Out of Their Minds

She put the lid on the bottle, her hands shaking as she tossed the bottle into the sink. It fell on it’s side, the yellow liquid in the enclosed bottle, taunting her. They had forced her to touch it. She wanted to cry as she thought of the germs all over her hands. She quickly ran for the sink, and turned the water on to its hottest temperature. She grabbed the soap and scrubbed her hands feverishly. The scalding water burned her hands, but she ignored the pain as she continued to rinse, using most of the bar of soap in the few minutes she was given before the nurse opened the door. She grabbed the wet bottle from the sink.

“Water.” Skye said as her eye gave a twitch, “But I’m not done yet.” The nurse nodded and quickly closed the door again. She quickly slid the knife from under gown and sat down on the floor. She looked at the dirty tiles with distaste. She quickly began to hit the edges of the tile with her knife, in short gentle touches. She continued until she could wedge her knife under. She continually looked at the door, as she slowly lifted the knife up, wedging the tile off the floor. She quickly slid the tile and knife under her shirt, attaching it to her chest with the tape she kept on her.

She quickly got up, flushing the toilet. She went to the sink, and rinsed her hands off as the door opened again. Her eye gave a twitch.

“I’ll kill you!” her voice bellowed. The nurse grabbed her hands, and walked her from the bathroom. She was brought to her room, left with the door still open.

“You can go play if you’d like.” The nurse said, walking from her view.

Skye quickly slid her new treasure and her knife inside her pillow, and headed out her door. She had some blocks to build.

 

Glenny got out of bed and slid the shoes he had waiting for him at the side of the bed, on.

With the cup in hand, he went to his door and opened it. He peeked out to see a few doctors and nurses roaming the halls, so he decided not to cause any funny business at risk of another frantic day. Stiffening to look as calm as possible, he stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him.

"Be casual."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, whistle or something."

He strode down the hall, and started to whistle.

"Shh!" a nurse said.

"I don't want these patients going crazy!" she told him in a hissful whisper.

"Nice going Glen."

"Hey, it was your idea!"

When he reached the bathroom, he looked at his cup smugly, and wondered what the meaning of it could be. He hated it when they demanded things of him. He looked back up at the door, and then turned.

"Don't follow me." he told Ramses, and kicked it open.

 

Ambriel was sitting on her bed when the the nurse came to her room.

"Excuse me, Ms. McSean...Francine will see you...but you need to go now.

Ambriel, was surprised to get in so soon....actually she was surprised to hear anything at all. Looking in her mirror she pulled her hair down and let if fall across her shoulders...she pinched her cheeks in an attempt to add a little color to her pale face. Francine was a friend not so long ago, Ambriel wanted to keep some dignity when she saw her again.

"Okay, I am ready...let's go." Ambriel turned and grabbed the note from under a book on her table. She could feel her pulse quicken as she got closer to the Francine's office.

Upon approaching her door Ambriel could her talking...but she couldn't make out what she was saying...clearly Francine was conversation with someone. The nurse knocked on the door, opened it, and stuck her head in. In a second she was looking at Ambriel and motioning for her to enter.

Once inside, Ambriel looked around...nothing much had changed. Francine hadn't changed anything in the year and a half she had known her. Francine seemed a bit more pale herself and the strain from the job was taking it's toil on her face.

"Hello, Francine...I know this is awkward, but I needed to talk to you and I needed it to be now." She paused and watched Francine rub her temples, and then continued.
"I can't remember anything about the day I committed myself Fran...hell, I can't remember the first two or three weeks. That is where you come in, I need you to fill in the blanks for me."

Her old friend was obviously at a loss for words..."Are you sure you want to get into this rigth now, Ambriel?"

"Yes, I am Fran...look you sent me the note and I figured you were going to answer my questions." Ambriel spoke, watching Francine's face. She noticed her forehead wrinkled a bit..."You did send the note didn't you?...Look, I just want to know about the day I signed that paper...tell me what I need to know about my state of mind and I will be out of your hair." Ambriel, thought of the note...she wondered if indeed the note was legitimate or not. Suddenly, John's name came to her mind.

 

He woke, staring at the dull, yellow bulb above him. He couldn't move. He was feeling happy and contented. It had been a long time since he had felt those types of emotions. He looked down both of his sides. He was strapped down at the shoulders and wrists. He had slowly come to realization of what had occured, remembering vividly his horrifying last encounter with his tormentors. He had been in a coma for who knows how long.

He shook, trying to release himself of the bonds that held him to the bed. Whispers began to drowned out the silence of the room. He was hearing laughs and discouraging words toward him.

A sinister voice broke through the quiet whispers, "You're too weak. You can't break free, just like you can't get rid of us".

"It's alright lad, you can stay here forever, it's quite comfortable" said a cheery english voice.

"ROT....ROT!" wailed a voice.

He closed his eyes, tears flowing from the sides of his eyes from him squeezing them shut. He wanted to leave this place. He wanted to leave his mind behind and walk into a void to be erased forever. "Why me?". The question echoed throughout his mind. They all laughed. He was pathetic. He would try to break free, and leave this place and these demons behind.

 

Bleh, double posteh.

 

"Give me one good reason, you're still working on this."
"I have to report to military tomorrow at nine. If I don't, I'll be shot dead."
"Other than that."
"I'm bored."
"Go play chess with Lomac. he's having a tough time in the electric chair."
"Says who?"
"Says me. Poor he, I wish you guys could just let him die."
"Yeah, Dr. Tubelight."

The door swung open, and Ambriel entered. I acted as though I was sitting idly in the room.
"Hello, Francine...I know this is awkward, but I needed to talk to you and I needed it to be now."
She paused and watched me rub my temples, and then continued.
"I can't remember anything about the day I committed myself Fran...hell, I can't remember the first two or three weeks. That is where you come in, I need you to fill in the blanks for me."

I sighed. The reports were not very nice, and I couldn't get myself to read them out to her. I was obviously at a loss for words.
"Are you sure you want to get into this right now, Ambriel?"
"Yes, I am Fran...look you sent me the note and I figured you were going to answer my questions." Ambriel spoke, watching my face. She probably noticed my forehead wrinkle a bit. Why, I just hated John for what he did. What was he trying to prove?
"You did send the note didn't you?...Look, I just want to know about the day I signed that paper...tell me what I need to know about my state of mind and I will be out of your here."

I nodded, and reached for my drawer handle.
"Of course I wrote the note...it wasn't confusing was it?"
I had a gut feeling it was something stupid, therefore i was hoping she'd show it to me. Somehow...
"Liar. That John wrote the note. Tell her."
Martha spoke from behind. I ignored her just like Ambriel who didn't even hear anyone or anything.
"Here."
I pulled out a thick stack of papers, and went through them. Martha was feeling ignored, which she definitely was, and decided to disturb me. She cleared her throat and started singing in her horrendous voice.
"If only I were like you!!!! I would be a beautiful hueeee..."
I groaned and looked towards Martha who kept singing the stupid, depressing song.
"Fran...Doctor, everything okay?"
Ambriel asked, and I smiled.
"Yes, yes. Just having a terrible headache."

I then started reading a little bit of the information, when Martha stopped singing and started a whole new chapter in her annoying style.
"Oh, I'm a Rabbi. Good ol' Rabbi. I love God. Pluck, pluck."
I could hardly contain my anger. If only Ambriel could leave...that Martha was going to get it.
"Moses on the mountain top, me on the bottom, achoooo-"
Before Martha could do something more, I lost my cool.

"JUST SHUT UP!"
Ambriel looked at me a horrified face.
"Fran-ncine?"
I reminded myself of the need to keep my cover. Martha was sealed up by now, therefore I took advantage.
"Oh...that wasn't for you, Ambriel...thing is, new...new psychiatric technique, yes! We...copy a certain disorder, by acting on it...like I'm copying...Tourette's, yes...random dialogues...helps in treatment."
Ambriel eyed me worriedly but nodded anyway. I cleared my throat and went back to the reports.

"Your condition is not very severe, but it's complicated. I mean to say that it's going to take at least five more weeks of medication to determine on what level of severity it really is, and how to treat it. Basically, you have nightmare terrors and some amount of paranoia. It'll be fine, though. You can judge your luck by the fact that you have not been recommended for electric shocks or any other vile treatment."
Ambriel was not happy, but I had other things to worry about.
"You pain. Why don't you tell her that she's gonna die."
I shrugged off Martha and smiled at Ambriel.
"Anything else?"

 

"I just can't understand how you can keep finishing your pills, Noah." The nurse sighed but handed him another orange bottle of the little white pills. "These aren't vitamins or whatever. These are anti-depressives. I'm gonna have to file a report on you, you understand? This is getting me worried."

Noah smiled softly at the nurse and nodded, turning the lid of the bottle to take just one of the pills and swallow it.

"I understand. I promise I'm quite alright." He turned away, face contorting into a emotionless visage. Noah slumped over a couch, there wasn't anyone to talk with at the moment, and the people who were around he didn't feel like talking to them.

"I'm not feeling like my chirpy self today...."

 

She walked through the hallway, touching her nose in intervals. It had a white bandage over it, and pained her greatly. She took note of every spot that she knew of, and noted more on the way. Spots, she hated those spots. Though for now it wasn’t what she hated the most.

Her thoughts moved to Francine. She had let that man shoot her friend. She wouldn’t forgive her, in fact she didn’t plan on talking to her again. She furrowed her brow and turned the corner, entering the playroom. She took note of man sitting on the couch. She pulled a smile on her face, and grabbed the box of blocks.

She sat a few feet in front of the couch the man sat at and looked up at him as she dumped the blocks onto the floor. She quickly put the blocks into their individual color piles, and looked up at him.

“Hello.” She said, trying to sound cheery. Though, she definitely didn’t feel cheery, “I’m Skye.” Her eye gave a violent twitch.

“I’ll bash your head in!” her voice screamed. She blushed.

“What’s your name?” Skye said faintly.

 

Noah turned his head groggily towards the girl, attempting to give a semblance of a smile. "Hello. I'm Noah."

He opened his bottle again and popped another pill into his mouth, this time he managed a more honest smile. "Whatcha doing? Building blocks? Oh, you were that girl talking with the doctor this morning."

Noah sat up a little better, letting his fake red colored bangs slip over his eyes before brushing them away. Red. He felt like having a little more red on himself, maybe on his arms, his ankles. Just a little line of liquid red would look so artistic on his pale skin.

The blocks sung to him as the girl pilled them up, and he smiled a little more. Each and everyone of them spoke in a different voice, with a different tone, with a different pitch, with a different feeling. He felt like shutting them up. The smile remained on his face.

 

“Blocks.” Skye said, as she piled the blocked by size, keeping them as perfectly straight as she could. “Yes.” As soon as they were in their towers, she concentrated on making them perfectly straight.

“Doctor Klesps and Doctor Gregor.” She finally said. She looked at him apologetically. She didn’t mean to ignore him. She cursed under her breath as the largest blue block fell from it’s place.

“What brings you here, Noah?” she finally asked. She looked at the pills in his hand, but didn’t say anything about them. She quickly placed the blue block back in it’s place. Her eye gave a twitch.

 

"I was thinking..." he answered. The blocks now sang in tune, more or less, there were still too many pitches.

"I guess I'm waiting for my mom." He smiled, looking down at his orange bottle of pills. Plastic didn't make a good cutter, the best was to use something metallic or made of glass. Wood was pretty bad too.

"And you? What's a little girl doing all by herself?"

 

Her eyes grew angry at that word. Mom. She looked up at him, trying to return to her friendly gaze. Her eye gave another twitch.

“I’ll f**king kill you!” she bellowed. She turned away, grabbing the biggest of all the blocks, placing them in their spots.

“My grandparents were afraid of me.” She said trying to hold back the sadness. She didn’t want to think of the day she had been put in this place. The day her Grandparents had finally got tired of her, just like her mother and father. A shiver went down her spine as she thought of her father. She hated the lot of them, but more so… she hated him.

“I’m here until I’m old enough to live on my own.” She said bitterly, “If they let me out that is.”

Her eyes were brought to the spot on the wall. She eyed it angrily, but turned her gaze as she watched the orderly walk in. She had to act normal, or she would never get out when the time came.

“Why do they let you take your pills on your own?” she asked, pointing to the bottle, “They don’t let many do that. You must be normal.” The last word came out bitterly, but she tried to hide it with a smile. Her eye gave another violent twitch.

 

Noah was unfazed by her sudden outburst. She was sick, poor little girl, she needed to be understood. Just like he did sometimes.

"I like to think I am. Although sometimes I don't really feel like it." He toyed with the bottle a little bit, eyeing it carefully.

"These are my happy pills. I have to take them when I feel sad and just one. But I gotta confess..." he moved a little closer to Skye to whisper to her, it wouldn't be good if he overheard what he was about to say. "Sometimes, I take a lot more than one at a time. So maybe they're not working anymore."

 

She looked at his pills and back at him, as she sat on the couch next to him.

“My mother did that once.” She said, thinking back. She barely remembered it. She hadn’t been that old, when her mother had taken too many of her pills. She didn’t see her for over a week, but when she got back she seemed different. She wasn’t the same.

“I didn’t like her much after that,” she said biting her lip, “Pills change people you know.”

She dangled her legs down, and looked over the rest of the room as the orderly came her way. It was Jason, and this time his shirt was finely pressed.

“Miss Skye,” he said, “It’s time for your medications.” He looked at her emotionlessly. She frowned, almost feeling bad for her actions. Another person to hate her. She took the pills and the water from him and gave him a weak smile.

“Thank you.” She said, sliding the pills into her mouth. She expertly slipped them under her tongue, and drank the water in one gulp. She quickly used her tongue to slide the pills into the top of her throat. She opened her mouth, as he checked.

He gave her a nod and walked from the room. She waited a few more seconds before coughing, and maneuvering her throat, as the pills fell back into the cup.

“I don’t like my pills.” She said, “They make me feel funny.” She quickly slid the cup inbetween the couch cushions.

 

"I understand. They used to give me a lot more pills before....Well, I can't remember when it was but I took a lot more and they just knocked me out. Then they took me to live with this lady and she gave some orange pills every day and every night and I felt like....really hyper. Finally I just got these from my mom, she said to take one whenever I felt sad or something...."

Noah slipped the bottle into his pocket. "I talked a lot don't I? My ex used to say that."

 

Ambriel was sure Francine was hiding something...her voice was strained and forced. The one sided conversation came back to her thoughts.
"So, you are hearing them too..." Ambriel wanted to say it out loud but thought better of it. Francine was different, something was a miss and Ambriel knew she would''t be getting any solid answers here.

"I think I have taken way too much of your time Fran, thank you for seeing me." She stood up and extended her hand. Francine took hold of it and the two just looked at each other.

"Okay, well I need too go lie down, I am feeling a bit tired." Ambriel walked to the door, paused, and said in an eerie whisperd voice she hardly recognized as her own. "Oh and Fran...your secret friend will never stop talking...never stop...never stop...they never go away" Ambriel turned and walked away...leaving the note behind on her desk, she had scribbled, "Liar, it was John."

Once the door was closed tight behind her...she thought about Skye...it was a good time for blocks.

 

I trembled in trepidition as Ambriel left. She knew. She knew everything.
Evermore, she caught me lying. It wasn't that horrible a thing, though. She was always smart and would catch me lying whenever I did. But she knew.

"Doesn't matter, Francine. No one will believe a paranoid as her."
Martha's voice echoed in the room, and she moved closer to me. I gave her an angry look and scolded her:
"Just mark a safe distance from me. Oh - I swear, I hate you. You and your stupid talking."
Martha didn't like me angry and immediately grabbed me by my shoulder, speaking softly:
"Oh no, my dear. I promise never to talk during counseling sessions or whatever again. I'll go in the garden for the time. Promise."
I shook my head, sobbing.
"You've made many such promises in my teens."
"I was a child then."
"You'll always be."
I opened my drawer and looked underneath all the paperwork and clutter. Other than my gun, there was a small bottle with pinkish-red pills.
"I should've never stopped medication."
I swallowed hard, and pulled the bottle out. Marth'as eyes widened and she clutched my cheeks in fear.

"Please, Francine! I promise to be quiet! Please!"
"I'm sorry Martha. I made a mistake by stopping my dosage. I should've known better."
"Please Francine - aren't my tears real enough for you?"
Her foggy eyes looked into mine, at which I screamed:
"That's the point! I'm starting to think you're real again. When you don't even exist!"
Martha felt offended, and back away as I took my medication.

"You can never hide from this disease by wishing me away Francine. You are schizophrenic, and one day everyone will know."

 

The orderly came in to check on Gregor's bandages.

"Charlie, isn't it?'' asked "Dr" Handel.

The orderly nodded.

"You were Jerold's friend? Weren't you."

"No ... no sir," said Charlie rather quickly.

"Does he do that Klesps? I never noticed. Well, thank you - honestly I don't know what I would do without your keen observations. Charlie, did you know your left eye twitches when you lie? Dr. Klesps has been studying you and a few others. Now, Jerold and you had a bit of a side business going, didn't you?"

Charlie stood up. "I don't want any trouble. Jerold .... yea he did some stuff. I needed the money. I don't miss him. I'm sure you ... I'm sure he got what he deserved."

"But you still need money, don't you?"

Charlie stared at that patient. His eyes darted around the room looking for anyone listening. The orderly nodded quickly.

Gregor smiled and held out two bottles. "I think there's enough in each one of these for you to have a very nice goign out of business sale."

Charlie nodded again. "What do you want."

"A phone number and a cell phone. I have an important call to make."

 

Ambriel entered the Playroom looking for Skye...she saw her sitting on the couch with Noah, and her blocks. She wondered if the little girl would be glad to see her or if she would blame her, for allowing those common road house bullies to force her from the safety of Ambriel's arms. "I can't blame you if you hate me kid...I wish I could have done more."

Looking around the room she noticed the card table...it sat empty. For a second she actually missed Gregor and his card playing antics. Now the chairs sat as a memorial...the only presence was..."Klesps?" Ambriel, rubbed her eyes..."God, now they have you believing in invisible men...get a grip girl." She looked back at his chair...did it move? Ambriel wondered what Gregor would think if he saw her questioning the reality of Klesps. A smile crossed her lips as she remembered their last conversation.

In all the time she had been there she never once spoke to Gregor...always choosing to avoid him. "Hell, Ambree, you didn't speak to anybody unless you had too."
It dawned on her..."Gregor was here before me...I wonder if he can tell me anything about the first few weeks I was here?" She thought out loud, causing some of the patients and a nurse to look in her direction.
"Don't draw attention to yourself now, just keep it low." Ambriel sat down at the card table while keeping an eye on Skye.
"I wonder if Gregor could be a help...I mean...I wonder if he can be trusted or sound minded enough to give me a solid answer?" The questions turned over and again in her mind.
"Go to his room...he is waiting for you..." It was the voice again...her day would get much more interesting.

 

Niel woke up the the sound of his door opening. Niel looked up at the door and saw a beautiful women coming in. She was blond with blue eyes. Niel sat up and says "Um....hi there, I'm Niel. Who are you?" The woman looked made sure to look at Niel in the eyes. They looked so kind and innocent, it was hard to believe that this was the same guy that she had reports on, about fighting during the riot, attacking an orderly and nearly killing his step-father. "Hi there I'm Dr. Emily Taylor. I'm here to talk to you about Chaos." Niel sat up to talk to the doctor, knowing that what she was probably going to say to him.

"I want to know why you attacked an orderly yesterday." says Dr. Taylor. "I didn't, Chaos did. He only attacked Kyle after Kyle shoved me a couple of times and kept insulting me." says Niel. "There is no Chaos. You were the one that attacked Kyle. Kyle has a repution for abusing the patients, so I believe you when you say that he shoved and insulted you. But it was you that got angry and attacked him." says Dr. Taylor. "I knew that you wouldn't believe in Chaos." says Niel. Dr. Taylor asks Niel "Do you truly believe that you have a person living in your head." Niel smiles and says "Yes I do." The doctor realized this was getting her now where, so she asks Niel "May I speak to Chaos."

Niel's eyes change from light to dark. Chaos says "I'm suprised you want to talk to someone you think doesn't exist." The doctor ignored what Chaos said and asked him "Why do you think Niel's mind created you." Chaos says "I think there was a time when Niel and I were one person. But after our father died fear set in and our mind didn't know how to react. Part of our mind wanted to be comforted, and tried its best not to lose its innocents and kindness. But another part of our mind thought the best way to deal with the lost was to become cynical towards life and deal with the nightmares by becoming fearless." Chaos smiles, looks at the doctor and says "You know doc, the mind is quite the powerful tool. It is only limited by one's imagination. Our mind decided that the way to deal with the situation was to split our personality. One of the personalities is innocent, very social and loves to be comforted. That personality decided to take the same name that the original personality had, Niel. The other personality became cynical, sarcastic, competitive, and fearless. That personality took on the name Chaos. The day that Niel and I met was the day that we were both created."

The doctor writes down what Chaos said and says "That is an interesting theory you have. However, it is unlikely that that story is true. There is no Chaos, I am speaking to Niel right now. A mind can only have one personality." Chaos says "Is there any paticular reason you believe that." The doctor says "There is no evidence that says that two people living in one mind is possible." Chaos looks at the cross on her necklace and asks "Are you a christian." Dr. Taylor says "Yes. I'm a born-again christian to be precise." Chaos asks "What proof do you have that god exists." The doctor says "I feel him in my heart." Chaos says "Wow. So you are willing to believe that an invisible man in the sky watches over us without any real evidence, but yet you don't think its possible that two people can live in one mind. Thats some interesting logic you have there doc." The doctor becomes annoyed and says "I think that is all the time we have for today Niel. I'll speak to you later." as she leaves the room.

 

Skye’s eye gave a twitch as she looked back over at Ambriel. Her annoyed face way quickly changed to a broad smile, as she grabbed Noah’s hand, and gave it a shake. She looked at the blocks, and back at Ambriel. Quickly she jumped over the back of the couch, and ran towards her, stopping just in front of her. She pulled herself onto her lap. She placed her head on her shoulder and looked up.

“Morning Miss Ambriel.” She said with a bright smile.

Her gaze moved to the table. It was Gregor and Klesps table, with a pack of cards in the middle. Her eyes went teary, as she thought of the evening before. She quickly flicked her nose. The sudden pain brought her back.

“Do you think he’s okay?” she asked.

 

"Thank you Charlie," said Gregor as he took the cell phone. "Now run along."

"But ... I .... the phone it's -"

The smile dropped from "Dr." HAndel's face. "Wait outside. The less you know about what I'm going to do the better. If anyone asks, I'll swear I stole the phone. Now go!"

As the door closed, Grgeor turned towards the bathroom. "Yes Klesps, perhaps I was a bit hard on him but really he could get fired. What? Why would he be scared of me? I'm just a doctor and doctor's help people. Oh - well yes, I guess maybe he might be scared of catching germs. Hmm ... I never thought of that." Gregor quickly dialed the number after a couple of rings a recorded message played.

... after the beep, thank you

 

I walked out of my office to the right where I entered aisle two. I walked down, rubbing my hands as I experience nervousness and excitement at the same time. A nurse stood at Lamia's door.
"I've been waiting. What took you so long?"
I tried to recall what happened after I took the medication. I think I passed out, but I wasn't sure. I remembered standing in front of mirror randomly, after which I looked at the clock and freaked out.
"Sorry."
I spoke plainly and walked inside, eyeing worriedly a young girl wearing the hospital dress. She glared at me with a very heinous look.

"I'm not mentally ill, by the way."
She started, and I nodded.
"I'm not here for a session with you, Lamia. Your orphanage instructed me to deal with you separately, and I'm here for a urine sample from you."
Her eyes narrowed at me. She nodded, and then spoke:
"But we haven't had a session since yesterday."
"What does it matter?"

I was acting rather rude, a side effect of a sudden and extremely high dosage of the medication. Lamia suddenly started sobbing, and I was compelled to ask:
"What now?"
"Nothing. It's just that, I haven't been allowed out of my room for so long..."
"Lamia, you will be allowed out as soon as we complete a few more sessions."
"Please don't call me that. I'm Kasie, and Kasie alone."
I sighed, and then unwillingly patted her head.

"You are Lamia, not Kasie. Kasie is nothing more than an imagination inside of your head, a fragment of your personality. Now, Lamia, I want -"
"I don't care what you want. I am not crazy, you get it? And stop calling me Lamia!"
I saw her mood turn violent, and so I prepared myself for defense.
"You are Lamia, and nothing else. Do you understand?"
"Who are you to tell me that, you witch! I'm Nakshatra, you get it!"
She reached for my throat, and I slapped her hands away.

"No Lamia. We will be nonviolent and cooperative. You listen to me and then I'll listen to you. You are Lamia, not anyone else. If you start accepting that, I will let you out."
She looked at me insecurely, and then sighed.
"Alright, it's a deal. I'm Lamia, no one else. Not like you'd like me as Asia."
I shook my head, and then rubbed her hand.
"You are a part of Lamia, dear. You are all existing, but as one, not four."
She then smiled, and I found my jolly self slowly returning.

"Now, let's do another activity. You need to urinate in this cup, please."
She looked nervously at the cup, and readily nodded. She probably wanted to leave this place. I watched her go in the bathroom, and waited. In a minute or so, she was outside.
"There. Now, can I go outside and do something?"
"Sure, why not."
I opened the door for her, and she inhaled the fresh air.
"I think I'll go to the gardens first."
She grinned and ran out of the building. I smiled; that was me a while back.

 

Ambriel looked down in Skye's face....the sadness in her eyes touched Ambriel in such a way as she had never felt before.

"Listen to me Skye, Gregor and Klesps are just fine...I promise you, they will be alright." For a moment she considered her own words...she knew Gregor had cards he never showed. She knew he would survive if none of the rest of them did. She also knew Skye would survive because she was going to do whatever it took too make sure it happened.

"Skye, would you like to see Gregor and Klesps?" Ambriel knew she was taking a big chance, but this child needed faith and reassurance in something besides lies and hard times.

"What are you doing girl?" Ambriel thought too herself as she waited for Skye's response...the question didn't phase her, this visit to Gregor would serve a two fold purpose.

 

A message left on Dr. Francine's answering machine.
Hello Dr. Francine,


This is Dr. Gregor Handel. Your collegues, Dr. Klesps and myself have been talking. I think you may have taken on a bit more than you can handle. A riot, improperly medicated patients, one patient shot by the military. You know who would love to hear about this? The newspapers and the ACLU. I think we need to talk. I’m sure that if the three of us put out heads together, we can find some solution. BTW, I know you are scared of the gentleman who shot me. Maybe Dr. Klesps and I can help. Klesps was very upset about how Skye and some of the others were treated. I hate putting you in this situation, but I guess you must decide who do you fear more, John or me. If anything should happen to me. If John should get out of control and kill me, the papers and the ACLU will receive the appropriate documentation. Now maybe they won’t believe me, but they will believe seven bullet holes and a shattered thigh bone. You really should be more careful with x-rays. I look forward to hearing from you tonight.

What? Oh OK, if you insist. Klesps wants you to know that this wasn’t his idea and he’s sorry to have bothered you at home. Really Klesps, would you go a bit lighter on the aftershave? Yea, I know you are a ladies man but please we are in a confined space and I have t- BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP