Takaya was all but carried bodily into his room, the sedatives making him woozy and blurring the world at the edges. That, coupled with the shock, made him much more compliant than usual as he was set down on his bed.

As a precaution, the staff started to restrain him to his bed and he began to fight and struggle against the five-point straps, but another half-dose of sedatives and pain-killers calmed him down once more.

Takaya was now strapped to his bed, wrists and ankles tied down with another strap across his midsection. The nurse apologized and smoothed back his hair, but, she added, it was for his own safety as well as the safety of his roommate. He didn't want to hurt his friend did he?

Her words fell on deaf ears. Both sides had retreated into the deeper parts of their shared mental landscape.