you know what’s going on here?” she asked with a touch of exhaustion in her voice.
I nodded, not untruthfully. “When no one answered my radio calls, I found an FM radio. Heard about these wackos on the radio.”
“Remember the company you keep when you’re throwing that word around,” she remarked quietly as we entered the waiting room. She smiled wryly, and turned to the waiting triplet.
“Everyone,” she announced slightly louder than necessary, “this is Joe. He’s a friend and he’s going to be coming with us. Can everyone say hello?”
Taking in the room and paying closer attention to the occupants, I sighed. Of course. My luck keeps getting better and better. No pole dancing school or strip joint for me. Instead, I found a shrink toting three inmates, each of whom looked wackier than the guys that just tried to have me for brunch. Three faces, displaying varying degrees of stupor, tuned in on me.
“Pancake,” said the young man, nodding his head in greeting. The young woman grunted, and the older man stared at me, then at the floor.
“That’s Fred, and that’s the only word he’ll say,” Kate explained before I could ask, gesturing to the young man with breakfast on the brain. She moved to the nurse’s station against the far wall, rifling through drawers and searching through the discarded personal belongings. “He was admitted a few months ago; apparently he saw his father brain his mother with a frying pan while she was making breakfast. Since then, that word has been the full extent of his conversation skills.”
I nodded back at Fred, looking at the other two expectantly. Neither spoke.
“That’s Erica,” she said, gesturing to the young woman.
Erica mumbled something incomprehensible and promptly stuck her hand in her mouth, rocking slowly back and forth in her chair, staring past me into the hall. She was young, maybe twenty-five. Her round, simple face was frightened and her pants were stained with various fluids, her left foot missing a shoe. The older man at her side, long ratty hair framing a narrow, worn face, perched on the arm of a tattered sofa. He simply stared at me, as if daring me to talk.
“I don’t know his name; Fred and Erica were in my group, but he must be new.” As if in response, No-Name grunted, rolled his eyes, and scratched his crotch vigorously. I suppressed the urge to laugh, instead turning back to Kate.
“How’d you end up here? With your friends?” I asked. I looked out the window against the wall behind the nurses’ station. This was a low security ward, and had only the normal window frames, no glass bricks, no bars, no cloudy, unbreakable glass. In the courtyard below, I could see dozens, maybe even hundreds of those things wandering about. I wasn’t completely prepared to bandy about the “z” word, but they sure as hell weren’t human anymore.
In the distance, several plumes of smoke rose to the sky, highlighting a sunset that was starting to light up the horizon. Under different circumstances, it might have been beautiful. Today, it simply marked a quiet end to a surreal day.
“I’m a psychiatrist, and I was running a group a couple days ago. We were in the front courtyard,” she canted her head toward the window I was staring through while I listened, “and a guy wandered up real slow, arms twitchy, kind of drooling on himself, with a funny look in his eyes. Given the locale, I didn’t think twice, and the orderly that was out there helping me ride herd on my charges went to help him back inside.” She struggled with a desk drawer, which suddenly came open too quickly. She caught herself on the edge of the desk, and looked down into the drawer, still talking.
“When the orderly, I can’t remember his name, got to our slow-motion visitor, he grabbed for the orderly’s throat. He tried to wrestle him down, but the crazy bastard bit him on the neck.” She grimaced.
“It got serious at that point, and I called for help. A
I nodded, not untruthfully. “When no one answered my radio calls, I found an FM radio. Heard about these wackos on the radio.”
“Remember the company you keep when you’re throwing that word around,” she remarked quietly as we entered the waiting room. She smiled wryly, and turned to the waiting triplet.
“Everyone,” she announced slightly louder than necessary, “this is Joe. He’s a friend and he’s going to be coming with us. Can everyone say hello?”
Taking in the room and paying closer attention to the occupants, I sighed. Of course. My luck keeps getting better and better. No pole dancing school or strip joint for me. Instead, I found a shrink toting three inmates, each of whom looked wackier than the guys that just tried to have me for brunch. Three faces, displaying varying degrees of stupor, tuned in on me.
“Pancake,” said the young man, nodding his head in greeting. The young woman grunted, and the older man stared at me, then at the floor.
“That’s Fred, and that’s the only word he’ll say,” Kate explained before I could ask, gesturing to the young man with breakfast on the brain. She moved to the nurse’s station against the far wall, rifling through drawers and searching through the discarded personal belongings. “He was admitted a few months ago; apparently he saw his father brain his mother with a frying pan while she was making breakfast. Since then, that word has been the full extent of his conversation skills.”
I nodded back at Fred, looking at the other two expectantly. Neither spoke.
“That’s Erica,” she said, gesturing to the young woman.
Erica mumbled something incomprehensible and promptly stuck her hand in her mouth, rocking slowly back and forth in her chair, staring past me into the hall. She was young, maybe twenty-five. Her round, simple face was frightened and her pants were stained with various fluids, her left foot missing a shoe. The older man at her side, long ratty hair framing a narrow, worn face, perched on the arm of a tattered sofa. He simply stared at me, as if daring me to talk.
“I don’t know his name; Fred and Erica were in my group, but he must be new.” As if in response, No-Name grunted, rolled his eyes, and scratched his crotch vigorously. I suppressed the urge to laugh, instead turning back to Kate.
“How’d you end up here? With your friends?” I asked. I looked out the window against the wall behind the nurses’ station. This was a low security ward, and had only the normal window frames, no glass bricks, no bars, no cloudy, unbreakable glass. In the courtyard below, I could see dozens, maybe even hundreds of those things wandering about. I wasn’t completely prepared to bandy about the “z” word, but they sure as hell weren’t human anymore.
In the distance, several plumes of smoke rose to the sky, highlighting a sunset that was starting to light up the horizon. Under different circumstances, it might have been beautiful. Today, it simply marked a quiet end to a surreal day.
“I’m a psychiatrist, and I was running a group a couple days ago. We were in the front courtyard,” she canted her head toward the window I was staring through while I listened, “and a guy wandered up real slow, arms twitchy, kind of drooling on himself, with a funny look in his eyes. Given the locale, I didn’t think twice, and the orderly that was out there helping me ride herd on my charges went to help him back inside.” She struggled with a desk drawer, which suddenly came open too quickly. She caught herself on the edge of the desk, and looked down into the drawer, still talking.
“When the orderly, I can’t remember his name, got to our slow-motion visitor, he grabbed for the orderly’s throat. He tried to wrestle him down, but the crazy bastard bit him on the neck.” She grimaced.
“It got serious at that point, and I called for help. A
Similar Books
The Last Days of Summer
Vanessa Ronan
Little Brats: Hanna: Forbidden Taboo Erotica
Selena Kitt
Wolf Totem: A Novel
Jiang Rong
Starshine: Aurora Rising Book One
G. S. Jennsen
Snark and Stage Fright
Stephanie Wardrop
Blood Ties
Gabriella Poole
Instinctive
Cathryn Fox
On the Avenue
Antonio Pagliarulo
The Book of Christmas Virtues
Jack Canfield
Lawless
Helenkay Dimon