12. Insanity

"Henry! Today isn't your usual day, is it?"

"Nah, but I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I thought I'd come see him early. How's he been this week, June?"

"Oh, you know him. Half the time he's keeping the entire building entertained with those stories he makes up and the other half, well…you know."

"Yeah."

"I'll tell you, I have no idea how he comes up with all that stuff. I mean, I've seen people with delusions and hallucinations before, but everything he says is just so intricate and detailed. You'd almost think it had actually happened."

"Kid's always had a remarkable brain."

"I'll say! Discovering dinosaurs? Werewolf conspiracies? And the murders! Now, I know he's just about the nicest, gentlest patient here, but after he had those episodes with the serial killer, it was all I could do to convince some of the younger nurses to be in a room with him alone."

"Hmm. And other than the…visions? His mother said something about you changing his medications again?"

"What? Oh, no we just upped the dosage a little. But you should already know that. We have to do it for him every year around this time. Summer just makes him so upset."

"Makes sense. That's when the accident happened. Such a damn stupid thing…"

"Oh! Oh, Henry. Here, I think I have a tissue somewhere."

"No, I'm fine."

"If I said something I shouldn't have-"

"You didn't."

"It's been about four years now, hasn't it?"

"Four years and two weeks. The car came out of nowhere. He was killed instantly. Or at least that's what they told me."

"They must have been terribly close for it to effect him like this."

"Closer than brothers. They grew up together and were just completely inseparable. Balanced each other out."

"The poor dear…Well, we're here and you've been listening to me yammer for long enough. Go on in and have a visit. I'll just leave you two alone."

Henry slumps into a chair, stares into eyes that look right through him, and sighs.

"Hello, Gus."

Kristin: Another dialogue fic, which I apologize for. Like I said earlier, I've never been terribly great at writing people just talking-they always seem to come out so awkward sounding-and I figured it's about time I stepped outside of my comfort zone and tried to improve.

This is definitely a fic where I'm not really sure if I managed to make what's going on clear enough. If you have a question or comment, don't hesitate to let me know.

Update: Just to clarify, in this fic Shawn dies a few months before the series starts, so all of the cases are in Gus' head.

15/100