Oath, Ch. 3

"So run by me one more time why you were harassing that kid?" Jay and his mom were sitting uncomfortably across from each other in the living room. Jay shifts and slides back deeper into the chair.

"I told you. He was a friend of Adam– "

"I don't know." Jay's voice rose in a tone he was even unsure of.

"Why were you chasing after that kid for some Adam if you don't know who Adam was?"

"You have to believe me here. I had a dream that I got into a fist fight with Adam for no reason and neither one of us won because we kept countering each others techniques. It was as if we already knew what the other was planning. Like we had some sort of connection. After that we talked and we both agreed something strange was going on. I woke up and everything happened EXACTLY like it did the day before, er–, in my dream rather, except that Adam wasn't there, but his friend was, so I asked where Adam was. I thought it was a giant deja vu but he didn't know Adam."

"Connection? Great birthday gift Jason. I'll go make an appointment for a psychiatrist."

Jay raised up his hand in anger that his mother had no understood or even listened to what he was trying to say. He sat on the couch avoiding eye contact as she walked by. He sat motionless, pondering what would happen. He unexpectedly overheard that she had made that appointment for later today.

"Lauren, so you are telling me you don't remember anything about the guy who was dressed like me with the blue Still Line shirt, and my fight with him?"

"Jay, no. I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Ok, thanks. I need to get going. I need to make some other calls."

Jay hung up his cell phone and started dialing Michelle, then as it started ringing he told himself the whole situation was pointless and hung up.

"Tell me Jason, why are you here today?"

"I see dead people." Jay looked at the ground poking his two index fingers together, smiling slightly, satisfied with his answer.

The doctor frowned and turned toward his mother. "Tell me, why is Jason here today?" He asked again.

Jay's mom nodded her head up and down while saying, "He sees dead...people."

The doctor let out a sigh. "Maybe I could speak with your son alone for a few moments. Thank you."

She left, closing the door behind her. Jay was quiet and looked at the ground for a moment, listening to the clocks ticking, then when he realized the doctor wasn't talking he looked up.

"What's on your mind, Jason?"

"Present circumstances at the moment."

The doctor paused then reluctantly asked, "You don't really want to be here do you?"

Jay quickly replied almost as fast as the doctor ended his sentence, "Not a chance."

"Maybe you could explain in more detail your previous comment."

"Alright. One day I went to the mall and someone twice my size came up and started a fight with me. He threw a lot of punches and I blocked or evaded them all. I threw a bag with a box in it at him but he ducked the box, as if he knew I was going to throw it. I threw a jump kick and I slid under him at the last second, totally unscathed. We both knew something was screwy so we went to the bathroom to talk in private. What was even more screwy was I knew his name and face from a dream I had in the past. I also knew he had a tattoo he had not revealed to me at that time. I found out he liked me and he kissed me. He said he had to go and I woke up. I woke up on the day I went to the mall. Everything happened like it did in my 'dream' except that Adam was missing. Do you understand? Everything happened the same way."

"Did you find Adam to be attractive?"

"What?" Jay started to turn red.

"Are you embarrassed?"

Jay got angry at this. "Why should I be?" He crossed his arms and silently scoffed. "He was everything I look for in a...man"

"You said you had a dream about him before and that's how you knew his name. Have you had any other dreams like the one in the mall?"

"The memory of the mall wasn't a dream."

"You said yourself earlier that it was."

"Yeah, for lack of a better word."

"Ok, but the dream where you learned of his appearances, name, and his tattoo was a dream?"

"Yes."

"Have you had any other dreams like that?"

"No but I forgot to mention when I was in the mall- uh– the time when Adam wasn't there. I went into the bathroom where he...kissed me and I saw the word 'help' written on the wall of one of the stalls."

"Ah. You think he wrote it?"

"Yes. Well sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Well it was only there for a second. I mean, it was there and when I blinked it disappeared and didn't return."

"Interesting. So you never met him in real life?"

"Of course I did. I met him at the mall, that night. It wasn't a dream."

"Have you felt depressed recently or had suicidal thoughts?"

"What? No. Not at all. Not more than normal. Sometimes I get depressed because I'm lonely but all teens get depressed sometimes right?"

"Right. Have you had memories or dreams of other people besides Adam?"

"Nah."

"Did it truly feel as though you were alive in this memory?"

"Yes. I felt as though I feel right now. It did not feel like a dream. It felt like one of the days of the week. It was one of the days of the week."

"All right, I'd like to set up more appointments to talk about past problems, experiences, feelings, etc. Why don't you get your mom?"

Jay rose from his chair, palms sweaty, and opened the door to the waiting for. He called for his mom and she walked in behind him. They both sat back down.

"Mrs. Wagner, while I haven't had enough time with your son to make a proper diagnosis, I believe your son has a disease called schizophrenia," Jay's eyes widened as the doctor began to speak, "it is a brain disease. About one percent of the population suffers from it. It usually appears in the late teens and includes hearing voices, or people who believe other people can read their minds. Symptoms include distorted perceptions of reality, hallucinations or illusions, and disordered thinking."

Sweat ran down Jay's face as he sat with his mouth wide open as the doctor audaciously announced all this. His mother asked, "How could this happen? We've raised him so well."

"Scientific studies shows schizophrenia runs in families."

"That's not possible. I've never heard of this before."

"Maybe you could talk with your husband about it. While I'll need to talk with your son more, we can offer some medication to help aid in this if it does become a problem for you and your son. While usually these voices are detrimental to the person, this Adam person doesn't sound very dangerous. I would monitor your son closely to watch for any changes in behavior or personality though. We offer antipsychotic drugs such as clozapine to help remove hallucinations but it isn't a cure. A big side effect of clozapine is loss of white blood cells which could drop his resistance to colds and infection. I wouldn't worry too much about that because he is still young and healthy. I'll also right a prescription for an antidepressant such as prozac incase your son becomes or is depressed. The medication takes a few weeks to take effect and had mild side effects like high blood pressure, increased appetite, weight gain, upset stomach, vomiting, diminished sexual drive, insomnia, you know."

Jay put his hand on his forehead. "This can't be happening." He said to himself.