Lucid Descent

Vanessa D Hayden

Published by Vanessa D Hayden

Copyright 2011 Vanessa D Hayden

Smashwords Edition

Cover by Raphael Mora Jr

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – the witching hour

Chapter 2 – the prescription

Chapter 3 – the falling snow

Chapter 4 – the memories

Chapter 5 – life in motion

Chapter 6 – doubt and answers

Chapter 7 – the ascent

Chapter 8 – sweet dreams

Chapter 9 – lucid dimensions

Chapter 10 – the victims

Chapter 11 – investigation

Chapter 12 – a beautiful nightmare

Chapter 13 – emergence

Chapter 14 – closure

Chapter 1 – the witching hour

Helen couldn’t sleep again. An upcoming trial was keeping her awake, and the file was beckoning her. It was a cold Monday morning just before 3am. She dragged herself out of bed and reviewed the case. Elliot Kelley was being tried for trespassing and public intoxication. Looking through the file, Helen re-familiarized herself with the details. Elliot had gotten drunk with some friends and was found passed out on a neighbor’s trampoline. As a minor, he may face additional jail time, which her boss wanted her to push. However, part of Helen was hoping to secure alcohol counseling instead. On Wednesday, Helen was trying him in court and needed to prepare. Her neck hurt, her back was sore and her eyes felt heavy. This was going to be the 12th time she appeared in court, but with each case, she felt more confident and better-prepared.

Helen graduated from Gonzaga Law 18 months ago, and was working hard to prove herself at work. She had landed her dream job in the DA’s office in Spokane, Washington. Working as an assistant DA gave her a sense of purpose, even if she was only handling misdemeanor cases. The work was hard, but worth it. Even if it meant that she was in her robe at 3am reviewing Elliot’s upcoming trial.

Late nights were nothing new to her. During her 2nd year of law school, she discovered that she did her best work at night when it was quiet. Her mind was more focused, and she remembered more material than during the day.

She pressed on through the early morning and finished with a good set of notes. The coffee maker’s grinder woke her up and she knew that she still had 20 minutes until she had to get ready for the day. She hated mornings like this; cloudy, cold, and indicative that winter was not quite gone. Late January in Spokane is always bleak, full of grey skies, cold weather and the ever-present possibility of snow. Helen forced herself to stand up, feed the cats and run a shower. The hot water woke her up and gave her a jolt of energy. Standing in her robe and drinking her coffee, she prepared for the day. Her boss, Robert, needed a report on her 4 vandalism cases and shoplifting case by the end of the week. As busy as she was, she always made time to meet Denise once a week after work to commiserate over dinner.

Denise had become a good friend over the last 3 years. Denise worked as a detective for the city, and they had developed a great friendship. Sometimes, it felt like Denise was the only person she could count on. After her divorce, Helen was reluctant to begin a relationship and hadn’t developed many new friendships in the 5 years she had lived in Spokane. Helen’s drive stood in the way of relationships and a social life. Helen was focused on her career, and on becoming a great lawyer for the city. The summer before graduation, Helen earned an internship with the DA’s office, and as her graduation date approached, she was offered a job as an Assistant DA. When Helen decided to go to law school, she wasn’t sure what field she wanted to go into, but became interested criminal law after her first year and set her sights on being a prosecutor after that. The opportunity with the DA’s office was a blessing, but stressful. Fortunately, as she worked more cases and put in the time, she earned her own office, her own case load and her own legal assistant, Regina.

Finishing her last cup of coffee, Helen looked at the diplomas above her desk. Whenever she felt tired or needed a shot of confidence, she looked at her diplomas and awards. Today, she couldn’t help but think of how far she had come. As a teenager, she was aimless and changed her mind on what she wanted to be almost weekly. When she enrolled in college, she declared Business as her major, at her parents’ behest. They thought that a business curriculum would force her to focus and give her a good probability of success later in life. During her first year, she switched majors, without telling her parents, to journalism. She enjoyed writing and interviewing people and thought that journalism would be a great fit. It wasn’t. In her junior year, she found her calling after she took a speech class where she discovered that she excelled at argumentation, persuasion and leadership. She transferred to the Communications program and graduated with honors. Unfortunately, the job market was bleak, and her dream job in PR was unattainable. After searching for a job for 3 months, Helen accepted an offer from a law firm to be an administrative assistant, and enjoyed the work more than she thought she would. After working in the field for a short time, Helen respected the attorneys she worked for, and after a conversation with her boss, decided to apply to law school. Helen spent the next year studying for LSATs and got a great score. She applied to 10 different law schools and was accepted at 3 of them. She chose Gonzaga because she liked the campus, the college had a good reputation and it was far enough away from home, but close enough to allow Helen to visit when the occasion called for it. However, she eventually came to love Gonzaga especially because it was far away, and after she stopped communicating with her parents, loved the distance between them. The alarm rang, and Helen realized that she didn’t have time to dwell on her strained relationship with her parents. She finished her coffee, and left her home.

Helen hopped on her bike and made her way to the DA’s office. She had shortened her commute time dramatically. When she began riding her bike, it took her over 30 minutes to get to school, but she shortened her time to 20 minutes, and riding to work now took her only 12 minutes. Coming home, uphill, was difficult, but substantially easier than it was 2 years earlier. Riding her bike to work gave Helen the energy to get through the demands of her job and helped her focus on the hard cases. Riding a bike was also an active activity. While she was a law student, she often caught herself falling asleep on her way home, and she was finally motivated to ride her bike as much as possible after she had a close call. One night after a long lecture and study session, she fell asleep for a few seconds and swerved into the oncoming lane. The sound of the car’s horn woke her up, and she slammed on the brakes. Her heart pounding, Helen drove home wide awake and full of adrenaline. She ran into her home and cried on her husband’s shoulder. After that, she promised herself that she would never drive home after a long day. Always up for a challenge, Helen began riding her bike everywhere.

At work, Helen kept 4 suits in her office and changed when she arrived. At the end of the day, she changed back into her biking clothes, and always made a point of dropping off her suits to the cleaners every week. She had developed a good routine, and that was one less stress in her busy life. As soon as she was dressed and her hair was pinned, she dove into her work.

Her day was going by quickly, but she was getting tired. She yawned at her desk and struggled to stay awake. Helen forced herself to get another cup of coffee and took her work into the conference room where it was brighter, easier to work, and the office noise helped her focus. She organized everything for the trial and began looking her vandalism cases. A 15 year kid had been caught painting graffiti on bus stops and traffic signs. His court date was next week, but Helen couldn’t focus on the details of the case. She leaned on her arm to read the notes from the arresting officer, and closed her eyes to rest them for 5 seconds. When she woke up, the entire office was staring at her through the window.

Robert knocked on the door and asked if they could talk. Helen pulled a chair out for him.

Helen, I know how demanding this job is, and I know how stressful case loads can get. But we’re all concerned about you. This is the 5th time in as many weeks that you have fallen asleep at your desk, in the lunch room, or in here. I don’t know if it’s just sleep deprivation, or something more serious, but I want you to see a doctor.

I don’t need a doctor, I need these cases to stop piling up.

We all need the cases to stop piling up. If only we lived in that universe. However, in the here and now, it would benefit you to see a sleep specialist.

Robert looked through his wallet for a business card. Dr. Reynolds in an expert in sleep therapy, and he has helped a lot of people in this office sleep better.

Robert handed Helen Dr. Reynolds’ card, but she was reluctant to take it. Please. You’re no good to us if you’re asleep every day.

Helen fixed her hair, and reluctantly took the card and promised she would go. After work, she rode home in a cloud and fell asleep on the couch. Again, she awoke at 2am and sat at her desk, focusing on her work. By 6am, Helen felt exhausted and decided to rest on the couch while the coffee finished brewing. She closed her eyes and felt her cats snuggle beside her. At 7:30, the alarm rang, jolting Helen from the couch. She sat straight up and panicked that she was going to be late. She did her best to fix herself up and get dressed for the ride to work, but dread swept over her. Helen realized she didn’t have enough time to bike to work, and grabbed her car keys. She arrived at work 10 minutes late and raced to the bathroom to get dressed and fix her hair. For the first 2 hours of work, Helen kept punishing herself for being late, but after Robert assured her that everything was fine, Helen could focus on her work. She spent the rest of the day preparing for trial. Working through lunch, she was still busy when everyone else was preparing to leave for the day. Working through the evening and ordering delivery, Helen didn’t notice that it was almost 9 until the cleaning crew came in. They worked around her, and at 10:30, Helen decided to call it a day. Helen yawned as she made her way to the parking lot, and made an audible grunting sound when she sat in her car.

I sound like an old woman, Helen told herself.

She closed her eyes and waited for the car to warm up. The sound of an ambulance got her attention, and she forced herself to stay awake. Helen pulled out of the parking lot and made her way north and used the radio to keep her awake. While she waited at the light, she let her mind drift back to her work. New cases came in everyday, and Helen knew she would have to get used to the workload of misdemeanor cases before she could even think about moving up. Helen knew that she had the drive and intelligence to be promoted, but wasn’t sure if she had the energy.

The light turned green, and she stepped on the gas and made her way up the Post hill. Her house was a few blocks past the hill on the right side. Almost home, her eyes felt heavy, and Helen briefly drifted into the left lane of traffic. An oncoming car with its brights on woke her up. Frightened, she quickly swerved to miss the car, but lost control and hit a fire hydrant. Her head hit the airbag.

6 hours later, Helen woke up in the hospital with a doctor questioning her about her accident.

Helen, we did a toxicology screen and did not find any alcohol or drugs in your system, so that’s the good news.

The bad news?

Helen, did you fall asleep at the wheel?

I think so. Did anyone get hurt?

No. You hit a hydrant, but no one got hurt. You hit your head on the airbag, but you’re fine otherwise. Your car sustained major damage, but the important thing is that you’re OK and didn’t hurt anyone else. I’m curious, do you often fall asleep at the wheel?

I usually bike to and from work, but I was in a hurry today.

Do you usually have bouts of insomnia?

I think so. Helen rubbed her head and felt the stitches along her forehead.

You may or may not know this, but sleep-deprived driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving. As far as I know, no one will be pressing any charges against you, but you need to do something to make sure that something like this won’t happen again. Have you ever seen a sleep specialist?

My boss, Robert Hansen, DA, recommended I see Dr. Reynolds. I blew it off, though.

I would advise you to see him. I’ve heard wonderful things about Dr. Reynolds, and whatever is preventing you from getting a good night’s sleep should be examined. I’m not sure if you have his card, but I’ll have my nurse call his office in the morning and setup an appointment for you.

Thank you. Wait, what time is it?

It’s 5am.

Helen sat up, looking for her clothes and purse. I need to be at work in 3 hours.

"What you need is to get some rest. I’ll put