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"Is this guy fucking kidding?"
Kath ignored the hallucination and tried to focus on Dr. Miller's words. He was telling her about the tendencies of psychopaths, the subtle ways a lack of empathy may present itself in daily situations. And the small, surly woman Kath had been seeing everywhere, but who seemed to be invisible and inaudible to everyone else, was smoking a cigarette and staring in open disgust at Dr. Miller. Kath preferred to look at this woman, but only chanced it when the doctor looked away.
"No, I mean really" the woman pressed on in her deep, rather sultry voice "He seems more like an overconfident strippergram. How did this windbag get a job advising women on their mental state?"
"Would you please be quiet" Kath hissed. Dr. Miller went silent for a moment and then apologized gently. Kath wanted to tell him she hadn't been talking to him, but thought better of it at the last moment. Finally she asked
"How much time do we have left in this session?"
Dr. Miller informed her that they were only five minutes out, and could adjourn early if she was feeling overwhelmed. Kath accepted the offer. If she were going to indulge a hallucination, she'd rather do it in private.
Back in her cell, breathing deeply, eyes closed, Kath smelled the faintest hint of a cigarette, a ghost of a cigarette, and knew her figment had returned. She opened her eyes, and stared at the woman who wasn't there. She was looking out the window, and blowing smoke through it as if it were open. The image was so familiar to Kath. The shape of her, the movements, the single sardonic eyebrow cocked in question as she catches Kath's eye.
"Who... who are you?"
"I've told you before, that question is fucking insulting."
"Yes, I know. I don't wish to insult you-I... I know I know you"
"Understatement of the fucking century"
"This is not helping"
"Well neither is that brawny fucking quack, but you put up with him just fine"
Kath laughed. Everything this woman said, everything she did felt so... like home.
"Did I know you very long?"
The woman sat on the bed next to Kath and Kath could almost feel the woman stroke her hair.
"Not nearly long enough, babe"
And she was gone. It was so frustrating. The moment Kath felt close to the truth, it was like a switch flipped, and the circuit disconnected. She hated being this foggy. The times when she wasn't hallucinating she felt like a dinghy out at sea. Untethered. Alone. No oars. No sail. And being certain she was no match for the water.