Ah, there you are, again. I'm very sorry about that. I don't like to trick people, but I really thought that you should
hear the rest of the story, first, before you actually spoke to Severus. . . . You
don't remember? Well, that's not unusual,
considering the dosage I used. Don't
worry, though. It was nothing harmful. You may be numb for a few more hours . . .
and you might have trouble walking for a day or so, but the drug does nothing
permanent. I regret not being able to
move you to a more comfortable location, but I'm not as strong as I once was. I can just barely lift Severus, and he's lost
some weight. Do calm down, please? Of course I'll let you go. I just didn't want you to do anything rash
until you understood . . . Oh, no! I'd never
kill anyone! Why are you so obsessed
with killing? I'm not a murderer. I *save* people. That's what a doctor does! Even the psychiatric kind. We all take oaths of servitude, you know . . . If you'd just calm
down and let me *finish,* I will take you to see Severus and then you can go,
once you've ascertained that he is safe . . . and happy. He *is* happy. We're both *very* happy. I
know that some of my techniques seem a little bit . . . Well, no, I wouldn't
say insane, but they are a bit . . . firm. An iron will is needed to carry them out, I'll admit. But they're very, very effective.
Now, then. Where was I? After his teeth were removed, eating solid
foods was out of the question for my dear Severus, as you can well imagine. Luckily, the management had granted a few of
my earliest requests for medical supplies. I was able to feed him through other means until he healed up. We decided to go intravenously. . . That's
with an IV catheter placed in the vein . . . Oh, don't look so horrified. I don't much care for needles, either, but I
was very careful about getting the tube into the vein straight off. Well, I had to do it that way, didn't I? I couldn't very well feed him through his
nose; that was still healing. And I
couldn't just let him starve. He
*didn't* starve. His loss of appetite
vanished once the tube was in place, and he realized how much I had come to
care for him. We had overcome his
depression, together. See? I told you my methods were effective.
The nurses had disappeared
around then, so I had to move Severus to our room, myself, as he was not
inclined to walk on his own. At first
he was a bit too heavy for me to lift, but we were able to trim him down some
throughout the course of the day, and then it was all right. You'd be amazed at
how happy -- how *good* he looks now. Barely
recognisable as the man who was first dragged into my office by the nurses. All of his fears and paranoia are gone from
his face. He's . . . what's the right
word for it? Content, now.
You obviously don't believe
me. How can I convince you? . . .You
don't need to be *insulting*. . . . All right! If that's what it'll take. I'll bring Severus in. Once he was settled into our room times were
happier for him. Those memories
shouldn't bother him at all. Stay there
-- not that you could move much. No one's
been able to break through those straps, especially not with the particular
ketamine-mix I gave you. I'll only be a
moment . . .
