Day 24: Intercom, Morning

[damned-intercom.livejournal.com]

The intercom clicked on in all its forced normalcy, the Head Doctor clearing his throat before he gave his usual string of orders.

"Ah, yes, first and foremost, I believe it's now time that our Group 2 batch of patients is taken from their rooms and introduced to our main population. Nurses, if you would be kind enough to oblige...? Thank you, and welcome to all the new faces!

"In other news, today is the day that we begin implementing our three-day therapy period for patients who need the most intensive treatment. We've in fact hired a new line of doctors to meet your needs, some of whom are specialized in psychology and others... well, others who have been assigned to patients with physical ailments relating to their mental instability. Those of you who have been assigned to attend therapy this shift will be escorted by nurses to your assigned doctor when your turn comes."

He coughed, then went through his normal routine of shuffling papers and fumbling when in truth, he most likely had a mind sharper than any number of tacks.

"Ah, here we go. As for the rest of you, it seems as if it's time for all patients to get some sun in the great outdoors! All patients in the cafeteria, please exit the doors to the east and west and head into the courtyard, please. Nurses, please keep a close eye on the patients so that they don't venture too close to the edge of the pond? Thank you!"

He paused, taking a deep breath before exhaling and ending his chipper update.

"I believe that's all! I trust you all have a pleasant and productive morning. Good day!"

[ Doctors: Same drill as last time, with each of you making your own post in this format: Day 24: Doctor's Office [Number], Dr. [Doctor Name]. Patients should respond to their respective doctor's post, each with their own thread. ]

Comments

[jei.livejournal.com]

The voice coming over the intercom brought Farfarello awake in an instant. Opening his eye, he stared up at the ceiling, seeing institutional off-white instead of skylights. He sat up, stretching his arms and struggling to remember the feeling of waking up with his body free to move as he pleased, no straightjacket to bind him.

Not in my cell. Where? Hospital? Farfarello recalled some of the gist of the intercom announcement, and scowled darkly. Mental hospital. If he was back in an institution, without a trial, without even a deportation hearing, without any memory of how he got here, there was only one reason for it.

They sold me out. Schwarz sold me out. Rage filled his head with red light and white noise and Farfarello went into predator-mode, slipping out of bed and moving to the foot of it to examine the desk for potential weapons. Later, he would wonder at the strangeness of it all, at an institution giving someone like him a room with furniture, without padded walls, with a roommate breathing quietly in the other bed. Right now, he only cared about venting his rage on the first nurse, orderly or doctor to come within his reach.

Farfarello lifted the plastic desk chair, evaluating it as a weapon. Pathetic. Barely useful even for sitting in, much less as a weapon, but it would have to do. Watching the door carefully now, the bulk of his attention on it, Farfarello tried tugging at a drawer sharply with his left hand, hoping to break the stops and pull it entirely free of the desk.

Even if the drawer didn't come free, he still had the chair, and it would be hurled at the head of the first person to come in the door. After that, it would be down to fists and feet for him, but he figured he could do some damage before they managed to catch him and throw him in restraints, like they should have done from the very start.

[damned-nurses.livejournal.com]

The door opened, slowly, the nurses who greeted new patients having learned long ago to stand back a bit before entering the room, just in case. They'd experienced everything from flying kicks and punches, hurled notebooks to furniture coming at them. Some patients just couldn't calm down on their own.

"Mr. Whelan?" The nurse called cheerfully, poking her head in the door. A pair of orderlies stood behind her. "Are you up?"

[jei.livejournal.com]

Farfarello kept the chair in his hand, narrowing his eye at the cautious entrance. If he threw it now, it would be wasted.

His gaze flickered briefly to the orderlies behind the nurse. Two. Small room. No weapons. Bad odds. But he was still too worked up for any kind of subterfuge, like pretending to put the chair down.

So Farfarello just snarled at the nurse, and gripped the chair hard enough that the plastic creaked.

[damned-nurses.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear.

"Mr. Whelan, just set down the chair," the nurse said, soothingly. "No one's going to hurt you. You're in a hospital." She kept her voice even, pleasant and friendly. It was always best to try and soothe confused and upset patients.

"Don't you remember coming here?" They rarely did. This place did seem to specialize in very severe disorders!

[jei.livejournal.com]

"I know damn well where I am!" Farfarello snarled again, and clenched his empty hand into a fist. Okay, he didn't know specifically where he was, but he'd been in and out places like these most of his life.

Or so he thought, anyway. He had, at any rate, been in and out of real institutions most of his life.

And then he suggested something anatomically unlikely for the nurse to do with the orderlies behind her.