Ruins of the Mind by Jason Stadtlander

Author:Jason Stadtlander [Stadtlander, Jason]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: contemporary, friendship & love, thriller & suspense, american culture, tragedy, short fiction, short stories
ISBN: 9781643970172
Publisher: BHC Press
Published: 2019-08-17T16:00:00+00:00

The day was quite ordinary. After Rose had dropped her son and daughter off at Marblehead Elementary, she had taken some shirts to the cleaners, and now she was on her way to Crosby’s Grocery to pick up a few odds and ends for a surprise birthday party she was giving her husband Seamus.

She had taken the day off to prepare as it was the first surprise party she had ever planned, and she wanted to get it right. Rose was excited but nervous about pulling it all together. She had a routine physical scheduled at 11 a.m. with Doctor Dewitt, her OB/primary care physician. After that, she would be able to finish decorating the house prior to picking up the children from school.

Marblehead was an affluent town. Unlike a great percentage of the population there, she and Seamus struggled to make ends meet. It was worth it because Marblehead was a safe, charming community that offered their children an exceptional education. The downside was that their choice had strapped them financially. Rose always felt a little self-conscious when entertaining friends, fearing their home didn’t live up to the expectations of the other residents.

By the time Rose arrived at Crosby’s, she was running about ten minutes behind schedule. She rushed through her shopping and headed for her doctor’s office, opting to leave the groceries in the trunk during the appointment. With no frozen or refrigerated goods, the groceries should be fine, she thought. After wasting additional time searching for a parking space at her doctor’s, she hopped out of the car, quickly locked the doors of her Nissan Murano and hurried inside to the waiting room.

Doctor Dewitt’s office had a collection of outdated magazines. Rose was content to browse through them, however, given that all the content was new to her. She selected an eight-month-old copy of People featuring a photograph of Whitney Houston on the front. Under her photo on the cover were the words “Whitney Houston: 1963 – 2012.” Rose’s thoughts went straight to Whitney’s teenage daughter, pictured beside her. It’s sad that this young woman lost her mother and that this sort of loss occurs every day in the lives of ordinary people—people not fortunate enough to be remembered by the entire world.

“Rose Kearny?” the office nurse called. Rose stood up and followed the nurse back to the examination room. The nurse then took her through the routine questions while Rose offered up her usual answers. “No, nothing new to report…no complaints…yes, the kids are doing well, thank you…” When the nurse left, Rose put on the required paper johnny. She really hated having all her female systems checked—all that poking, prodding and inspecting of every orifice was necessary, but it was a process she was always tempted to put off.

Rose sat down on the exam table, waiting patiently in the cool room, freezing in her paper garment. Nearly eight minutes later came a knock at the door, and Dr. Dewitt walked in. “Hello, Rose. How are we today?” Ah—the royal “we.

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