Disclaimer: I own nothing…but the plotline.
A/N: If I get anything wrong, such as entitling a medical instrument incorrectly, or I don't have my facts straight, or have made some other similar error, please do not hesitate to tell me. I strive to have a great, correct, story; so I'd appreciate it if you'd help me to achieve it.
Asylum
Intro
The doctor shut off his penlight and shook his head.
"No!" The blonde woman cried, kneeling down and shaking her unresponsive daughter, "No; Buffy, Buffy listen to Mommy…"
"Joyce," her husband tried, placing a firm hand on her shoulder, "Just leave her-"
"Leave her?!" she turned to Hank, enraged, "How could you say that? She's our daughter, for Heaven's sake! I can't give up on her!"
"Mrs. Summers, please…" The third adult started.
"I-I can't," Joyce repeated, "I can't just leave my baby here. We had her. We had her! She was lucid for the second time since she came here! How did we lose her?" She sobbed into her husband's arms, looking into his eyes for some nonexistent answer.
"How did we lose her, Hank?" He didn't answer.
"It's common for patients with schizophrenia to be unable to let go of their delusions, and that seems to be the case with Elizabeth. Her own world was just…too real to let go of."
"B-but she'd rather be with some i-imaginary friends than with her o-own parents? I don't understand." The poor mother voiced her confusion.
"I know it's a difficult concept to grasp, but that seems to be the case so far. With treatment, she may recover-"
"Soon?" The worried father cut him off.
"There's no way of knowing. To be honest; it's not often that catatonic people recover." the man confided in the couple, "We had a lot more reason to be hopeful before, well, this."
"Oh, Hank!" His wife clutched at his shirt, her nails denting the smooth skin of his chest.
"I think you'd better be going, now."
"No!" the distraught woman rushed back to her child's side.
"Joyce…" Her husband said warningly.
"It isn't healthy for you to stay here." The doctor advised them, receiving no visible response, "I realize how upsetting this must be, but I really think you need to go." Hank tried, in vain, to remove his wife from their limp daughter. Sighing, the doctor poked his head out of his patient's room and signaled a security guard.
"Don't lose hope." He called after the two, in a pitiful attempt to console them as they were escorted out of the hospital. He didn't mention that there wasn't any.
"Too late." A voice responded, "I've already lost it."