Chapter 26 – Alternate Universe
Sunnydale Mental Institution
11am
"You can't do this! Help! I need to help the young girls! I need to warn them of the danger! Can somebody please help me?!" screamed a young women
"Now, now if you just stay still everything will be okay." Said the doctor calmly
"Stay calm? Stay calm when there is danger approaching? We need to prepare, need to organize tactics. I think the best thing is to attack in numbers, not just one but at least three people." Yelled out the young lady
"No tactics need to be decided. The first plan of action is to just stay still so we can make you feel better." Replied the nurse
"First thing you want to do is use large needles? That might work but I think they would just break the needles." Said the young lady a bit more calmly but not too calmly
"Deidre, no one is breaking large needles. We have to inject this medicine to help to calm you down and make you better." Said the nurse
"I am perfectly fine, I don't need any help. Well I do with the fight but otherwise I need no help. We just have to make sure our plan has no flaws. No let me out of here!" yelled Deidre
"Deidre the reason why we are keeping you here is because people close to you are concerned about the way you have been behaving, the best thing for you is to stay here with us, we will look after you. Just please stay still so we can finish this treatment here." Explained the doctor
"I need to go! You have to understand, it's important for me to do my job not for the council, but for all the innocent people out there who might get hurt. Every day I see the sun go down while I'm here. I pray that you will let me out but you don't and you won't. It's not fair. Your killing innocent people by keeping me here!" screamed Deidre from the top of her lungs
"Be quiet! Stop screaming, your only making things worse for yourself. Now just hold still for one more minute…and see that wasn't so bad." Said the nurse
(To the nurse) " We need to increase her medicine by 3%, things aren't getting any better." Said the doctor
"Are you sure about 3%?"
"Yes.. it's the only thing I can think of at the moment that will stop her going on about all this nonsense."
"She's been here for at least two months and she hasn't gotten any better, do you think she'll get better?"
"I'm not sure.. I really don't know. I guess only time will tell."
"Oh before you go off to see your next patient, someone from channel 34 news are coming over here today to do talk to us about Deidre, her condition and the progress. I told them it was none of there business but you know the crew on channel 34, they insisted and insisted and when they are determined they are determined so they will be coming around at three today, they want to air the interview on television tonight."
"I can't believe the news about Deidre got out to the public. We promised her family that it wouldn't go public and now look what happened. Well yesterday I was thinking at least it's not on the news or anything but now look what's happening. We just have to make sure no one says anything too personal or too detailed, we don't want them to know how serious this mental condition is."
"I'll make sure everyone knows."
Summer's Home
5:00pm
Buffy and her parents sat in the lounge room on the couch in from of the television waiting for the 5 o'clock news to come on and were talking about what had happened with Wesley on Buffy's 12th birthday. When the news lady started talking about the first piece of news, the conversation suddenly stopped and all eyes were glued to the television.
" Tonight channel 34 has a special exclusive. Today we sent one of our reporters to Sunnydale Mental Institution to interview Dr. Kildare. At the moment he has been dealing with a new patient who is terribly sick and unstable. The patient has been put into special care over at the mental institution and has been on special treatment as well.
Dr. Kildare told our reporter Stacy that she has a rare problem; he hasn't seen anything really like it before. He told us that he had seen something similar but not this bad. Here is some footage of Deidre and Dr. Kildare.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Kildare and this is Deidre. She has been very sick lately and she has been on special treatment. This disease is new to us and we are trying to do everything to help this poor young lady. We need help to find her a cure to help her become better but before we help her become better we need to find out what is really wrong with her. So far yes has been yelling out things that don't make sense, things that seem unusual like things about a council, how we are killing innocence people by keeping her here, all things that sound like nonsense including things on vampires. This girl needs serious help and we are trying every kind of test to find out what is wrong. It will be a while until she is better but if she stays here she has more of a chance of becoming well than leaving here and maybe not surviving in the world out there."
"Thank you Dr. Kildare for letting us talk to you today."
"Thanks Stacey for that news update. To help out Deidre phone this number for donations: 9225-7894. After this break, Sunnydale death rates still declining."
Silence filled the room and the eyes were no longer looking at the television. Buffy looked at her parents then back at the television and then back at her parents again.
"We understand Buffy." Said Hank
"You.. you do?" asked Buffy unsure of what her dad just said
"Yes dear. If you have to go, you should go." Said Joyce
"You know? How do you know?" asked Buffy confused
"Vampires was one clue…" replied Hank
"And we could tell by your expressions on your face when watching the television before that you wanted to go to the institution." Explained Joyce
"Yeah, yeah vampires.. but how could you tell by my face expressions?" asked Buffy still a little confused
"Well that was kind of a wild guess there…" said Hank
"Is she like you do you think?" asked Joyce
"Umm I don't know, that's why I have to go see her. She's older than me that's for sure but she could be a victim." Replied Buffy still a bit shocked about by what she just saw. She was thinking about if the council found about this they would be pissed off so much. It could blow their cover on the Watcher's Council.
"Victim?" asked Hank
"Yeah victim. Maybe she was attacked and now knows that vampires and every that goes creep in the night is real. I think she wants to help other people, save other people from the danger no matter who she is potential, slayer or not." Explained Buffy
"You better go before it get's dark." Said Joyce
"I'll ring you when I'm coming home, bye!" yelled out Buffy as she left the house
Sunnydale Mental Institution
6:00pm
"I'm sorry but no visitors are allowed, even if you are family, the doctors and nurses have insisted no visitors until the new treatment has started to work. I'm sorry you won't be able to see her for a least three weeks when we get the results back and the treatment is working." Said the lady at the front desk
"But I 'need' to see her, it's urgent, she won't mind seeing me. I – I.." Buffy started to explain
"I know it must be something urgent but they have strictly said no visitors.." the lady tried explaining again
"I know but you don't understand, I 'have' to see her." Said Buffy
"How many times do I have to explain that you can't see her?"
"Another twenty times before I will give up. Please can I see her, just a few minutes… just a few minutes with her?" asked Buffy begging to see her, nearly begging on her knees just about
"I suppose maybe just for a 'few' minutes, you do seem like a pretty sweet young girl. I'll see what I can do. Are you related to Deidre?"
"Thank you 'so' much you have no idea how much this means to me, thank you, thank you. Umm yeah.. she's my cousin, I haven't seen her for years."
"You just sit down over there in the waiting room while I go so if I can arrange a little visiting time for you."
"Okay, thanks again."
The waiting room was painted a very extreme white with no marks at all seen on the walls and the roof. The floor was covered in pure white tiles and the couches were white as well. Buffy got the impression they were keen on white at the institution.
She sat down on one of the big couches and she nearly sank into the couch.
"Umm little girl, what is your name?" asked the lady who Buffy spoke to before
"Buffy."
"Deidre will be ready so see you in just a moment."
Buffy sat back down on the couch and looked around the white room. It was completely empty and the only sounds that could be heard was the clock ticking on the wall and faint screams from a door near by which looked like it lead to some sort of corridor.
"Buffy! It's time to go see her. Follow Dr. Evans please."
" Hi Buffy, I've heard your one of Deidre's cousin, she never told us she had a cousin in town." Said Dr. Evans
"Oh I haven't seen her for years, she may not remember me."
"Okay. Well so far Deidre has been going pretty good on her new treatment. We are doing our best to find the best treatment for your cousin. I'm not her main doctor, Dr. Kildare is but I have been working with Dr. Kildare on Deirde's treatment. Just follow me through these doors and we will then be on a way to her room."
The corridors were just as white as the waiting room except.. even more the colour white than before, Buffy didn't think it was possible for the walls to be even whiter than the waiting room. As they went through the doors Dr. Evans said they would be going through, doors started to appear on either side of the corridor and the doors had bolts on them, locks and small windows on them. Buffy knew they were near some of the patient rooms now.
"Arr here were, number 31. You will only have about 5 minutes at the most. Visitors aren't supposed to be visiting Deidre at the moment but since you're her cousin I guess it's alright and you haven't seen her for years."
Dr. Evans opened the door and Buffy saw Deidre and smiled. Buffy looked around the room and notice three other people in the room, they looked like nurses and Dr. Evans then came into the room after Buffy and bolted the door behind him and locked it as well. When the bolt was pulled across the door it made a loud sound and Buffy jumped and turned around towards it.
"Why do you have to bolt the door down?" asked Buffy nervously
"For safety reasons mostly." Replied Dr. Evans
"But what happens if you have to get out of the room really quickly? The doors bolted and everything."
"Well that doesn't matter right now, what you should be concentrating on is how
much time you have left to talk to Deidre."
"Yes, I was wondering if I could talk to her alone, it's kind of a private thing I need to tell her."
"No that can't be done, sorry Buffy."
"Please?"
"We—we can doctor have just two of us in here with the girl and Deidre." Suggested one of the nurses
"I suppose we can do that, I'll stay here and Lily you can too, the rest of you just wait outside for a few minutes until Buffy is finished in here."
The other nurses went outside and Buffy walked slowly over to the bed. Deirde was strapped to the bed with special white belts to hold her down. Deirde was yelling out the same sort of things that were on the news that afternoon. Buffy went to touch her and she screamed and told Buffy the end was near. Buffy became freaked out and stepped away from the bed to the wall furthest away.
"Don't worry Buffy, sometimes she says things that don't make sense.. they don't mean anything really, it's alright." Said the nurse Lily
"Deirde… what end.. end of what is near?" asked Buffy puzzled
"The end is near, use your gift it's the only way." Screamed out Deidre as though she was in pain
"What gift? Your not making sense. Please tell me what you mean."
"It's not the gift you were born with.. it's the gift you've received." Screamed Deirde
"How do you know this?"
"It's my gift."
"Buffy, don't listen to her, she doesn't know what she's talking about. There is no gift, no end is near. Step away from the bed before she lashes out again. Please Buffy come over to me." Said Dr. Evans
"The end is near! Get your cross protect your heart! I need to patrol! Let me out of here! It's not right to keep me here. I'm in a prison.. you, you murder (points to Dr. Evans) … your killing people keeping me locked up! I know what your doing.. you evil thing, evil creature. Help! Help me! When people find out what you've been doing you'll be locked up too!"
"See there she goes again. You'll have to go now Buffy." Said the burse politely
"But I have to ask her about the end is near."
"No, no you don't. I told you, what she says doesn't mean anything to you, it shouldn't matter, it only matters to us.. it means her treatment isn't working exactly right, we have to increase her medicine more. She just had another episode, all that screaming about being locked up, crosses, patrolling calling for help. She does it every day at this same time. She's locked in this pattern. She's not well so don't listen to her, don't worry about what she says okay." Said Dr. Evans
"But she said I have a gift of some sort I have to use."
"Little girl, forget about that, it was just a crazy thing she said, in a few years, you'll see, she won't be talking to you in crazy talk but talking to you just like me. And when you talk to her then you can listen to her, and believe what she says all you want because it won't be crazy talk, she'll be better not sick anyone."
"Now come on Buffy, say goodbye and we'll show you the way out." Said Lily
Dr. Evans unbolted the door and unlocked it and the other nurses came in and Lily showed Buffy the way back down the white corridors with the many exact alike doors with windows to the waiting room.
"It's alright Buffy. I'm sorry you had to experience one of her episodes, we should have none better and shouldn't of had you in the room at that time. She'll get better, I promise you, she will."
"But I swear she was making sense for a while."
"It may seem like that, your young but really she was just talking crazy talk, I'm sorry.
Buffy slowly walked out of the white building, thinking about what Deidre had said and not what the nurses or Dr. Evans said, what they said didn't mean anything to Buffy only what Deidre said was important. Buffy continued walking the streets alone and ended up at the graveyard sitting alone waiting to figure out what her gift was.