Day 20: Dr. Wilson's Office [Doctor's Office 6]

[damned-doctors.livejournal.com]

It was silly, but Wilson was nervous.

Mental health was by no means his specialty. It was true that he more or less had to act as a counselor for his patients. Most of them had terminal cancer. The dates were never any good. Two years, one year, six months, three months. He could speak to people about dying well enough, but this was different.

Hopefully he would get the hang of it. He took solace in the fact that he had a bit more experience than some of the other doctors. Such as, oh, House? He wasn't sure what the chief of staff had been thinking when he hired him. It made him wonder if the administrators were as insane as the patients.

Even though therapy didn't start first thing in the morning, Wilson had made sure to be there extra early anyway. (He had to make up for House, who would undoubtedly be late.) His office was also cleaner than it would normally be - first impressions were important, after all, and that was probably even more true with mental patients. He heard the intercom, which meant his first patient would be heading in soon. He straightened in his chair, though his nervousness caused him to grab a random doodad off of his desk and start fiddling with it.

[ ooc: For Adelheid, Cliff, Dias, Eric, Hikaru, Riza, Scar, and Seimei. ]

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[gotahunch.livejournal.com]

Cliff shook his head. Was this guy just playing along or did he really not know anything? He'd trust Lust over any of the staff but, so far, it didn't look like the doctor was trying to deceive him on purpose. It was a little bizarre.

"I've been told my head's really thick, whatever that's supposed to mean." He said, falling back into an old role. Often people didn't care what they said around someone who didn't seem all that bright, and Cliff had done this a dozen times before. "The thing is, I remember everything about my life. I woke up here a few days ago and suddenly everything I remember is supposed to be a lie, including my own name."

"If you know anything about who I'm supposed to be," His forearms came to rest on the doctor's desk, more of a casual gesture than anything. "I'd like to be filled in here."

Weather or not this doctor was just playing along, he couldn't really object to handing Cliff whatever they were trying (and failing miserably) to make him believe.

[damned-doctors.livejournal.com]

Even if Cliff was attempting to project that he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, it wasn't entirely convincing. There was definitely a sharpness there that Wilson couldn't ignore.

Either way, the patient's request was by no means unreasonable. Wilson had tired of summarizing everyone's files for them, so he instead picked it up and handed it across the desk for Cliff to look at himself.

He wasn't sure what this one's reaction would be, so he intended to watch carefully once the blond started to look it over.

[gotahunch.livejournal.com]

Cliff scanned the file, his eyes narrowing. Everything was there, albeit a more vague and altered version of events. It basically said he'd excelled in martial arts when he was young, moved away from home in his collage years and started displaying abnormal behavior some time later. (Minor incidents like speaking out in class or getting into scuffles with other students.) He'd dropped out in his senior year of collage and started an organization with some companions which looked to be something of a terrorist sect in the making. (In fine print somewhere it clarified this to be information trafficking and something about anarchy.)

He stopped reading there and handed the file back to the doctor. He wasn't really all that surprised it had been slanted to make him look like a volatile psychopath. The information hinted at the same things the interior of the place did; 21st century earth. But there was no way that was possible. So what? They wanted him to return to a slightly altered version of his life? It didn't make a lot of sense.

He decided if the doctor already knew all that much about him, there was no point in playing dumb. It didn't take a lot to put two and two together.

"I was hoping, but.." He said finally, at least sounding genuine. "I can't say that makes more sense to me than the life I remember. Or that I really believe this place is supposed to help."

"Night-shift didn't strike me as awfully therapeutic." He stated plainly, laying his cards on the table.

If he'd been willing to believe this doctor innocent before, it was going to take a lot of convincing for him to believe it now. Cliff was just downright uncomfortable with a stranger knowing that much about him.

[damned-doctors.livejournal.com]

Wilson took the file without saying a word at first, setting it back down. He could already tell that there hadn't been anything in it that Cliff had particularly liked.

There was the reference to night again. This was definitely not something that he could ignore, but what exactly was he supposed to do. The administrators usually kept to themselves. All they ever did was give him the files and tell him what to do - and they were even vague about that.

He'd have to talk to House about it and see if he'd heard anything similar from his patients.

"You aren't the first to say that," he commented with a sigh.

[gotahunch.livejournal.com]

Cliff raised an eyebrow. "And that doesn't strike you as odd?"

How was he going to explain this one? If he already admitted some of the other patients had mentioned nightshift, did he really expect Cliff to believe it was some kind of group delusion? He had a bandage peeking out from the end of his sleeve to prove his arm had been sliced the night before as well as a number of small abrasions from the splinters and bruises from just about everything else. No matter how ingenious some of the patients were, they couldn't have done that with a pen or even a proper knife. Cliff wasn't a lightweight, even the information on his file said as much.

[damned-doctors.livejournal.com]

"Oh, it does," Wilson said. There was no point in acting like it wasn't there. His job was to try and determine what was making the patients crazy. There was a rather good chance that whatever happened at night was related to their supposed illnesses.

"I'm going to talk to my friend about it," he said decidedly. "He's one of the other doctors here."

[gotahunch.livejournal.com]

Somehow, Cliff doubted that would help. Even if he could believe this doctor, any friend that hung around after dark had to know the truth behind the institute. And if they didn't, well, then that really wasn't going to be of any help.

But the doctors had some power here, even if the patients didn't. Maybe all he had to do was get this one curious.

"About what's going on at night or about mass psychosis?" Cliff asked, leaning back in his chair again. "I won't hold it against you, considering, but there's a lot more about this place that just doesn't add up."

Under any other circumstances, he might have actually gotten along well with Doctor Wilson. Right now, how much of their interaction was genuine depended on how much this doctor really knew. He sure seemed innocent about the whole thing. Cliff's hunch about this man counteracted all the evidence to the contrary, rare as it was, and he wasn't quite sure which he should be siding with.

[damned-doctors.livejournal.com]

"Both. It's possible something really is going on, but being a doctor entails exploring every option until you figure out which one is right." At this point, Wilson was definitely curious. He had figured the hospital was more or less respectable if Cuddy had been willing to assign both he and House (her greatest asset) here.

Maybe it was covered up well to everyone but the patients. He could understand how that would be frustrating.

"I appreciate that you're being reasonable about this. A lot of the other patients seemed to dislike me on principle." Disliking anyone on principle was ignorant and ridiculous.

[gotahunch.livejournal.com]

"I can't blame them, they've all been uprooted and turned on their heads too. If you're working for this hospital and within striking range.." Cliff didn't think he needed to finish that sentence. When he thought about it, the doctors really were in the line of fire more than any of the other staff. They actually had to put up with the abuse.

He grinned a little though. "I don't believe in making anyone's life hell unless I'm sure they're responsible." He rolled his eyes then, adding. "Despite what my file has to say about that."

"Anyway, so far we're the only ones who believe we're not crazy. I remember people from the world that isn't supposed to exist and they - other patients - remember me from that world. If you really want to help us Doctor, start with figuring out the real story behind Landel's Institute." He shrugged and gave a more playful grin. Cliff really wasn't the type to hold long, serious conversations without pause. "Or prove I'm crazy as long as I have a really hot wife waiting back home."

[damned-doctors.livejournal.com]

At least he hadn't been attacked by any of the patients. Wilson hadn't been expecting that, but with the way some of them had acted, it might have been a possibility. He had no way of defending himself, nor did he want to hurt anyone even if they were attacking him.

"I'll do what I can," he said with a wide smile in response to the whole request (and especially that last comment). Considering his track record, he almost wanted to wince, but it was better not to get onto that subject again. He'd do more than enough talking about that with Eric when he hadn't intended to.

[gotahunch.livejournal.com]

"Thanks." Cliff found himself saying earnestly. He didn't know what to make of Wilson yet but he seemed like a trustworthy guy. The whole place had changed since he'd last spoken to Lust, maybe this had changed as well. It made sense to make sure none of the doctors knew enough to let something accidentally slip out.

Alright, he had the benefit of the doubt.

"Am I free to go or did you need to interrogate me?" Cliff teased good-naturedly.

[damned-doctors.livejournal.com]

"I think that's enough for today," Wilson agreed, scratching at his forehead as he nodded to Cliff. He considered thanking him again, but that probably wasn't necessary.

"Try and convince the other patients that I'm not going to eat them, all right?" he said, also light-hearted.

[gotahunch.livejournal.com]

Cliff chuckled, "If you promise me extra dessert I'll think about it."

He rose to leave, offering the doctor his hand to shake. "Hopefully we'll have some answers when we see each other again, huh?" He'd be doing more digging of his own wherever he could.