Read Online The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar - Free Book Online Page B

onto the lush green lawn of the hospital for a second and then turned around. “Why this cannot open?” she asked.
    â€œWe’ve been through this before, Lakshmi.” Maggie fought to keep the impatience out of her voice. “It’s for your own safety.”
    â€œIn my village, many birds. All different-different color. But crow come and . . .”
    â€œLakshmi. Not today. Today we need to talk about the reason—” Maggie stopped midsentence, struck by a thought. “Is that why you did it? Because you are homesick? For your village?”
    Lakshmi shook her head briefly. “My home here, with my husband. I married woman.”
    â€œThen why?”
    Again silence. Lakshmi turned back to the window and stared out. Maggie followed her gaze out of the dark room and into the golden June afternoon. Lakshmi had not left this room from the day she’d arrived six days ago. The realization nauseated Maggie. Of course. That was what Lakshmi had been trying to tell her with the stories about the greenness of her village and its many birds.
    Maggie got up from her chair. “Come on,” she said. “We’re going for a walk.” The startled smile on Lakshmi’s face confirmed the rightness of her call.
    Patty, the head nurse, called out to them as they walked past the nurses’ station. “Dr. Bose?” she said. “I don’t think the patient is allowed to . . .”
    Maggie waved her away. “It’s okay, Patty,” she said. “I’ll sign her out.”
    They rode down the seven floors in silence, but Maggie was aware that Lakshmi was looking at her out of the corner of her eye. For the first time since she’d started working with her, Maggie felt in control. It was a good feeling. Over the years, she’d developed a reputation for being slightly unconventional in her treatments. The hospital staff had looked askance in the beginning, but there was no doubting her ability to work with the difficult cases, and in time, they had learned to trust her judgment. And private practice had taught her the value of flexibility: She had shut the blinds to her office to accommodate a patient who was talking about childhood incest for the first time; she had gone driving on several occasions with a male client who was afraid to drive over bridges; she had kept her eyes closed during an entire session as a patient slowly, hesitantly confessed to having had an affair with her husband’s brother; she had allowed a patient to arrive each week with a boom box because Mozart helped her relax. Whatever it took. She did whatever it took to help clients share their secrets with her.
    And if that meant walking around the hospital grounds with Lakshmi on a sunny afternoon, that was what they’d do. She already knew that the woman had a hard time maintaining eye contact. This way, Lakshmi didn’t have to look at her. And there was something conducive about talking as one walked, the rhythm of the feet allowing the tongue to move also.
    â€œIs it nice to be outside?” Maggie asked. “Get some fresh air?”
    â€œMadam, it so nice. I feels clean, like taking shower in sunshine.”
    Maggie smiled. “I thought you would like it.” She paused for effect and then started walking again, pulling on her lower lip in an exaggerated gesture. “You know, I just thought of something. Most people try suicide in the winter months. Around the holidays, that kind of thing. Unusual to have someone as young as you attempt it at such a lovely time of the year.”
    As she had anticipated, the younger woman’s eyes filled with tears. “I not doing on purpose, madam. I not thinking. I . . . I just feeling so sadly that day. Husband not home, also. I not thinking.”
    â€œYou mean you hadn’t planned it for weeks?”
    â€œNo, madam, I swears.” Lakshmi pulled at the skin near her Adam’s apple