AN: Another One-Shot. This one is pretty strange, as I've never written something like this.
Hello, Hello, Hello…
Is there anybody in there…?
Just nod if you can hear me…
Is there anyone home?
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I looked at my little brother in fear. He looked like he'd completely lost himself. His eyes were empty; void of life; void of hope; void of emotion. It looked like he couldn't continue any more, like he no longer had the will to do anything.
I wondered if fate had even allowed him his sanity anymore.
He just stared off into space, in an unspecified direction. I'm not exactly sure if he could hear anything I would say. He mumbled something inaudible and I perked my ears up. Soon after, I heard him speak, "Is there anybody out there?"
I was shocked by his empty words, wondering if he meant them, or if he was off, somewhere beyond reality. "Hello?" I replied. "Is there anybody in there?"
I got no reply from my kitsune brother. All he did was stare off blankly. "Just nod if you can hear me, bro." I instructed him. He did bob his head up and down and I knew he was listening, no matter how far off his mind was.
I couldn't stand to see him like this; so lifeless and torn on the inside. I could tell that it had something to do with her. It always was. His mind must've just shut everything else out. There was too much painful emotion, so his mind broke down.
It had pushed him beyond sanity; beyond reality. If only I had been there for him, he wouldn't be like this.
I decided then and there that I would take him to the local psychiatrist and get him checked out.
When we got there, the psychiatrist was shocked at his state. She looked nervous and immediately told me to come into a back room.
I laid my little bro on the chair and she began to talk to him, hoping he would listen. "I hear you're feeling down, Miles." She said, trying to make petty conversation. He nodded in response, obviously acknowledging her presence.
"Well, I can ease your pain." She assured him. "I can help you get on your feet again."
He didn't respond; only staring out into space again. I wondered what went on inside of his head for a moment before he finally said something.
"When I was a child, I had a fever." He said with a bland tone; with no emotion. "I felt odd, like I was numb, almost."
I was almost shocked to hear his young voice again. "I guess I feel the same now." He muttered. "I can't describe it. You won't understand."
"Well, at least try to describe it to us, Miles." The psychiatrist egged him on.
There was momentary silence before he spoke, "I guess the feeling could be described as 'comfortably numb'."
We were both unsure of how to interpret that. Whether being comfortably numb was a good or bad thing.
The psychiatrist muttered something to herself before exiting the room. I was left with my little bro for a moment and I saw the pain he hid in his eyes. He wouldn't talk to me, something he would always do if he felt saddened. He had grown apart from me, something I had always been afraid.
The psychiatrist came back in moments later, with a doctor right behind her. He was holding a syringe in his hand, and I knew something was up.
"Okay, Miles." The doctor assured him. "It's just a little pin-prick."
He stuck the needle into him and he widened his eyes. "There'll be no more pain." He said as he pressed the liquid into him. He began to scream loudly, as if it was some kind of torture.
After the procedure was done, his eye lids drooped and his eyes glassed over. "Can you stand up?" The doctor asked him. My little bro stood on command, and I was shocked. The doctor smiled gleefully… almost too gleefully.
"Good…" He mused while walking out. "That'll keep you going."
I now looked back at him and he wobbled forward, unsteadily. I thought he was going to fall, but he didn't.
He walked right out of the room. He walked back home, he said good-bye.
I never saw him again.