Night Whisper666
When the annoying sound of clicking heels finally stopped, it was replaced by two voices the man now occupying room two oh seven found familiar. Well, he had never actually heard them before. Employees of health facilities always sounded the same, honey coated and filled with bittersweet lies. A male voice, clipped and intelligent began to intertwine with a soft female one. Most likely the doctor and nurse assigned over his case, the contained man thought with a slightly sadistic grin. Just more people who thought they could change who he was. Make him a peaceful citizen who always followed the rules. It was funny to think just how very wrong they were. The voice of the girl began to float loud and clear through the door as she read the diagnosis chart placed in a clear container mounted on the wall.
"Our new charge is a Mister Jack Harkness. He's coming to us from the Sunshine Lake Center in New York City, fancy. Moved into our care because of overly aggressive behavior towards the other occupants. It says here that one had to be moved into the intensive care unit due to a hot iron pressed onto his face and another will be in physical therapy for three months due to a torn ACL caused from being thrown across a room."
The male doctor let out a low whistle and the nurse grunted in agreement. These side remarks made the man inside swell his chest with pride. Jack, who was indeed the patient they spoke of, knew that he was a dangerous man who didn't play well with others. In fact, he was rather fond of his reputation as a bad ass among the string of hospitals he had been placed in. Moving from one facility to another over the past ten years had taught the handsome man not to become attached to anyone or anything. So to avoid the risk of having that happen, Jack just hated all the things, living or not, that he came into contact with.
"Twenty seven year old man, no family or friends to go back to even if he did get out. I was reading over the file, and it's pretty sad actually. His parents first brought him to a loony bin when he was only three and have requested to never be contacted with any information concerning their son. Doesn't matter if he's dying, in a coma or even cured. They don't want to have anything to do with their son." Jack snorted at the sympathy positively dripping from her voice, he was so tired of it. The doctor made a harsh coughing noise in his throat that showed he felt along the same lines that Jack did.
"All of our patients have some kind of sob story or another. Their husband died, their grand kids never call, or their family deserted them. The list goes on and on. Frankly, I don't have time to cry for each one of these misfits who've been treated badly by the world. All I can do is use my sane knowledge to try and help them. In order to do that, I need to be told his problems. So kindly read me the charts." The American listening from the inside decided that those might be the most sincere words he'd ever heard come from one of the nerd's mouths.
"He has been diagnosed with severe paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and many other smaller problems. This also says that he has complete color blindness?" The girl's sentence turned from confidant to confused when she reached the end. An irritated huff came from the doctor.
"Tosh, what does that mean? Is it just a delusion? Hallucinations? Or is the man really color blind? There was a long stretch of silence before the nurse, Tosh, answered.
"He believes he is literally blind to all color. He sees everything, from people ,to furniture, to plants, in different shades of gray." She finished with an exasperated sigh that was met by a more than amused chuckle from the doctor.
Jack shifted around on his stiff cotton sheets, angry for a minute that they laughed at what he had suffered from all his life. After a second though, he calmed down and let out a snicker of his own. Of course it would end up like this, why should she believe him? No one else ever did, and with good reason. They had to take into consideration that he was an occupant of a rehabilitation center, crazy in all ways of the word. They were perfectly normal people who had grown up seeing everything through eyes of the rainbow. It was all they had ever known to be right, just like the sameness Jack knew.
The American had always, from the moment he was born, seen the world in a dull, bland color he came to know as gray. The house he lived in, the parents he barely remembered, the friends he never had were all painted in that cement color. Oh they're were lighter and darker varieties, but it was still so monotonous. At first, he thought everyone was like him. But eventually he heard people talking about different colors, so he figured out he was the only person with eyes like his.
Jacks parent's jumped to a very speedy conclusion that he was utterly insane.. Not bothering to look for medical help or psychiatrists, they left him at a mental hospital with only the barest information for the physicians to go on for treatment. The never-ending companies of his childhood were the sociopaths and druggies inhabiting the rooms around him. Habits began to rub off and before Jack turned six, he was in the throws of insanity. Test results that before had come back with no concerns now over flowed with errors and indications. Positive readings for different mental deficiencies now showed and the boy started to be passed from one home to another. No one really wanted him. That much was clear even to a six-year-old. None of that mattered to Jack though. Who wanted the attention of a bunch of gray people?
Even though the faces and walls around kept changing, one thing remained constant. The world everything in it was always that same, life less color. World-renowned experts had fought for a chance to look at him and explain this strange phenomenon. Was it his eyes? No, they were the epitome of normal. Was it his brain? No, other than what was already wrong with his head, the boy showed no signs of anything that would cause the quirked vision. Time passed and the scientists moved on, dismissing it to be nothing but another side effect of his hysteria.
Jack was the only one who knew for certain it was real, and he still held onto a small spark of hope that someday he would find the person who believed him. One glorious moment in history, someone would finally show him what color truly was.
The door swung inwards on perfectly oiled hinges, leaking no sound. The two conversationalists stepped inside, one a tall man with glasses and a darker shade of gray on his hair. This had to be the doctor, no doubt about it. The girl next to him holding a glass clipboard was definitely younger, and Asian. Jack could tell by the slant of her eyes and the over all shape of her face. This discovery made his mouth twitch up into a scowl and his fist clench. Asian's made him upset because they were supposed to be a more yellow color than Americans or Brits. Instead they were just a sicker, paler looking gray. They appeared to have some sort of a physical disease like leprosy. Even watching this girl move made the patient sick.
The pair advanced cautiously, made wary by the predatory gaze shot at them from shockingly clear blue eyes. Jack noted their hesitancy with a smirk and turned his head to the one window he had in the place, not giving them the time of day. Unfortunately, the ignore and they'll go away tactic wasn't going to work on these to. There really wasn't a point trying, this was the job they were getting paid to do.
"Good morning Mr. Harkness! Welcome to the Red Willow Rehabilitation Center! I'm Toshiko Sato, your nurse during your stay here. I'll be the one coming around to bring you your medication, taking you on your walks and planning out your days! This is your doctor, M.D. Owen Harper. You'll see a lot of us over the next few months! Also, we're going to have a new intern coming in tomorrow who will begin to assist me on my rounds. I'm sure you'll love him, he's a doll!" Tosh spouted off way too cheerily, making it obvious she didn't know he'd heard the conversation outside.
The American decided not to act like the depressed, rebellious crazies he'd seen before that just didn't answer. That response would get you locked in a room for an hour with a fake counselor who just cared about getting off work so they could go and cheat on their spouse. Never at a loss for words, Jack gave an answer came from the very core of his enormous ego.
"I hope I get to see a lot more of you two over the next month. Or at least, a lot more of you doctor. You look like you hold a lot in that tight suit. Sorry Tosh, I've never had a thing for Asians, they're too sickly looking." The patient turned his eyes from the nurse and gave Owen a long once over, making sure to let his gaze linger in certain spots. The doctor looked infuriated, a darker gray beginning to spread over his face as he spluttered.
"You have no right to speak to an authority figure like that Jack Harkness! I cannot believe you have the guts to say that on your first day. I could file a report and have you sent right to Torchwood where you belong!" Jack widened his eyes and started laughing when Tosh gasped and began ushering Owen from the room.
"There was no need to say that! You know we don't use references like that here in front of the occupants! He's probably just tired from the long flight and needs to cool off. I suggest you do the same!" With that, she shoved the man out into the hallway and slammed the door shut behind him. During this period of time, Jack had been trying to hold back giggles from the irony of it all. Torchwood was the supposed worst mental facility of all time. The place to go if you want to find lunatics who would just as soon rape you as eat you. It was the place he had been aiming for ever sine he'd heard about it. Just the challenge of rising to the top over all the other power hungry freaks and the furious sex would be worth all the effort. Just thinking about it brought a smile to the American's lips and gave rise to something else. With a soft growl, Jack realized he would need to be alone in order to get rid of this rapidly growing problem. He turned to Tosh to tell her she should leave, when the girl let loose a string of unwanted words.
"I am so sorry about Owen. He gets very sensitive about certain things, what you brought up is one of them. I know you must be missing all your friends back in the states, but could you try and be a little nicer to him? He means the best, we all do!' She beamed at him and crossed her arms over her chest like she'd done something great. Aggravated beyond measure, Jack swung his legs over the side of his bed and retorted.
"Tosh, I practically offered him sex. With me. Scratch that, I made my intention crystal clear! Now I don't know how much nicer I can get, but I'll see what I can do next time he comes in. You're right, there is one person I miss. My lover Frankie. Well, actually Frankie, Reid and Andrew. He had multiple personality disorder, a shame really. Andrew blowed like a god, and Frankie made the cutest sounds, but Reid was the best in bed. Speaking of bed, I'm going to get in my bed and be handsome for a while. So, if you don't mind too terribly, could you leave me in peace for a couple of hours? I have business to attend to, and if you don't go now then it'll be you attending to it." The American grinned at his nurse and turned his back, a sign of dismissal. When he didn't hear the door close, Jack walked over to his bedside table and picked up a small glass of water.
"Listen Jack, if you keep talking to the staff like that then Owen is right. You'll get sent to Torchwod. A sweet boy like you shouldn't be in there with all those ruffians, you should stay here where it's nice and safe. We'll help you, and with enough progress you could get out of this place! Travel the world and then settle down with a nice fa…"
Jack's patience snapped and he turned to hurl the glass against the wall. The cup shattered a foot from Tosh's face, spraying her with water and tiny bits of glass. They weren't jagged enough to hurt, but it was enough to scare her. The impact combined with the American screaming,
"GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!"
The nurse scrambled into the corridor with one hand covering her face and Jack slammed the door behind her. "Thank god…" he breathed, climbing under his sheets and tugging his slacks down with relief. "This place is just like all the others." Jack mumbled while taking himself in his had and starting to massage the areas that would respond the most. "I'll never escape this hell."
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