damned_institute | Day 46: Doctor's Office 6 (Dr. Wilson) [Fourth Shift]

Things really could have gone worse with Lance. They could have gone a whole lot better, but at least it hadn't devolved into a staring contest and at least there hadn't been any throwing of heavy objects. Wilson counted those as pluses, since he really wasn't cut out for this. Maybe if he'd been trained to do this sort of thing, but all he was working off of was his own intuition and his desire to help people.

A lot of the patients didn't really come off as needy and desperate, though. Instead, they were confident and challenged him at every turn. It wasn't what he'd expect from people who were so ill, but maybe they were just that set in their delusions. What he really couldn't understand was how Lance had been doing so much better the day before, only to revert back overnight. The man had called it reprogramming, and it almost felt that way. Still, as weird as it was, people weren't robots.

Wilson knew he was expected to go and eat with the other doctors during their lunch break, but with House not around he wasn't feeling up to it. With his own lunch already made and brought with him, it was simple to just stay in his office and eat alone. Probably not the healthiest behavior, but it wasn't like he hadn't done it at Princeton too. Usually when he was avoiding House, but the point still stood.

With lunch eaten and his desk cleaned up, the doctor waited for his next batch of patients; one old and one new. He had been seeing Max for a while now (by Landel's standards, anyway), and it was good to have such a consistent patient when others got switched in and out like it was nothing.

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If it was a matter of stress, then there was usually an easy cure, and Max even went so far as to hint at it. Wilson nodded emphatically. "You'd be surprised by how much damage stress can do. I'd suggest you get extra sleep and take it easy as much as you can." The patients here seemed to have the hardest time doing that, though, if their stories about a monster-filled night were anything to go by.

Still, maybe Max would make the attempt to listen to his advice now that he could see what happened when you deprived yourself of sleep and never took even a moment to just take a load off.

As for the patient's last question, Wilson couldn't help cracking an enigmatic smile. "I guess you'll just have to find him again."

It was the same advice he'd gotten yesterday from the bulletin board as Max... to rest and see if the hallucinations kept up. And they did. Then again, he hadn't really rested last night... he'd gone wandering and the hallucinations had gotten worse. Sometimes he was tempted to really just stay in all night, like he used to with Wally or his Captain.

It still hurt to think of him, and what had happened to him. In a way it was hard to believe he was really gone... like he'd simply gotten into that great ship of his and flown off to come back some undetermined day later, as before.

"It just feels like it never stops here." ZEX sighed and gingerly rested a hand over the scar on his head. "Every day there's some new problem to deal with and it never ends... like there's no way out. It's hard to rest under those circumstances." This was not the same kind of warfare he was used to, and ZEX sighed again, this time a sad and longing one. "I miss him terribly... my poor Captain. I wish he hadn't gone so quickly. This might have been easier with him here." Surely his Captain wouldn't have abandoned him two nights ago, as everyone else seemingly had.

Wilson was smiling at him, although he didn't know why. How was he supposed to find someone that may or may not even exist? And if they both saw things, it wouldn't solve his problem. Why should he even look? "I don't know where to start. Everything's hazy... it doesn't feel real. Things don't add up... Max came and went so suddenly, it was like a dream." ZEX shook his head slightly. "All of this is like a nightmare that won't end."

It was hard to tell just what Max meant when he talked about "new problems." What could really be going on that was making life so hard for him? True, the very fact that he was in this place was its own problem, but Max was making it sound like he was running into obstacles at every turn. If anything, he was probably making them up himself. It was counter-intuitive, but it was already obvious that the man's mind was not well.

"I'm sorry that he had to leave you, but that should just make you more determined to get better so that you can see him again," Wilson pointed out. If the man Max cared for so much was gone, then he had to be out in the world somewhere, trying to get his life back together. If Max worked at it, he could join him.

It didn't seem like Max was feeling any better than he had when he'd first walked in the door, but Wilson knew he couldn't feel too guilty about that. This sort of recovery was supposed to take time, and they were just going to have to take it slow and hope for the best. "It will end, if you really want it to. Let's start with getting you some medication, and we can go from there, all right?" It looked like their time was almost up, but the doctor didn't want to just shoo Max out until he was ready.

There was no way to see him again... ZEX had watched him die, after all. It was so easy to talk like he'd just left and would come back, but he knew that wasn't the case. Even if he did "get better" there'd be no Captain waiting for him outside. Still, there was some part of him that kept hoping that maybe he was wrong, maybe he really was insane and his Captain had simply left, and maybe if he did get out of here he could find him again.

It was preferable to the alternative, anyway. But he couldn't believe it. Things never worked out that easily for him.

"I suppose." Less than convinced. What would his human have said if he saw what had happened to him? Something charming, no doubt, as always. "It's hard to keep going without a true sense of direction." ZEX was referring to escaping the institute and going back home, but he was sure Wilson would interpret it as his quest towards wellness. "I hope the medication will help. That would leave me with at least one less thing to worry about."

If the medication was meant to interact or interfere with his brain chemicals, stop whatever it was that was malfunctioning and causing him to see these things, then taking it would cause some change, regardless of the implant. If there was no change at all... then the hallucinations weren't related to his brain chemistry, which would mean...

ZEX closed his one eye and took a deep breath. "And I really would like them to stop."

Right now, it seemed like getting Max on some medication would be the best thing for him. It wasn't going to magically solve all of his problems, but it would eliminate one component and then give them a better idea of what still needed work on through therapy.

"I don't blame you," he scoffed. He hadn't really found many people who enjoyed seeing things. Well, except for maybe House, but that was a whole other story.

"If they aren't given to you at dinner, then you'll definitely have them by tomorrow morning. If they even let me prescribe you anything, that is." Any self-respecting hospital would, but who really knew with this place? He didn't want to make empty promises, so it was best to leave it at that.

"Good luck, and I'll see you next week. I hope the meds work on the first try." It wasn't particularly likely, but it happened from time to time. From the sounds of it, Max was due for a lucky break.

ZEX thought about asking why Wilson wouldn't be allowed to prescribe him something (he was in the institute's employ, wasn't he?), but it seemed he'd run out of time. Well, he doubted he'd get a real answer anyway. This place didn't seem to specialize in them.

If nothing else, at least he'd gotten the medication out of this entire business, which was something. He stood up, wobbling slightly and rested a hand on his desk to steady himself. He could almost feel one of those creatures weaving near his legs, like it was trying to trip him.

"I hope they do as well." He wasn't quite sure he could bring himself to thank him just yet... Wilson worked for the institute after all, and that made him responsible for what had been done to him to a degree.

Now he just had to hope the visions wouldn't get worse tonight, as they had before...

Day 46: Doctor's Office 6 (Dr. Wilson) [Fourth Shift]

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