Rating: R
Warning: The rating should be enough of a warning.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Beyblade.
Summary: Saint Ann's Hospital is a place for mentally ill young adults, and when a new patient is transferred to their facility the world there is turned upside down for a handful of the other patients. Can they overcome their problems and be deemed cured, or will they become yet another slanted mind?
Slanted Mind
Chapter VI - The Eyes Of A Mirror
"Alright Damian, this is our second one-on-one session. You'll join group therapy in the next week if things go all right, and what happened last time isn't being held against you. It wasn't your fault, and I hope you don't think of it as a punishment that you were sedated. Boris is very rash in his decisions, and most he makes aren't the correct ones." With a gentle smile Judy leaned back into her chair, pulling out a pad of paper and a pen to write with from her briefcase. "I'm going to tape today's session like the last one, but if you ever want me to turn it off just say so or feel free to turn it off yourself. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
Reaching out to the side table next to her Dr. Tate pressed the record button of the tape recorder, setting it up so that it would clearly hear anything in the room if it were said. Resting the pad of paper upon her lap she began jotting down notes before starting to ask questions, her pen strokes smooth yet quick and accurate as they swept across the fresh yellow paper line with blue turned green.
The subject sits in the chair closest to the window as the time before, knees pulled up to him while hugging his stuffed animal he calls 'Midnight'. He looks unsure, yet his gaze is turned to look outside. He wouldn't answer any of my questions last time, but I will hopefully get him to speak to me today instead of talking to 'Midnight' and someone who isn't there.
"Good morning Damian, it's nice to see you again." Upon both hearing and seeing no response Judy continued. "I've noticed you've made some friends here, I'm happy for you. Tyson, Kai, Rei, and Tala are all good people. Tyson enjoys my son's company a lot, and vice versa. They get along really well, and even when in his depressed state of bi-polar Tyson is always happy to be around my Max. Here, I want you to look at a picture that he took with Tyson a few weeks ago so you know what he looks like."
Reaching back into her briefcase Judy pulled out a small picture frame with a picture in it, leaning forward only to set it upon the table in between herself and Damian. Sitting back in her chair Judy waited to see if Damian would do anything, her pen already swaying along the yellow tablet even before Damian responded.
The picture I let the subject to see is of Tyson and Max in the outdoor area of the hospital. The two are sitting together under one the large oak tree just outside the pond, and they're smiling at the camera. I want to see how the subject reacts at seeing someone so happy that he knows (Tyson) outside the hospital. Interest has grabbed him as he turns his eyes away from the window and to the face down picture, the subject looks curious yet unsure. He looks at me, as if I need to give him permission to touch the picture even after putting it in front of him to look at. I nod to him and he carefully picks up the picture frame. Again he looks at me. -Note: Damian is constantly checking to make sure that he is still allowed to do something.- after nodding to the subject he turns the picture frame over to see the picture, and at a length of time he just stares at it. Subject looks thoughtful as he tilts his head at the picture, yet after a near five minutes I can see him smile. This is good.
"You can have the picture, Damian. I have one on my desk to keep or myself, and the two in the picture have one of their own as well. I have pictures of the others as well, if you want them." Dr. Tate smiled, moving towards her briefcase to retrieve more pictures for the teen sitting in front of her.
"He's afraid.." Aquamarine eyes blinked slowly and thoughtfully at the picture, the smile fading into a frown as Damian ran his fingers over the pictures. Picking up the rest of the pictures Judy put them in her lap, her pen scratching the noted change in Damian's features. "Who's afraid?"
"Tyson's afraid. He's afraid of loosing something he doesn't have. It's in his eyes and his body posture, how he sits so close to your son Max. When he dreams, he dreams of him, but he's always too far from reach in those dreams. You can see the love in both their eyes, but Tyson's still afraid. He wants Max, and he has made himself believe that he can't have him." Turning the picture over Damian set it face down back onto the table, pushing it away from him. "Thank you, but no thank you."
"You see all that in just a single picture, Damian? That's truly amazing. I'm going to put a picture down of each of your friends one at a time, and if you feel up to it I'd like you to tell me what you see in the picture just like Tyson's, okay?" Taking the first picture back Judy placed another one face down on the table, this time Rei's.
The subject is showing that he's more intelligent than he makes himself seem, and his look on the picture of Tyson was completely different than one that I've gotten from his other friends. The subject has nodded an agreement to my asking of him to tell what he sees in each picture that I have taken of his friends. The one I have out now is of the patient Rei Kon. Once again he reaches out to take the picture, looking at me for a nod before he takes the picture and picks it up. He's quiet for four and a half minutes before speaking.
"Rei doesn't believe he's good enough for anybody, and the thinks he isn't physically pleasing. He doesn't think that Kai is happy with the way he looks, so he keeps starving himself. He knows it's wrong, you can see that in his eyes. He's afraid of loosing what he already has; Kai. He's loyal, he doesn't want his friends to suffer because of him." Turning the picture back over Damian placed it neatly back upon the table only to pick up another in which Judy had placed down while he was speaking. All while he spoke the doctor was jotting down on her pad of yellow tinted paper.
Flipping the new picture over aquamarine eyes gazed intently at the stoic picture of Kai, and after a moment Damian brought the picture closer to his face and sat back into his seat. This time he was silent for nearly twice the period of time, but grateful that Judy wasn't pushy about him answering quickly. "Kai is hard to tell about, he wears his mask very well. Someone was very hard on him as he grew up as a young child, a family member that had power over him. That's why he stands to tall and acts so tough, it's because he isn't supposed to show weakness. Kai… He's afraid.. He's afraid of failing, and he feels that if Rei continues to suffer that he's failing in making him better. He believes he is useless…"
Judy was startled when Damian suddenly sat forward, slapping the picture down facedown onto the table where he had picked it up from. His edginess and shaky hands were noted on the pad of paper in her lap, and the hesitation to pick up the last picture was jotted down as well. She was afraid if she said anything to him that he'd refuse and back down from looking at the pictures. That wasn't something that was either positive or wanted.
The last picture the subject has to look at is of the patient Tala Valkov. He's been here the longest out of the five that have grouped together here at the hospital. Tala has been a hard one to read from the start, so had Kai. I believe that because the subject has interacted with the other four and has been in so many places like these that he has more understanding of the other patients. He is hesitant to look at the picture, but after holding it face down for nearly a full minute it's turned over. The color from his face drains, and his eyes begin to water. I don't want to pressure him, and unless things get out of hand I will continue to let him look at the picture. The picture is of Tala at the last year's Christmas party. The subject has been staring at the same photo for over fifteen minutes, and over that time color has returned to his face and the unshed tears have disappeared. He looks indifferent as he intensely looks at the photo. The session is almost over, and I am reluctant to have to stop him. I wish to know what he sees with his eyes.
"Someone hurt him…over, and over, and over again. He doesn't understand why, or what he did, but he thinks it was all his fault. He believes it had to be something that he did or that person who hurt him wouldn't have done it. Tala… He relives every hurt as nightmares night after night, and only in his sleep does he cry because he can't control himself while he slumbers. So he doesn't get hurt again Tala pushes himself away from others, but that is also to protect them as well. He thinks he's dangerous because he believes that since he was hurt so many times that he is going to hurt them." Passing his fingertips over Tala's solemn face in the picture Damian hugged Midnight closer to him just a moment later, the tears coming back as his breathing quickened.
Quickly jotting down several noted Judy soon set the pad of paper aside, forgetting about the audio recorder as she rose from her seat to start moving with careful steps around the table in between herself and Damian. She knew the warning signs of hysterics, and if she didn't calm the teen down she was going to be dealing with one very emotionally upset and overturned teenager. "Damian, it's okay. You don't have to look at the pictures anymore. No one can hurt you or any of your friends here, not anymore. I won't let them, I promise. Damian, look at me and take slow deep breaths. I'll take you outside today, how does that sound? You, Midnight, and your friends can all go outside today. It's such a wonderful day out, just perfect outdoor weather."
A mute nod was given by Damian, wide aquamarine eyes staring as Dr. Tate stepped away and went to open the door for the both of them. With shaky steps the teen himself soon started to follow Judy, hugging both now the picture and the stuffed black panther to his chest. Making sure that the teen concentrated on her face Judy walked backwards in slow steps, taking a few back and waiting for Damian to follow her. He was still breathing in short and quick gasps, but he seemed to be very slowly calming, even if just the slightest that it was barely notable. The two made their way down the hall in this fashion, past open doors where other patients were. As nurses and orderlies glanced at the doctor she waved them off as discreetly as she could, not wanting to startle Damian or have him loose his track of attention on her all together.
"Well if it isn't the new kid, what's wrong you look a little scared there." Stepping out from the arcade room the pale blue-eyed teenager from days earlier gave a grin towards the half-stumbling-half walking form of Damian. Though he thought it was amusing to interrupt what was going it was clear that Judy did not. "Robbie Mitchell! You had better do a 180 and turn around to waltz yourself back into that room young man. Don't you dare even think about laying a single finger on him or I'll have you sent to solitary for a week!" Anger flared into Judy's voice as Robbie gave the doctor a shit-eating grin that said he didn't give a flying fuck.
Damian, whom hadn't seemed as if he was registering all that was going around him, was still moving forward, wide eyes on Judy even though she had stopped moving herself. It wasn't until Robbie had snatched away Midnight causing the picture to flutter face-up onto the floor that he seemed to actually notice the close proximity of the other male, and he froze completely while staring down at the picture. The older teen followed his eyes to the picture, his mind changing gears from just causing trouble to being outright pissed.
"So it's your fault that the red head beat the snot out of me the one day! You little brat, I warned you about your manners already." Stuffed animal forgotten Robbie allowed Midnight to fall with a gentle thud onto the ground. The now free hand swooped down to grab a handful of the front of Damian's shirt, pulling the kid to face him while also lifting him into the air. "You're going to pay, you hear me you punk? You're going to pay for getting me beat up, and it's going to hurt worst than last time."
"Robbie Mitchell you put him down this instant! Orderlies, get him off of Damian, now!" Even with fiery anger laced with her demanding words the orderlies just stood there, acting as if they hadn't heard her orders. It was as if they didn't care if they were fired, or if they cared about what was possibly going to happen to Damian if they didn't separate Robbie from him. Other patients were already poking their head out from the other doors in the hall, some even looking from around the corners of both the girls and boy's dorm halls.
With a menacing yet clearly less sane than it should be grin the pale blue eyed boy pulled his free hand back, forming it into a clenched fist as he prepared to wail on the teen that he held up in front of him. So caught up in himself Robbie didn't notice the subtle change in Damian's aquamarine eyes, and he was all to slow to block the sudden shoe covered foot that kicked up to hit his temple painfully. The sudden throb of pain spreading along his skull and down the side of the face caused the older teen to let go of Damian, dropping his form to the ground where he attempted to crawl away. Judy was helpless in the matter, as she was only a doctor not someone built to keep two people apart. Not only that but two of the orderlies were keeping her from getting to the two boys.
Quick to recover and near twice as angry Robbie grabbed at Damian's ankle, barely missing the next kicked aimed at his head as well with the leg that was still free. With a rumble of annoyance the teen pulled the pale powder blue haired male to slide across the tiles floor and under his hovering form. It was only a mere few seconds later before Damian was helplessly pinned down, his pointless squirming ending in a shrill scream of cries calling for help, the last one calling for Tala before a hand closed over his throat and cut off the air supply from getting to his lungs.
Lungs burning, vision blurry, and mind fading away Damian began to wonder if anyone was going to even step forward, or if he was going to have to suffer through another one of Robbie's thrills. It then suddenly that he could take in air again, the hand no longer on his throat as he coughed and gasped for the air that he was deprived of. He could hear the scuffle going on; the cursing, the hits that connected and the floor giving a light tremor every time a body hit the floor. He could feel hands trying to pull him away from the area of the fight, whose he couldn't tell due to his vision still being blurry, but they soon disappeared as the fight care terribly close to hitting who had been trying to help Damian.
Crawling onto his kneels after sitting up unsteadily Damian blinked his clouded eyes several times, still gasping in fresh breaths of oxygen while trying to still figure out what was going on and who was fighting now. He could hear yelling, a lot of it now from many of the other patients in the building. And then there were the orderlies that were yelling as well, but their voices were dwindling. When his vision finally blurred Damian took in the sight before him.
Kai was fighting off an orderly who looked like he was gone after Rei, and at his side helping with another orderly was Tyson. Nether of the two looked very happy, and Rei looked to be growing angrier as each millisecond passed. The other patients were helping as well, keeping the male nurses off and away from Judy while helping each other out. Everything was out of hand, and it didn't look as it the chaos was going to stop anytime soon. Boris was nowhere in sight, but fighting Robbie once again was Tala, and they both looked deathly determined to harm each other.
Groggily and on unsteady feet Damian rose to stand, his gasping breaths calming into mere panicked ones as he tried to still sort things out properly. That's when he noticed Tala's picture on the floor along with Midnight, both in which were scooped up immediately and pocketed just as quickly before anything else were to happen to them. Watching as Tala caught a nasty punch and fall back and onto the ground caused Damian to grow frustrated and overly determined to protect his new found friend from being hurt. He refused to let him be hurt again. Stalking towards Robbie while glowering angrily at the older teen his aquamarine eyes seemed to darken with a thick predatory look. He was no longer the docile and easily frightened teen, but now the angered and dangerous one.
"Nevermore. Quoth the Raven, Nevermore!" Moving to stand between Robbie and Tala the aquamarine eyed teen seemed to just be daring the bulky teen to even come any closer to him or Tala for that matter. "Then with no throbs of fiery pain, No cold gradations of decay, Death broke at once the vital chain, And freed his soul the nearest way." The words were hissed through clenched teeth, and Robbie finally faltered, taking a step back only to be advanced upon by Damian.
"Stay away from me you freak! Stop coming closer, just stay away! Stop looking at me like that; stop looking at me with those hollow eyes. Get away from me.." Being backed up against a wall Robbie lost what control he actually had over the smaller and younger teen before him, cowering as he slid down the wall.
A hand on his shoulder caused Damian to turn, darkened eyes softening as they gazed up into azure blue eyes that stared down at him. The fighting was coming to an end, the authorities called and the penitents starting to be ushered back into their rooms only to be locked in there so they could cause no further trouble while everything was sorted out. Damian went with Tala to his room, not bother to ask if it was okay. He felt safer with him, and still yet he felt that he still needed in some shape or form to protect Tala though he was in no clear visible harm now.