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Marian sat next to Eleanor on a bench in the asylum’s yard soaking up the June sunshine, their hands clasped together tightly.
“I’m so happy for you, Marian, truly I am,” her friend was saying.
Marian had just told Eleanor about Archie, about how at peace Marian felt about the whole thing. It all felt so right somehow.
Her and Archie. Matsumoto and Mrs. Curry. Thomas and Ethel.
It was funny: she didn’t look like an Ethel. It would take a while for Marian to think of her as anything other than “Matron.” She’d need to get used to it quickly, as Matron Pumi would no longer be a matron in thirty days; she’d handed in her notice at the hospital as soon as she was well enough to hold a pen.
Marian expected Ethel would be stopping in to join her and Roslyn in conversation pretty frequently, in hopes of catching Thomas between shifts. Perhaps in October they’d find they had more time to see one another, depending on the outcome of the cutbacks in the police force. She prayed Bernard and Thomas would survive the cut, but it wasn’t up to her. In the meantime, she hoped Ethel was ready for long periods of silence between visits as Thomas tried to prove himself worthy of being kept on. Somehow she figured Ethel, of all people, would understand that after working long hours herself at the hospital.
But she was getting ahead of herself. None of their stories were over just yet, including Mr. Matsumoto and Mrs. Curry. They were only courting and dreaming of happy futures.
Like her and Archie.
She sighed happily.
“Has Jackson had a chance to visit you?” Marian asked Eleanor.
Here was another couple she’d like to see together, though it was already beginning to sound like a Shakespearean comedy.
Eleanor beamed. “Of course!” She leaned in closer. “And I don’t just mean at night.” She winked.
“Eleanor!” Marian said, shocked.
Eleanor waved a hand. “I don’t mean like that. I mean he’s come as himself, rather than sneaking in as an attendant, though I told him I preferred him in his white uniform. I thought he looked rather dashing.”
Marian put her hand to her mouth. She could not believe the change that had come over Eleanor. She was practically herself again. Better than herself.
Marian gripped her friend’s hand tighter. “It’s so good to have you back. I’m so glad you’re feeling so much better.”
“Me, too.”
“And don’t worry, I can tell Jackson is different from the other men you’ve unfortunately encountered in your life. He truly cares for you, Eleanor. He’d do anything for you.”
“The same goes for Mr. Prescot, Marian,” Eleanor said with a smile. “He was brave enough to visit the Baker with you twice, after all. And a man who can do that will dare anything for the woman he loves.”
Marian smiled in return.
Eleanor’s face lightened. “I won’t ever be completely well, Marian. The Baker will always be there. She’s a part of me. She just might not hold sway over me as much. I’m learning how to hold her back, teach her who’s boss.”
Eleanor grasped Marian’s hand in hers tightly. “But I’m all right now, Marian, I promise. Thanks to you.”
Marian gripped back.
“If you hadn’t believed in me...I don’t know what might have become of me, but because you did...because of you, Marian, I am finally free.”
***
THE END
To be continued...