Thank you to everyone who continues to read through Within White Walls! And a special thanks to those who continue to send in reviews! I appreciate it more than you guys know. I am also getting asked if we will get to see more of Peter which I can answer "Yes!". We will be seeing much more of him, but maybe not until the next chapter or the chapter after next. But he will remain as a prominent character in Patrick's journey. Thanks again for reading and reviewing! I had no clue this was going to be such a hit. :) Enjoy!
Orange.
Orange leaves, orange couches, orange flowers.
Orange cushioned seats set up in a circular fashion.
This was Patrick's second time going to group session. At Heritage Oaks they tried to place people in groups of those who had something in common with the other group members. That way they could relate to each other more to help and support each other thus making the recovery process slightly more efficient.
Seven others joined Jane in the orange seating arrangement. George remained in the hallway, leaving Patrick to partake in session independently.
"Afternoon, everyone." Dr. Travis greeted. He was their group mediator and therapist. A select few greeted him verbally. Others, including Patrick, simply acknowledged his presence without a word. He proceeded to take a seat between two patients on the opposing side of the circle.
"How is everyone today?"
Various responses from what Patrick noted. A few nods, some shaking their heads, then some failing to respond at all.
"Let's spend a little time today getting to know one another. We have two new members in our group. Some of you remember Patrick from last time." Dr. Travis gestured to him. Patrick responded with a slight nod, making eye contact with each member of the circle.
"Then we have another new arrival. This is Summer. She joined us yesterday afternoon and this is her first group session." He gestured to a young, ghost-like girl two seats to the right of Patrick. She smiled with slight weakness, keeping eye contact on the floor.
"Let's start by going around and saying our name and why we are here at Heritage Oaks. If you don't feel like sharing, you can feel free to pass."
Again with the twelve-year-old talk. They belittle us like we're some kind of challenged humans that aren't capable of thinking in similar capacities. If only they knew what went on behind these closed doors.
They all took turns around the circle, majority of them struggling in the same areas. Jane read each one correctly before they even opened their mouth.
Marvin. 45. Attempted suicide when he found out his wife was cheating on him. Suffers greatly with panic attacks and anxiety.
Lisa. 36. Extreme depression after her only child passed away and was never able to pick herself back up.
Summer. 19. Rough home life resulting in low self-esteem and no self-worth. Struggling with self harm. Depressed.
Trevor. 30. Still living with his mother. Failure to find someone to marry or love him. Attempted suicide and continuous depression.
David. 32. In fear of turning out like his father (being an abusive alcoholic), tried to off himself after he hit one of his kids.
Lana. 42. Severe manic-depressive disorder. All nature, no nurture.
Thomas. 48. Emotional eater. Couldn't hold a stable job. Attempted suicide. Extreme anger issues.
As they each proceeded to say why they were there, Patrick became more thrilled at the thought that he was right about every one of them so far. His turn was after David.
"Patrick?" Dr. Travis requested. "Would you like to share?"
Hi, I'm Patrick and I had a mental break down after my wife and daughter were brutally murdered by the serial killer Red John. I've tried to kill myself twice and don't see the point in living anymore.
Patrick shook his head. Not today.
"Alright, moving on then."
Everyone else was an open book. Patrick supposes that they saw sharing information with these complete strangers as not being that bad because, honestly, what were the odds you'd see any of these people ever again?
After everyone had spoken, with the exception of Jane, Dr. Travis continued to move things forward.
"Thank you, everyone, for sharing. If you guys spend time getting to know one another, you'll be able to help each other with your individual recovery process. You shouldn't need to go through recovery alone. You'll need to be here to love and support everyone every day."
The group nodded in unison to show their comprehension.
"Alright then. Anyone have anything they'd like to share off the bat to get us started?"
Silence at first. Then a hand raised, belonging to a lean, brunette man.
"Yes, Trevor?"
"The weather outside is nice."
A few people around the circle nodded.
"Yeah, I went and sat in the courtyard a bit today. I saw an orange bird on the feeder." Lana added.
"Are you sure it was orange?" Lisa retorted. "The only orange birds are Orioles and those aren't in California. At least the orange ones aren't. It was probably yellow."
Lana closed her body off slightly, lowering her glance and voice volume. "I coulda sworn it was orange..."
"Either way," Trevor spoke up again, "It is nice out today."
The kids were playing outside today. Patrick wished to add.
"Alright then, anything else?" Dr. Travis questioned.
"That Red John guy killed someone else." David quietly added from his seat, next to Jane.
This caught his attention. Patrick could feel his face empty of all color, his heart rate increasing.
"Now, David. These kinds of things don't need to be discussed." Dr. Travis intervened.
"Why the hell not? You asked us if we had something to talk about and hell that's something to talk about, isn't it?"
Dr. Travis turned his attention to Patrick. Apparently he knew his back story from his file already.
"Well, yes, but..."
"It's really horrible. The things that guy is doing...I mean what if...what if he comes here and kills us?" Marvin explained, panicked.
"Marvin, there's no need to panic. He will not coming here."
"He could...He very well could come here! And then what are we supposed to do?"
"Marvin, we have good security here and he won't get in. Now let's talk about something else, shall we?"
"But him!" Marvin pointed directly at Jane. "He was the one who talked about him on the news! He was the one who talked about him and then got his family killed! That was him! He could come here to kill him and kill us too!"
A panicked chatter began about the room among the patients.
"Yeah, I thought I recognized him..." Lisa chimed in.
Lana spoke up. "I knew it! He's leading Red John to us!"
"We're all gonna get murdered!" added Marvin. "
Patrick swallowed, taking every piece of self-control in his entire being to not jump up and punch someone. He raised himself from his orange chair and helped himself out of the room in them middle of the chaos. He knew he wouldn't be able to control himself if he had stayed in that room any longer.
George was waiting outside as Patrick furious shoved himself through the door from C4 to the hallway. The assistant immediately followed Patrick's furious foot falls all the way to his room. He opened the door, slamming it behind him right into George without thought.
He paced unsteadily in the small space provided.
"Patrick," George attempted to soothe the angered man. "Patrick, hey. Calm down. It's okay..."
The middle-aged blonde patient froze in his footsteps, shooting a furious glare at George. Sophie entered the room deftly behind him, her eyes filled with concern. She whispered something to George. He nodded obediently and exited the room.
She spoke softly. "Patrick..."
He shook his head, breaths getting heavier and heavier by the second. Upon the closing of his eyes, tears released down his angered face.
"Patrick, talk to me." Sophie attempted again. She kept her distance, but knew that she had to get something out of him.
He repeated the shaking of his head, turning around to put his hands on his bed and rocking back and forth onto his heels. He attempted to control his breathing and calm himself down but he couldn't do it. Impulsively, he grabbed his pillow and hurled it across the room at the white wall that taunted him. He grabbed anything within a few feet that he could throw-pillows, clothes, a few books, blankets, everything. Within a matter of seconds the entirety of the room was wrecked and thrown to the other side.
Tears angrily streamed down his face, his continuous sobs now audible. He fell to his knees and leaned himself against his bed as the cries left his body.
Sophie quickly approached him, lowering herself to his level. She placed both of her hands on his shoulders and eventually wrapped her arms around him.
"Shhh..." she cooed. "Patrick, shhh...it's okay. You're okay." She knew all this man needed was someone to love him. He needed a loving and soothing touch to aid in conquering this pain. She moved one hand to rub his back as he proceeded to let the vocal sobs escape his mouth.
The duo remained on the floor for moments unaccounted for. After a while, his breathing eventually steadied and he wiped the tears from his pinked face.
She called George back in to help her return the room to its original state. They both knew they should turn him in for an outburst like this, but if no one got hurt and there was no evidence of such a happening, no one needed to know. After a simple week, both George and Sophie had soft spots for Patrick and knew more time in solitary would do anything but help him.
She first adjusted the mattress back to normal, retrieved the pillows from across the room and helped Patrick into his bed. Sophie sighed, softly laying a blanket over the exhausted human.
"Boy, he's going to need a lot more work than you thought, huh." George whispered to her.
She nodded. "I didn't think it'd be this bad."
They both quietly pulled the pieces of the room back together making it seem as if nothing had happened. Only thing ruined being an orange covered journal Patrick kept at his bedside. The pages had exploded throughout the room. She collected them and returned them to the bed stand.
She sighed once more, carefully examining the body of this tortured and broken soul.
"Don't worry, Patrick. We're going to fix you. I'm not giving up on you. I promise."