride home was fairly quiet, but Anita heard more than they could’ve imagined. Yes, the teen had learned to control what she heard, but listening to her parents when they couldn’t find words was all she needed right now.

When they finally arrived home, Anita’s first mission was to get back to her bedroom and reclaim her sanctuary. The teen had been away for so long that she almost didn’t remember what her room actually looked like.

The lights were off in the room when she entered, and when she turned them on, she was shocked as to what she saw.

There was a thin layer of dust on everything, like her family had forgotten she had even existed. Some of her posters had fallen, revealing square and rectangular sections of white wall. Her windows were shut tightly, denying the fall air any access. Her desk was cluttered with papers and other miscellaneous items that Anita didn’t recognize, and her rolling chair was pushed into one of the far corners. The sheets, blankets, and pillows were stripped from her bed and were laying on the floor in a crumpled heap.

“What happened?” she muttered to herself, walking slowly over to her desk to get a closer look at the mess on top of it.

A lot of the papers were about her; medical records, bills, school reports, and other documents. She didn’t remember looking at any of these things before she left.

“Oh, Anita,” Marsha said from the doorway, slowly entering the room. “I am so sorry about the mess. I came in to clean your first week gone so when you came home it would be so nice, but I just...I couldn’t finish. It was too hard.”

“What about all this stuff?” she asked, gesturing to the papers on her desk. “Did I look at this stuff before I left?”

“No, honey. While I was cleaning, your father and I were going through some old paperwork to make sure we had the money to pay for all the bills. And don’t worry, we do. You have nothing to worry about.”

Anita knew about the money. It was one of the things her dad was thinking about on the way home. She knew they had enough, but deep down her father was thankful that she didn’t need any medication or further treatment.

“You’re not worried, are you, honey?”

“Oh, no, I’m not worried,” she answered quickly, realizing she had been staring off into space. “I was just lost in thought. I’ll clean the place, no worries.”

“Are you sure, honey? I feel like I should finish-”

“It’ll help me get everything straight in my mind,” she interrupted, a small smile spreading across her freckled face. “Besides, you’ll ruin the zen of my room. It all has a special place.”

Marsha smiled and nodded. “Well, your father is cooking dinner, so we’ll call you down when that’s ready.”

Anita nodded as her mom left the room, feeling a mixture of happiness and regret fill her heart.