Day 62: Doctor's Office 2 (Prof. Layton) [Second Shift]

[puzzle4thought]

Alright, his second day on the job. Hopefully, it would go much smoother than the first, although he knew that psychology could be an unpredictable field. Some patients had to be more volatile, some more sedate. It was nothing like archaeology, where the things he worked with were rather ancient (the people included...) as well as expired. Results could be strange or bizarre, yes, but at least they had some modicum of probability. People, on the other hand, were about as unpredictable as you could get.

Layton walked into his office with a sigh, setting aside the morning paper as well as a cup of coffee he'd snagged from the lounge before flipping open the file already sitting on top of his desk. He frowned lightly as he read through the specifics of his first patient of the day, all the while walking around his desk slowly and then finally plopping down in his chair.

...

These people were capable of some truly elaborate, fascinating fantasies. To be honest, they were almost sort of enthralling if he conveniently forgot the part where they persuaded their creators to detach completely from reality.

Comments

[survives]

[Uh... Whoops, sorry!]

She'd barely even given her any time to think after she'd finished breakfast!

Leanne had only just finished saying goodbye to Zero when the nurse had appeared, quickly herding her out of the cafeteria and through the Sun Room, chattering all the way. She'd quickly tuned her out, having learned early on during her stay that she wouldn't learn anything useful from any of them.

It was when she finally took a good look at her surroundings, however, that she realized that maybe, just maybe, she should have paid attention this time.

"Where are we going?" she asked abruptly, eyes on the nurse's back in front of her, suddenly all too aware of how nearly everyone leaving the cafeteria was going in a different direction. Sure, she hadn't been in the institute for too long, but she was usually left somewhere to her own devices after breakfast, outside or near the Sun Room. This? This was new.

The answer she received wasn't exactly what she'd been expecting.

"Therapy? Why?" If she were completely honest with herself, Leanne had to admit she only had a vague idea what that meant, but just that was enough. She wasn't crazy, no matter what the nurses seemed to think!

"Why, Miss Ward! You do remember why you're here in the first place, don't you? And your doctor's already waiting for you."

Of course. She grit her teeth at the name, reminding herself that getting angry at the nurse probably wouldn't help. If they really were brainwashed then...

...Oh for the love of... It was no use. She huffed out a breath, following the nurse the rest of the way to a smaller room, where she left her with the man she assumed was the doctor she'd been talking about.

All right then, nothing to it. Stiffly, she dropped onto one of the chairs, barely daring to keep her eyes off this... 'doctor.'

He didn't look like what she'd have expected a doctor in a mental institute to look like, but she'd be the first to admit she didn't know much at all about that. It wasn't exactly like there'd been a lot of them (or any, for that matter) back in Basel.

"Um..." she began softly, avoiding the doctor's eyes. "I guess I'm here."

[puzzle4thought]

It was a great shame, in his opinion, that someone so young would have already lost her mind, and there was a shade of sympathy in Layton's eyes as his first patient of the day sat down in front of him.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully, offering her a kind smile as he tweaked the brim of his hat in greeting. "I'm Hershel Layton; I'll be your therapist for the duration of your stay here.

"How have you been so far?" It was a decent, standard question to start with. Miss Ward looked a little hesitant and shy, so he'd decided to not start barraging her with questions specifically aimed at discerning and restoring her mental state. It was better to start slow and allow her to settle in for a bit first.

[survives]

She couldn't quite help a grimace at the question, her eyes narrowing. How was she? What kind of question was that supposed to be, and with that smile on his face?

Even if this doctor really believed everything the nurses did, he couldn't possibly think Leanne would be feeling fine about being here, could he? The Outside World couldn't be so different that people were actually fine with getting thrown into places like this, regardless of the facade.

When it became clear that this... Layton really did expect an answer from her, however, she nodded, her breath coming out in a sigh. "I've been better, I guess. I'd rather be back home." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, doing her absolute best to keep her tone level. "And you all keep calling me that name."

[puzzle4thought]

Layton nodded. "That's understandable." Hopefully, she would cooperate too, although he was starting to suspect that this would go the way of his previous sessions, given her comment about the name he'd used. (Really, what was with this peculiar uniformity? If he weren't so inexperienced, he might have called it suspicious.)

One hand idly played with the corner of the manila folder sitting on front of him; it was a habit of his whenever he was having a particularly difficult or distressing conversation. "I asked only because your file indicated that you were admitted only a few days ago, so I wanted to just see how you've been doing so far." He opened a drawer behind his desk and placed the file neatly into it, having already committed the important parts to memory. "If you need anything, I'll try my best to help; the transition must be rough enough already, and I would like to make this all as smooth as possible."

Layton looked back up at his patient as he closed the drawer. "Hopefully, we will have you home in what will seem like no time at all." He dusted his hands off with a sigh. "Would you prefer I call you 'Leanne' in the meantime?"

[survives]

Slowly, almost without realizing it, she felt herself relax. He was nice enough so far, and hadn't chattered on like the nurses did either. In fact, he seemed entirely sincere in his desire to help her (whatever that was supposed to mean). The way he offered to help her however he could... Leanne smiled slightly at him, nodding once. It was the last thing she'd wanted to do when she'd found out where she was going, but just then, it felt like the least she could do.

"Thanks, um... Doctor Layton. I'll remember that."

She had no illusions of getting out the way he seemed to think, not with what he believed and most definitely not after what she'd heard from some of the others. Nevertheless, she couldn't deny it made her feel somewhat better.

"Yeah." She nodded again at his question, letting her hands fall to her lap. "Call me Leanne. I'm not... Jessica, or whoever. That's just weird."

[puzzle4thought]

How strange it was to hear his own name with that title attached to it. Layton supposed he ought to get used to it, though, if he was going to be around here for a while. Still...well, it would be something to write Luke about: It's rather jarring because I'm so used to hearing you call, "Professor!"

And technically, "Leanne" was "Jessica", but hopefully, she would arrive at that conclusion soon enough. "Alright, 'Leanne'," he said with a small smile.

"So, is there anything you wished to talk to me about? Anything on your mind in particular?"

aaaah, sorry!

[survives]

She hesitated, only able to stare at the doctor for several moments. Was he serious? Did he really want to know? Leanne was no stranger to people asking questions like that, not at all, but someone in this place? The nurses barely let her get a word in edgewise and, even when she did speak, they just smothered her with more of that condescending crap.

This Layton guy... Well, he definitely was different from what she'd seen so far.

"I guess I thought you'd do all the talking. I don't know how this is supposed to work," she answered, almost surprising herself when she laughed. "I... I don't really remember how I got here," she continued, leaning forward slightly on her chair. "Do you know how we're supposed to get here?"

She wasn't expecting a real answer, one that could explain how she'd been spirited away from Basel, but it was worth a shot, wasn't it?

THAT'S WHAT I SHOULD BE SAYING...

[puzzle4thought]

Layton laughed a bit when Leanne suggested that he was supposed to do the talking. "Oh, heavens, no! If I were to do all the talking, that wouldn't do anyone any good. I'd probably bore you to death as well..." And actually, he didn't know how this was supposed to work either, but no one needed to know that for now.

So far, though, he thought they were on the right track. For one, they were actually talking about her rather than him...

"Yes, usually your family checks you in--or a close friend, even." He wished he could tell her who exactly, but they hadn't mentioned that in the file for whatever reason, only a "guardian" who apparently had a son of his own. "I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more. For whatever reason, they, ah, didn't give me that information."

I GUESS WE CAN BOTH SAY IT...

[survives]

Family, huh? She didn't exactly have a lot of that, did she? Or many friends, for that matter. The first person that came to mind was Juris, but... Surely, he must have still thought she was dead. What she'd read in his journal had left little room for doubt, after all. That left... only Zephyr and Vashyron, neither of which would have done anything like this. Even if she had been crazy, Leanne couldn't even begin to imagine either of them letting her out of their sight.

She shook her head, not quite able to help a small smile. Why was she even considering it? It didn't matter. It was all a lie anyway, a story fed to her by and to the staff.

Still, was she supposed to keep talking about it to Layton, as if she had no idea about the truth? It wasn't as if he knew the real story...

"I guess they thought I'd remember, huh? But none of the nurses have told me anything either and..." She paused, looking down at her hands. "You'd think that was something I'd remember, right? Leaving home and coming here."

YUP

[puzzle4thought]

"You don't remember anything?" Layton frowned. He supposed she couldn't help it if the delusion was really that strong. (He was certainly learning more and more about the unexplored, untapped potential of the mind--and how it could be easily used for the wrong purposes.) "That is certainly strange."

It would be timely now to find something to jog her memory with, but he wasn't sure exactly what would do it, seeing as "Leanne" seemed to have supplanted all of her memories with falsifications. What he would have to do was find something that had not been carried over, something that without a doubt could link her to reality. That would require, of course, a more detailed reading of her file, which he hadn't performed yet.