Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or any of the medical jargon/conditions/procedures. I hope you enjoy the fifth chapter of the story.
Star leaned up against the side wall of the room and watched as Dick's expression went from being perplexed to angered. He began to stand from his position on the bed but sat back down with a heavy sigh as he listened more intently to the voice on the other line. Every few moments he would raise a fist into the air to strengthen his argument then lower it back as he was transfixed again by the information being told. She watched him go between the two actions over and over again, until finally he stated his parting to the caller.
Dick sighed once more as he hung up the telephone. "Terra's been put into solitary confinement."
The red-haired woman walked across the room and sat next to the man on the bed. She wrapped her arms about his hunched shoulders. "How is Gar doing with it?"
"Victor hasn't checked on him since he locked him in for the night. But he did say he was pretty shaken up by the incident."
Star stared worriedly at the man in her arms. His forehead was etched with creases of stress and worry, while the bags underneath his eyes continued to increase each day. The weekend was meant to help alleviate the doctor of his troubles, instead it only worsened them.
"If we leave by six we can reach the institution by noon." Star smiled encouragingly at the man. He began to open his mouth in a half-hearted refusal, but was stopped by the woman's fingers pressing firmly against his lips. "You need to be there for your patient. We leave bright and early, no arguments." With her proclamation set, Star took the glasses from Dick's head and kissed him goodnight before turning off the light in the room.
11456783 sat cross-legged on his bed facing in the direction of the city. He found that if he concentrated hard enough he could see through the concrete wall and gaze upon the activity in the streets. There were cars and buses, some kids jump roping on the sidewalk, and every-so-often a rosy-cheeked woman would jog by with her golden retriever. The boy smiled at the image of the far off remembrance. Vaguely he knew he had experienced the scene sometime in his life, but nothing in his memory produced any affirmation.
Upon searching, the boy found his memory occupied primarily by images of men and women in white jackets and adolescents walking aimlessly around in grayish pants and shirts. Yet every once in awhile the picture of a blonde-haired girl would float across his eyes. There was something about her that made him smile. Vainly he searched through his memory, but eventually came to the decision that, like the city, she was but an image of some utopia never to be physically discovered.
His thoughts were disturbed by the subtle creaking of a door opening. Calmly the boy turned his head to see the source of the noise. He stared at the tall man for a few seconds. "Are you real?"
Victor Stone stood dumbstruck upon hearing the boy's voice. He wanted to answer, but found he couldn't respond. In the time the boy had been a patient at the institution he had never before spoken to anyone.
The lab technician stared anxiously at the boy hoping for him to talk again, but instead 11456783 turned his face back to the wall as if nothing had happened.
"Keep trying." The man squatted close behind the girl's hunched form.
Nodding at his encouragement, she reached out her arms one more time and pleaded silently for the rocks to float into her open hands. When she felt the lack of weight upon her palms, the girl brought her arms limply to the side of her body.
"I don't know what's wrong," she attempted to explain to the scolding man. "My powers have never malfunctioned like this before."
Slade Wilson brought his hand up and wiped the tears from his patient's face. A slight smile formed on her lips, but then fell as he laughed condescendingly at her. "What powers Terra? Have you ever truly moved the earth with your mind?"
The blonde-haired girl broke from his embrace and crawled away from the questioning man. "I have, I know I have. There was the hotel. I lost control for a moment and it began to fall. Everyone ran around screaming and panicked. Luckily we all escaped; but I know I caused that. It's why I'm here with you now," she hurriedly explained.
"No Terra, the hotel fell due to poor foundations. The builders and contractors were sued for millions of dollars; you had nothing to do with it. Do you want to know why you are truly here?"
Slowly the girl crept from her darkened corner. Slade smirked at the desperate look gracing her face. "You're here because you killed a woman then walked about in the streets ranting about powers."
The girl frantically shook her head from left to right. "I never did that, I would never do that."
"Do you know who the woman was, Terra?" Doctor Wilson stood from his crouched position and approached the girl with arms open wide as a sign of truth.
Terra continued to deny his accusations. "I didn't kill anyone. I would never do such a thing. My powers are for good, not ill."
"The woman was your mother, Terra. She tried to tell you what I'm telling you now. You have no powers." Slade gripped his patient's shoulders and spoke directly to her face. "When she told you, something cracked, you had to prove your powers were real, so what else was there to do? You killed her, cold-blooded murder."
"I have powers. I know I do," The girl ranted louder in order to drown out the man's calm voice.
"If you have powers, move those rocks. Hurl one at my head." The man forcefully turned the girl in the direction of the rocks. "Prove to me your powers are real."
Terra reached out her hands vainly at the rocks. Droplets of sweat began to roll aimlessly down her face as mentally she strove more and more to move the stones.
Slowly the truth dawned in the girl's mind as she stared longingly at the rocks on the ground. She began to doubt her powers and painfully allowed the man's accusations to shatter the truth she had known. As the realization of her past actions crashed down upon her, her legs gave way and the blonde-haired girl bathed the cold, concrete floor with her tears.
Slade Wilson cupped the girl's face and turned it to the back corner of the room. "You can free yourself of this burden." With his implication planted in the patient's mind, the doctor left the room and locked the door.
Terra stared for a moment at the corner of the room. She had, during the hours of solitude, explored the object, but only now did she fully understand its purpose and blessing. With determination flaring in her eyes, the girl raised herself from the floor, and approached the corner with a sorrowful smile playing on her lips.
Victor Stone sat erect in a chair situated directly across from the boy on the bed. The man had decided not to take his eyes off of the patient in the hope that perhaps he would talk again. Instead of witnessing this phenomena, the doctor had made himself subject to viewing the patient's wavering between psychosis and--what he assumed to be-- sanity. Currently the boy was testing his flexibility by attempting to bring his leg up to scratch behind his ear.
The lab technician brought his wrist up to his face. Twelve-noon exactly. He sighed as he changed into a more comfortable position in the chair.
Suddenly 11456783 halted in his lycanthropic activities and smiled at the doorway. "Hello."
Victor turned his gaze to the door and smirked as he saw Doctor Grayson standing flabbergasted at the boy's voice. Fortunately, the doctor was able to recover from his temporary paralysis much quicker then the lab technician.
Warily he approached the boy sitting on the bed. Reaching out his hand he stated a simple "Hello."
11456783 shook hands with the doctor then motioned for the man to sit in the remaining, unoccupied chair. Once the doctor was seated the patient continued his salutation. "How are you today?"
"I'm good," Doctor Grayson managed to answer. "Yourself?"
The patient thought upon the simple question for a moment before answering. "I feel like I've been freed from some sort of captivity, but at the same time, I am confused as to everything around me. I don't know your name, but I know I've seen you before." 11456783 smiled fondly at the doctor. "What is your name?"
Dick stared curiously at the boy and his newfound attitude. "My name is Doctor Dick Grayson. What-- "
"It is a pleasure to meet you Doctor," 11456783 cut in. "I am sorry, I dishonorably cut off your question. Please ask it," the boy held out his hand to show the doctor he was ready to listen.
Doctor Grayson nodded enthusiastically at the patient. "What do you remember?"
11456783's face became troubled at the man's question. Haltingly he answered: "My memory is blurred. Mainly all I can see are people dressed as yourself, doctors I now presume them to be, and then others dressed as I. The city also graces my mind. The memories seem so real, yet I don't believe I have lived them. Perhaps sometime in my past, pass all that has happened in the place we find ourselves now, I did wander the streets as my memory suggests." The boy spoke the last with a longing look in his eye and a sorrowful smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.
Dick leaned in closer to the boy's face. "Is that all you remember?"
"There is a girl," the patient began. "She has long blonde hair and beautiful, round blue eyes. Do you know who she is, doctor?"
"Her name is Terra."
11456783 nodded his head in a manner that suggested he was familiar with the name. "May I see her?"
Doctor Grayson turned his gaze to Victor who was shaking his head no. Upon returning his attention to the patient, a determination was set in the doctor's head. "I will make sure you can see her. While I do that, will you go with Doctor Stone and take your medicine?"
The boy nodded his head eagerly at the man then proceeded to walk over to the lab technician and wait for his command as to where to go.
Doctor Grayson appeared a man with a purpose. He walked briskly with his arms swaying slightly at his side and his face held aloft and observant to the activity around him. The sheer determination flaring from his eyes caused various nurses to clear from his path. Though the doctor allowed a smile to form on his lips for a brief moment as he passed Star in the hallway, but once she had passed his snarl reappeared.
He had journeyed the branching hallways and staircases in record time, arriving at the solitary confinement cells minutes after he had left for them. Dick slowed to a normal walking pace as he glanced at the names printed on the top of the sheets attached to each door. When he reached the third metal door on the right he stopped and removed the clip board from its plastic holder.
The patient was Terra Markov, born May 31, 1988. The standing diagnosis on the girl was schizophrenia, mainly consisting of visual hallucinations provoking the ideas of superhuman powers. Dick gazed over the sheet once more checking for any significant abnormalities. He found one as he noted there was currently (and never had been) any medication administered to the girl.
Before the young physician could search the information sheet in any more detail, a deep and hypnotic voice fell on him from behind. "May I help you, Doctor Grayson?"
Dick turned around with a start but composed himself as he glared at the man smirking down at him. "I was wondering if my patient could speak with Terra."
"I'm sorry Dick, she's in solitary confinement. I am the only person allowed in that room, and, in my professional opinion, the general meeting you wish to happen would only provoke harmful psychotic episodes." Slade Wilson's one eye shined with triumph as he spoke with the young doctor.
Doctor Grayson placed the clipboard back in its holder and turned to walk away from the man. Right before he took his first step, a sound akin to a person pounding two rocks together was heard from inside cell number 3. Dick turned a frightened, yet threatening glare on the one-eyed man leaning up against the door.
"She must be throwing rocks at the wall again," Slade responded calmly.
A cat-like smirk spread triumphantly on the doctor's face as he watched Dick walk away. Everything had worked perfectly.
"What exactly does this medicine do?" 11456783 questioned as he watched the needle descend upon the most prominent vein in his arm.
Doctor Stone smiled at the boy's intrigue, glad to finally be around a person ignorant to the procedures he was performing. "Well, this is called a dopamine antagonist," Victor explained as he slowly injected the fluid into the patient's vein. "An antagonist of any medicine is used to decrease the productivity or activation of certain chemicals in the body. Yours is used to block receptors for dopamine in the brain."
11456783 nodded his head at the man's words, but frowned as he discovered, yet again, he knew nothing about what was being told. The boy cocked his head to the side and watched the last drops of the medicine enter into his body. "So what is dopamine?"
"In medical terms, it is a compound called hydroxytyramine, which is produced by the decarboxylation of dopa, that is an intermediate product in the synthesis of norepinephrine" Victor Stone smirked at the dumbfounded look on the boy's face. "Basically it's a chemical compound formed in the brain that aids in communication between brain cells. Fluctuations of dopamine have been linked to various diseases. If the levels decrease significantly it can cause Parkinson's Disease (in which case a dopamine agonist is used to increase the levels); but if the levels increase, conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar, and multiple personality disorder can occur. Also, drug addiction is caused by an increase in, among other things, dopamine."
The boy sitting in the chair smiled in amazement. "Interesting, so I take it that whatever it is I have is caused by an increase in dopamine?"
"Theoretically," Victor conceded. "You have a fairly rare mental condition; therefore, it's pretty much experimentation and faith."
In normal circumstances Doctor Stone would have thought twice about revealing any information to a patient, but for some reason, he felt as if he had to tell the boy everything he could. Including, he found, the fact that Doctor Grayson was like a blind man in a closet of swords when it came to helping 11456783. Luckily, the boy seemed satisfied with everything he was learning.
The boy twisted the bottom of his gray shirt inbetween his fingers as he contemplated his next question. Finally, he decided that he would rather know the answer then be kept in the dark. With a nervous smile he turned to the man in the white lab coat. "What mental condition do I have?"
Victor Stone sat gazing at his hands for a few minutes after the question had been asked. "I believe that is something I am not entitled to tell you," the man answered. "It would be best if Doctor Grayson explained that to you."
The two found themselves sitting in a friendly and oddly comfortable silence. To the patient, an alliance had been formed which helped him discover the missing pieces to the puzzle of his mind; to the doctor, a medical miracle was within his sight. Their silence was broken by the sound of the door opening.
Both the men turned their attention to the doorway and found the red-haired nurse beaming at them. "Greetings."
Doctor Stone stood from his seat to greet the nurse. "Hey Star, can I help you with anything?"
"Actually, Dick asked if I could take the patient for an afternoon stroll," the woman explained.
The boy in the chair nodded his head, rose from his seat, and walked casually over to the woman. As the two left the room, 11456783 turned back and waved farewell to the lab technician.
Doctor Grayson stood with his hand half-raised to a wooden door with the name Doctor Richard Constani spelled out in royal blue, plastic letters. He sighed as the various outcomes of his visit ran through his head, the worst of which was a suspension from the institution on terms of unprecedented suspicions towards a respected and powerful doctor; the best was a full grant of his request. Dick figured he would be grateful to be lectured and then thrown out of the room. With a final heave he let his hand fall twice upon the door.
It took only a matter of moments before Dick found the door in front of him opened to reveal a homely, gray-haired man.
"Come on in Doctor Grayson," the man stepped aside and waved his hand for the young doctor to enter. After Dick had stepped into the room, the door was shut and locked behind him. Doctor Constani briskly walked to his desk and motioned for Dick to take a seat in a leather chair across from him.
The gray-haired doctor tried leaning back in his chair a few times before finally deciding upon sitting up straight and business-like. Dick smiled at the aging doctor and his antics, then opened his mouth to get the meeting over with as soon as possible. Yet before he could utter a word, the soft voice of Doctor Constani fell upon him.
"I've been meaning to speak with you Dick," the man began. "I am not sure how to put this, but--and I ask you not to take this in any alarming or rash manner--I'm dreadfully worried about Doctor Wilson."
Dick found himself immediately interested in the words of the man sitting across from him. "What are you worried about, Doctor Constani?"
A suspicion that both of them were concerned about the same thing began to grow in the young doctor's mind as he watched his respected mentor squirm uncomfortably in his chair from the question. The man started his answer, but then stopped a few times before he finally responded fully.
"Dick, you've told me that you have had suspicions about Doctor Wilson's 'methods' for some time now, correct?"
"That's right."
Richard Constani gazed guiltily down at his hands for a moment. "I never wished to believe you, for Slade has been one of my best friends and colleagues since pre-med. He's like Victor Stone for you, only I'm the elder of us. Well, I recently reviewed the work he's been doing on his latest patient, Terra Markov, and I can't help but think that he is purposely making her worse."
Dick leaned forward in his seat in order to more clearly hear the half-whispered confession of the old man before him. "In what ways?" He questioned.
"Did you know he has never given her medicine?"
"Yes, I noticed that while glancing over her sheets."
Doctor Constani nodded his head. "Yes, but did you also know that he has never run a single test voluntarily? I have to order the tests for him or else he completely bypasses them. What doctor would ever do that to his patient? Unless of course, they did not want their patient to heal." The man grew silent for a moment before pouring out a torrent of uncharacteristically heated words. "That is the conclusion I have reached. Slade Wilson no longer cares about helping those in need, all he cares about is causing the most excruciating mental anguish and then studying it for his own sadistic purposes. I no longer know the man Slade Wilson, I have lost my friend of over thirty years. And to what? Bastardly fascinations with pain and despair. I am utterly disgusted by it."
Dick Grayson sat in shocked silence as he played the man's outburst over in his head. He had just witnessed the most kind hearted, caring man admit that for once, he had come across a soul in which he no longer could find any innate goodness.
"Doctor Grayson, what was it you came here to talk about?" The old man smiled apologetically at the stupefied doctor across from him.
"I was wondering if I could have your permission to allow my patient to speak with Terra." Dick muttered.
Doctor Constani's face softened at the request. "Of course you can. But there are a few rules to follow."
11456783 found an incredible calm wash over his mind as he walked the various hallways with the nurse. There was something about her presence that freed the mind of all despair and dark thoughts. During their walk the boy had learned much information from the nurse, such as gardening tips, folk songs, and most interestingly how she had come over to America with her family when she was five.
The boy smiled back on a conversation he had found himself in with another patient, during which the boy had spoken constantly about how the cosmonauts were coming and the only safe place was Australia. He had had 11456783 intrigued and partially convinced to escape with him and flee to the continent, but then he noticed his clothing and understood that he too was mentally ill.
When the two finally returned to 11456783's room, they found Doctor Grayson pacing excitedly back and forth. He hadn't bothered explaining his overwhelming joy to them, instead he placed an arm on a shoulder of each and led them back down the staircases and to a separate corridor of tiny rooms.
The patient glanced around his surroundings and found them to be completely foreign. He turned a perplexed stare on the doctor. "Where are we?"
Doctor Grayson smiled and pointed to a door with a large 3 nailed under a small plastic shelf with a clipboard resting in it. "Terra is in that room. If you want, you can speak with her."
11456783 sprinted over to the door and pulled at the handle. A frown formed on his face as he discovered the door to be locked. The boy felt a hand on his shoulder as Doctor Grayson inserted a key into the lock. But before the man let the patient into the room he turned the boy to face the very end of the hallway.
"By the rules of the institution Star and I have to be in that room during your meeting. You are to leave the door either partially or completely open. If anything happens while you are in there, know that there is an emergency button on the wall nearest the door or you can run down to the office and get me. Do you understand the rules?"
The patient nodded impatiently at the doctor, then opened the door quickly as he watched the man walk away. Upon instinct the boy shut the door completely, but then, remembering the doctor's words, opened it a sliver.
"Terra?" the boy meekly called out. He scanned the darkened room but found no form or shadow of the girl. "Terra?" he repeated a bit louder.
When there was no response the boy began to walk the perimeter of the room for the girl. It wasn't until he reached the furthest corner that he ran into a hard mass on the floor. Slowly he knelt down and found the body of a slumbering girl with blonde hair. A smile formed on 11456783's lips as he reached out a hand and lightly shook the girl.
It was only after he had been shaking the girl increasingly harder for many minutes that an extreme fear overtook the boy. He gently lifted the girl from the ground and carried her to the middle of the room where the most light was collected.
The first thing he noticed was the unnatural maroon tint of her skin. From what he recalled of her, she was just pale, there was never any deep red color. The next observation the patient made was the rigid nature of her body, and the subtle lift of her arms out in front of her as if she was striving to raise something with her hands. The boy tried to lower her arms down to her side, but found that each time they would rise again into the same position. It was upon the fourth try of placing her arms that the boy felt a welt upon the girl's left forearm. He brought the arm up for closer inspection and found what looked to be a small pinprick surrounded by a bluish-red bruise. Suddenly the boy felt it imperative to feel the girl's wrist for a pulse, when none was found he vainly searched her neck.
11456783 stood from his position next to the girl and walked about the room again. When he reached the area where he had found her, he noticed a slight gleam on the floor. Reaching carefully down he picked up an empty syringe.
The boy rushed back to the side of the girl and picked her up in his arms. Feverishly he ran his hand over her face and her neck, down her arms, desperately searching for any warmth of the skin or subtle throbbing of the vein beneath the flesh. 11456783 brought his face down to hers and stared into horrified and pained eyes. The look frozen upon her face was one of pain mixed with shock and regret.
"Terra! Terra wake up!" the boy forced out between the heaving of his sobs. He grabbed her hand and began rubbing it hoping that somehow the gesture would produce warmth to spread through her body and for the muscles to function again to start her heart pumping.
"Terra, please wake up. Please…" he murmured a last time before breaking down into tears over her stiff body.
11456783 sat cradling the blonde-haired girl's body when the door opened completely. The boy averted his eyes from the death-marked face of the girl to see who was at the door. He turned expecting to see Doctor Grayson, but instead found himself staring into the single eye of Slade Wilson.
"What are you doing in here?" The doctor demanded of the tear-streaked boy.
11456783 laid Terra gently down on the ground then stood to face his enemy. "You killed her," he whispered in rage.
Doctor Wilson smirked at the boy's comment. "She killed herself."
"You're a liar."
Slade followed the boy's eyes as he stared at the red emergency button on the wall. The patient made a half-hearted leap for the object, causing Doctor Wilson to sprint over and cover it with his back. But while he did this, 11456783 bolted out of the door and began running down the long hallway towards the office.
Soon Slade was out in the hallway chasing after the boy. 11456783 turned to look back and yelped in surprise as he watched the doctor gain on him with every second. For some reason the boy found himself dropping to all fours like a dog, but when he noticed his speed decrease, he straightened back out and pumped his legs harder.
The boy reached the glass door and threw it open. He rushed in and found Doctor Grayson and Star sitting on a couch engaged in a deep conversation. The patient tried to open his mouth to talk, but found he couldn't; therefore, in order to get their attention he picked up the nearest magazine and chucked it at the doctor's head. It hit Star instead, but it still got their attention.
Before Doctor Grayson could question the boy's actions, Slade Wilson lurched into the room and turned a murderous eye upon the boy.
"Doctor Wilson, what are you doing?" Dick demanded.
Slade glanced at the young physician then back at the patient when he answered. "All of my research, all of my career and practices are ruined if I don't stop him now." 11456783 leapt away from the man's outreached hand and hid behind Dick.
The black-haired doctor stretched his arms out as a barrier for the boy to hide behind. "Slade, listen to yourself. What you're saying doesn't make sense. Just calm down."
Doctor Wilson lunged at Dick, but pulled back slightly as a loud buzzing sounded from the emergency button on the wall. The irate doctor turned his eye to Star and charged at the nurse. Right before he reached her, though, he found himself pinned to the ground by Dick.
Realizing his defeat, the doctor stopped his struggling. "I'm sorry," he stated. Dick loosened his grip slightly as he listened to the sincerity of the request.
A smile formed on Slade's face as he saw the first security guard show up for the call. With a loud grunt the man smashed the back of his head against Dick's face and leapt at the guard. Unfortunately, the guard was not quick enough to respond to the sudden outbreak and found himself knocked to the floor.
Doctor Wilson slammed the door shut and faced the three frightened people, gun in hand. With a triumphant laugh he starting shooting rounds off at the figures.
11456783 lay sprawled upon the floor, soaking wet. He let his eyes wander the room and found various doctor's and police officers. Between two of the officers was held the hunched form of Slade Wilson. A pained smile formed on the boy's lips as he watch the man being led away, but the smile soon faded as he continued his search and found the figure of the red-haired nurse cradling the head of Doctor Grayson in her arms. Beneath the doctor was an increasing pool of crimson blood.
The boy turned his head abruptly away and found himself fading into darkness.
A/N: So…how was it? I'm really sorry for the length of time it took to write this chapter, I found this chapter the hardest thus far to write. But, thanks to it, I did get to see my firstsunrise since school got out. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the fifth chapter of the story and thought it well worth the wait.
Now I would like to give a warm thanks to my reviewers for chapter four: eventidespirit, ZodiacFire, Judgement (Mathew, Mya Dawning, Blowfish the Monkey Tamer, and Lady Lire Snowstorm.
In answer to ZodiacFire's questions: The inspiration to write this came from the discovery of what zoanthropy was and then researching it like mad until finally I came up with the idea to put Beast Boy in a mental institute. I have done a lot of research for the story, but to be honest, most of it was done before I even knew I was going to write this.
Well, review if you want. Thanks to everyone who read this chapter, I will have the epilogue up hopefully by the beginning of next week.
Thanks again for reading chapter 5!