Ultraviolet Read Online Free PDF Page B

Luke’s Hospital as an involuntary patient, which means that a doctor found you to be in danger of causing serious bodily harm to yourself or to others. You were also found incapable of consenting to treatment, so a substitute decision maker—in this case, your mother—gave permission for you to be treated with antipsychotic medication.”
    None of that came as any surprise, but I wondered where my father had been during all of this. Had he ever questioned my mother’s decision? Or had he just retreated into his shell, like he usually did when the two of them disagreed, and let my mother do whatever she thought best?
    “After you had been in the hospital for seventy-two hours,” Shabnam continued, “your involuntary status was renewed for another two weeks, since you were still deemed unable to understand your situation or make informed decisions about your care. During that time your mother applied to have you transferred to Pine Hills, and it was agreed that this transfer would be in your best interests, so that is why you are now here. Now, I have a form to give you.”
    She slid a sheet of paper across the table. “This is a notice to let you know that your new psychiatrist, Dr. Minta, has completed a certificate of renewal, which will authorize him to keep you here as an involuntary patient for another four weeks.”
    I stared down at the paper, willing the words to stop wriggling and let me read them.
I am of the opinion that the patient is suffering from mental disorder of a nature that likely will result in serious bodily harm to the patient, and/or serious bodily harm to another person, unless he or she remains in the custody of a psychiatric facility. . . .
    “So this means,” I said slowly, “that I’m stuck here until the end of July?”
    “Possibly,” she said. “However, you have the right to be informed of Dr. Minta’s reasons for his decision. And you also have the right to appeal, and ask that your involuntary status be revoked.”
    My stomach turned over. I knew I was supposed to be here for my own safety and the protection of others, but I was far more likely to get into trouble at Pine Hills than I was at home. Here I was trapped and stressed out and surrounded by unpredictable people, with nowhere to escape if things got too much for me. But if I could get out of this place, and go somewhere safe and quiet where I could be alone . . .
    “If I did appeal, how would that work?” I asked.
    “Once they receive your application,” said my adviser, “the Consent and Capacity Board will arrange a hearing here at the hospital within seven days. You can ask your lawyer to represent you, or I can help you apply for legal aid.”
    That sounded good. I’d been hoping to talk to a lawyer anyway, if only to answer my questions about the police. “And if I win my appeal?”
    “Then your status would be changed to voluntary,” she said. “You would be free to refuse treatment if you wish, and leave the hospital at your discretion. But if your appeal is denied, your next hearing would not be for another six months, or until you are on your fourth Certificate.”
    “My
fourth
?” My heart lurched. “You mean my psychiatrist can just keep issuing these things?”
    “If he thinks it necessary, yes,” said Shabnam. “As I said, the current Certificate authorizes him to keep you here for one month. The second would last for two months, the third for three months, and so on.”
    In my mind’s eye I could see the calendar floating all around me, like a rainbow scarf. To be stuck here for months on end with no privacy and no freedom, forced to take drugs that fogged my mind and grayed my senses, unable to play my keyboard or do any of the other things I normally did to relax . . . How long would it be before the stress got too much for me, and I did to somebody else what I’d done to Tori?
    I couldn’t let that happen. I straightened up in my chair.
    “All right,” I said. “I want to