(Sequel to 'The Games that Daddies Played')
Lions Slaughtered By Lambs
Chapter Eight: A Doctor For Allegra
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Allegra sat in her room quietly. She awaited the deliberation that would take a fairly long time—amongst the Arkham board members, among their own disturbed and subjugated staff, they would deliberate their greatly weighed options.
Choice A: Keep Allegra away from Joker, and in turn be dealt a world of hurt.
Choice B: Give to Allegra what she demands—a room shared with another patient, which for a patient of her mental status, has been forbidden for years since Amadeus Arkham (founder of the hospital and the current Dr. Arkham's great-grandfather) had laid down this hospital for the benefits of mentality for all inhabitants.
As Allegra hummed a soft lullaby, her tongue traced the left side of her mouth across the scar on her cheek. She sat on her bed, legs folded underneath her Indian-Style; her hands laced and unfolded over and over, having nothing better to do than this. She gave the room a subtle look, wondering the time, then grinned at the cameras at the corner of the room, the upper left corner, just above the door, ever gazing back at her from that small, shiny, black orb.
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"We can't give her what she wants," said Dr. Leon quietly, looking at the camera views with disdain. His certain disheartening gaze fell upon a brunette whose stare stained the cameras and his brain with the knowing in her heart—they'd have no other option, would they?
Dr. Arkham sat in the swivel chair just beside Dr. Leon; behind them was Rebecca, who watched Allegra through the cameras with a certain kind of fascination and equal fear. She made a clearing of her throat, perplexed by the doctors' uncertainty and dislike.
"Yes, Rebecca?" asked Dr. Arkham; he seemed surprised, as though he hadn't heard the small dark nurse coming into the room. She smiled with embarrassment—how meek she was!-and nodded to him respectively.
"I have a suggestion."
"We're not taking suggestions," said Dr. Arkham calmly. He grinned at her with a sentimental thanks, however.
"I doubt we have any other choices left—it'd be nice to get some insight," said Dr. Leon unhappily. "I don't know what to do, honestly; I've never been offered such a disgusting dilemma and I'm pushing fifty-five."
"This isn't a hotel where we serve caviar and break policies," said Dr. Arkham coldly. He gazed at the camera feed on Allegra's room; she was now pacing the room with a bounce in her step; every now and then she'd do a little hop and then pace a countered direction. Dr. Arkham shifted a colder gaze to the man with which Allegra demanded a shared room. It was perplexing that Joker, who was idly sitting in his bed with an amused smile on his face, seemed just as knowledgeable in their frustration as Allegra was self-assured. This didn't make either doctor happy.
Rebecca stepped forward.
"I know you're at a dilemma, doctors," said Rebecca softly. "But I really do have a suggestion that might help."
"What is it?" asked Dr. Leon, turning to her from his own swivel chair. Both hands on the arms were tense, almost clenching the plastic ends with the obvious frustration of this unhappy predicament.
"Joker and Miss Davenheart can share a room, to appease...Allegra." Rebecca said softly. She almost hesitated at the saying of either of Allegra's aliases, but the noticeable bravery was commended for Drs. Arkham and Leon found her recent incident with Allegra to be one that would ruin her, rather than make her bolder. They allowed her to speak when they saw the shift from modest quiet to determination.
"This won't happen," said Dr. Arkham. "I allowed her and Joker's tryst only so she would not attack any more of my staff; what happened to James—rest his soul—should not have happened in the first place, nor to you, Miss Rebecca."
Dr. Leon side-glanced Dr. Arkham with agreement as they both turned their eyes to the dark-skinned woman. Raven, straight hair cut just above her neck, arched eyebrows, and a simplicity in the gaze taken from her light brown eyes made Rebecca one of the prettiest nurses. Alongside with her beauty also was an incorruptible stand point of compassion and a will to believe all patients—no matter how seemingly the lost cause—could be redeemed.
Being so, Rebecca pointed to the cameras.
"She can stay with him," said Rebecca. "Do what she wants in that cell, but only in that room."
"And then what?" asked Dr. Arkham snidely—he pointed to the same cameras, saying sarcastically, "Should I let all the other sexual deviants do the same? Rebecca..."
"They don't have to know—no one but the doctors and nurses." Rebecca said. "While they do what they will in the cell, during all other times, Miss...Davenheart...and Joker could be separated so as not to encourage this activity among other patients."
There was silence between the trio as Dr. Arkham thought this through; Dr. Leon and Rebecca shared a look of understanding. While it was fairly disgusting to them that Allegra's demands would be met, the idea of it still being behind closed doors, after hours, and otherwise discreet had its perks. Still, they were handing over their balls to a woman who'd only been here for a month, and she'd already killed one of the employees, and attempted to rape Rebecca.
Twenty minutes of mental debate, Dr. Arkham closed his eyes, his upper lip curling in utter dislike. The reluctance in his eyes as he opened them was especially noticeable.
"If she stays in her own cell..." Dr. Arkham began.
"She will be just as brutal to the staff as she'd been before," Dr. Leon insisted.
"You believe her?"
"I'm not sure what about her words I believe but her tone was honest."
"You believe she'd hurt more of the staff?" asked Dr. Arkham softly.
"I do," said Dr. Leon. He glanced at Rebecca. "I fail to see any other option than Rebecca's suggestion. I hate giving into..."
"Terrorists," finished Dr. Arkham. "I refuse to bend the rules for someone such as her."
"We don't have a choice," said Dr. Leon coldly. "She will..."
"Learn that this isn't up for a negotiation; I'll tell her myself," said Dr. Arkham. He stood.
"Allegra can be controlled!" Dr. Leon snapped. "She can be—if this is how we must do it, I say it's the best shot we have! She and Joker share a room, that'll get rid of any unnecessary violence. Allegra swore to me that she would not hurt a hair on anyone's head if we complied. She would take her medication, she'd talk to me."
"And you believe her lies?"
"I don't know if she was lying."
Dr. Arkham frowned at him, stepping to the door. He'd gotten as far as placing his hand on the door knob, his fingers grabbing the hold and turning but he wasn't unable to completely dismiss the situation. He glared at the door, uncertain to follow the rules placed by generations ago, or the whims of some sexually distressed female patient of his.
There was silence for a few minutes before Dr. Leon stood out of his chair, walking with a gentle pace towards the administrator.
"I don't like it any more than you do, Doctor," he explained quietly. "I hate it—but if this is what keeps Allegra's homicidal aggression at bay, I'm for it. If anything, it helps with the part of her that makes her especially dangerous."
"It only proves we're weak," snarled Dr. Arkham through gritted teeth.
"Allegra has to make a demand to fornicate with a man whose standards are perhaps lower than the man who raised her," said Dr. Leon softly. "She's the weak one."
"I..." Dr. Arkham shook his head, lips moving but the words were forbidden to leave his mouth. He furrowed his eyebrows. "Allegra isn't a lost soul, Leon; she's mad. She's insane. She's deluded by years of vindication and appraisal only happily received from her eccentric, manipulative patriarch—I hardly see any way out of this where we end up on top."
Rebecca stepped towards Dr. Arkham, touching his shoulder.
"I want to explain the rules to her," said Rebecca quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.
"You can't." Dr. Leon immediately forbade it.
"I need to." Rebecca insisted, her voice stronger and louder. "If she can see that even the fearful can stand up to her, maybe she'll realize..."
"Allegra's not any ordinary patient you've dealt with, Miss Rebecca," said Dr. Leon patiently. "She is a narcissistic patient; your insistence upon reading her the rights would only irritate her—you're no doctor, or the administrator. She may think herself belittled to be in the presence of someone with no doctorate."
"She's no better than me," Rebecca responded, insulted.
"You are far better than her—but not in her mindset." Dr. Leon replied. "If anyone will explain these new rules to her, it should be me. I know her better. I know her a little more than anyone in this room."
"Yes," said Dr. Arkham sarcastically, "but she's no longer sixteen and consolable."
Rebecca's mind was elsewhere, as her thoughts continued even while they debated among themselves.
"I knew her then, and now." Dr. Leon argued to Dr. Arkham, who closed the door to continue this debate—it clearly was no closer to being resolved now than it was an hour ago when it first started.
"Knowing how she was in the past, I can possibly connect her former self."
"She was crazy then," Dr. Arkham insisted. "And enabling her to continue her sexual addiction..."
"She's not addicted to sex as she is to Joker's presence—the very atmosphere he presents to her—and close representation of her father's habits," Dr. Leon protested off-handedly. He waved at the cameras—indicating Joker, "if she was addicted to sex as greatly as we believed initially, her trivial pursuits could be handled by a fifteen-hundred dollar hooker, but I doubt even that would work. Through Joker, she gets what she received from her father: the substantial..."
"Don't talk medical jargon with me, Leon—you forget I'm a doctor too," Dr. Arkham scoffed. He rolled his eyes. "It makes me just as qualified to speak to Allegra Davenheart as it does..."
"She isn't familiar with you," retorted Dr. Leon. "She'll attempt to sway your mind..."
"I know the mind games!" Dr. Arkham retorted.
Dr. Leon rolled his eyes this time, starting to the door, indicating that this was over, that he would speak to Allegra. However, Arkham grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the aforementioned exit, clearly upset that he was ready to end the conversation before the decision was made clear. As they argued about who would talk to Allegra, who could get her to understand them more, Rebecca attempted to interrupt them.
"Doctors..."
Dr. Leon's voice overwhelmed hers, speaking loudly to Dr. Arkham: "She'll feel more comfortable with me—I was her past doctor."
"I don't care if she feels comfortable or if she's afraid—this isn't therapy at this point, it's negotiation with a terrorist and I'll be damned if you're the one to make her feel as though she can simply receive whatever she may ask!"
"Me make her feel—you're certifiable!"
Rebecca cleared her throat, saying louder, "...Doctors..."
When they continued to argue in less than dulcet tones, Rebecca glared at them and shouted, "DOCTORS!"
They stopped in mid-sentences, looking at her with subtle surprise. Meek, Quiet Rebecca never raised her tone!
"You both are equally outmatched for...Allegra..." said Rebecca coolly, looking at them. "She won't take either of you seriously because you both have, one way or another, called her crazy."
"Oh, look, someone believes themselves to be a scholar," Dr. Arkham chastised. "And you consider yourself the viable one to talk to Allegra?"
"Of course not—she terrifies me," said Rebecca. "And according to you, I would only make her feel less than valuable; I don't want that."
"Then why the interruption?" sighed Dr. Arkham unhappily.
Rebecca frowned, saying, "You want my opinion, Administrator? I have one. It's one you won't agree with but like you two have said, what choice do we have?"
"Fine." Dr. Arkham replied after much skeptical deliberation. "Who do you think should speak to Allegra."
"A doctor whose in the same 'right' mind as she is," said Rebecca coldly. With disdain she answered them: "Dr. Johnathan Crane."
Dr. Arkham gave her a curious look before Dr. Leon further clarified with impressed but equal dislike, "Scarecrow."
