How I Got Here by Hannah Harvey Page B

again, she hasn’t stepped outside the hospital for months, not even to go down to the entrance and get some air, if she needed some fresh air, she’d just open up the window.
    She hadn’t had many visitors in the hospital either, other than her parents nobody came in except staff, so now being out and around this many people, she’s starting to feel anxious. She panics when people touch her, even if it’s just brushing past her she gets anxious, starts to panic. She knows that once she’s at the pond she’ll be fine, because it’s so secluded there, it’ll just be her and Oliver, and she can cope with that.
    Oliver knows that he needs to distract her, and he also knows that she doesn’t panic when he touches her, it took some time to build up that trust, but now she is comfortable around him, she knows that he won’t hurt her. So very gently he takes her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and starts to walk, she follows keeping close to his side as they walk through the park. At some point they switch and she is leading the way, gently tugging his hand in the direction they need to go, her silent communication that he understands.
    ‘So my sister has been cooking healthy food all week, I am seriously starting to miss take-out, there is this little Thai place I used to go to, it’s about ten blocks from the hospital, so I usually stop there on the way home from work, but she’s got me eating tofu and vegetables that I’ve never heard of, yesterday she actually let us go out to dinner, but she took us to some vegan place off Broadway!’ Oliver rambled on, trying to relax her, but the crowds in the park have started to panic her, and she grips his hand noticeably tighter. They keep walking at a quick pace, and she indicates for him to keep talking. ‘My niece seems to love the food, but I’m wondering if it’s because she’s never tried junk food, not that I would recommend junk food of course, because as a doctor that would be wrong of me, however I think a good dose of chocolate is healthy.’
    ‘Buy a bracelet miss?’ A man comes up to them, pointing to his stall of homemade bracelets at the side of the path, he takes River’s hand and tries to slip a bracelet on her wrist, she snatches her arm away quickly, pulling her hand away from Oliver’s and backs away, her eyes wide and wild, full of fear. She trips into someone as she backs away from the man, the woman she knocked into puts her hand on River’s arm, trying to steady her, but it only serves to panic River even more. He starts shouting, pulling back and wrapping her arms around herself, tears forming in her eyes, she can’t control it, the fear is irrational but it’s taking her over.
    ‘Stay back, don’t touch me!’ River keeps on repeating the same thing over and over, saying it loudly to herself and those around her, trying to get them to understand, even though they all just look at her like she’s crazy. Oliver pushes through the baffled crowds, all of whom are staring at the young girl, who is hugging herself and screaming hysterically. There are whispered words around the crowd, people trying to work out what happened, asking if someone had hurt her, if she’d been mugged, and the man with the bracelets loudly defending his actions, to whoever would listen to his words of protest against River’s reaction.
    ‘I did nothing to her! I asked her to buy a bracelet, that’s it!’ He says to a small group who are listening to him, rather than staring at River.
    Oliver reaches her, holding his hands up in front of him, reassuring her that he’s not going to touch her.
    ‘River its ok, nobody’s going to hurt you, that man didn’t mean any harm.’ He edges closer, she raises her eyes and stops screaming, focusing on him and trying to block everyone else out.
    ‘I’m sorry, Oliver I’m so sorry.’ She pulls her arms away from herself, but still doesn’t move towards him, she’s still anxious about the crowds of people,