What You See...

Chapter Three
Smoothings of a Plan

The elderly gentleman sat down on the bed, eyeing mistrustfully the man who sought to ensure his comfort before taking his leave from the small room. The elder sighed discontentedly, but smiled at his niece nonetheless. She was healthy, frisky, and seemingly happy.

Even so, he knew they wouldn't allow him to take her home. Her delusions, they claimed, were getting worse. He saw no change, knowing she had been this way all her life. How could they get worse if they had never been better?

"Yes, my dear," he smiled as she so proudly displayed her plant, and he reminded himself to thank whoever had gotten it for her, "It's very nice. Ivy isn't it?"

"I'm not sure," Aki examined the plant closely before again displaying it, "But it is what we're looking for, isn't it?"

"I suppose it must be," Sid replied. He never saw the problem with feeding her fancies. After all, if she was going to be like this for the rest of her life, why not make her happy? Besides, he had enough experience with her to know how to pull her out of a bad hallucination when she had one.

She smiled, and put the plant back on the small shelf affixed to the wall of her room. The movement woke one of the shelf's other occupants – a small, caged bird – that chirped its disapproval at the disturbance.

"He looks hungry," Sid observed, "Maybe you should feed him." He suddenly wondered where the bird had come from, since the security was supposed to be so strict. Then again, there was the plant too. He frowned. Nothing like suspicion to spoil his visits.

"I think we should finish first," Aki replied, dumping the contents of a bag, mostly art supplies and paper, near her uncle, "We're so close, we just need to…." She trailed off as her sight rested on the bird, and she blinked as it trilled.

When she moved to feed the creature, Sid sifted over what had been dropped so close to him. Pictures, drawn expertly in pencil or beautifully painted with…. There were tubes of watercolor in the pile, which was what the images must have been painted with. The elderly man marveled over where his dead sister's daughter had gained such talent.

Then again, if he knew anything about the staff here, this could be trouble. These, the conceptions of a madwoman, however mysterious or intriguing, would not help his case. He carefully gathered the paper and the artwork together and placed it in its bag. He would take it with him when he left, but Aki was staring at him.

"What are you doing?" she pouted.

"I'm going to take this with me," Sid smiled reassuringly, "I'm going to keep them at home, and when we get you out of here you can paint all you want. But until then, you shouldn't give them any reason to keep you here." The more he thought of it, the more she seemed to intelligently reason. But all that reason seemed to be in another place….

He shook his head slowly, and carefully stood. He knew she understood that he was trying to help, all he could do was hope for the best.

"Be good," he directed as he left, "Don't go causing trouble, and leave poor Mr. Edwards alone, he seems to have enough to deal with as it is."

And the idea struck.

---

Gray walked along the small garden path, intent on focusing on the better things in life. After all, it wasn't like he had to do that much for his job. No one cared what he did, as long as he was there to stop intruders and escapees, and walk around a lot. They didn't want his help with most of the facilities business. Still, something was tugging at the edge of his mind….

"Excuse me," the voice was familiar, just where had… oh, right.

"Chuck something, right?" Gray asked, politely waiting for the man to catch up with him. What could he want? And why hadn't he gone home yet? "Aren't you supposed to have left by now? It's past visiting hours."

"Charles Sid," the old man answered, "I have a favor to ask you."

"What would that be?" Gray didn't mean to sound impassive, but he just wasn't in the mood.

"Well, you've been having trouble with my niece recently, right?"

"Yeah, she's been more and more restless," the younger man nodded in response, "Nothing overly difficult, just irritating."

"You know we've been trying to bring her home, right?" Sid strongly hoped this man would help, even if it were out of pity.

"No, not really. But I don't deal with that kind of thing."

The elder furrowed his brow, "Well, I'm retired, and my son is willing to help me care for her. We really do have adequate care, but the hospital won't let her go, and no one else will do anything."

"I really don't see what this had to do with me," Gray spoke the truth. Helping wasn't too far from his appeal, but he didn't see where he could help.

"We have a hearing the day after tomorrow," Sid explained, "Please, I'm asking you to speak on her behalf. After that, if we succeed, you never have to deal with us again."

A few moments passed, and Gray laughed quietly, "I'll see what I can do, but I doubt they'll listen to me. They don't hold me in very high regard."

"Thank you for trying, at least," Sid beamed, "I'm sure we'll have it this time. No need to worry, soon we'll be out of your hair for good."

Gray mumbled something under his breath as he watched the elderly man walk away. Even if Aki left the hospital, there would be someone to replace her. And knowing his luck, it would be an even worse lunatic.