Chapter 7
Alex ate his breakfast heartily, enjoying the sweet tastes he had long forgotten since being shacked up in the old Staja. A nurse had come in and Alex behaved real proper like. He knew if he gave them all what they wanted, he would be released and back in Evangeline's arms in no time.
Soon a nice woman entered with another nurse and looked at Alex with big smiles. He felt good to be around a woman, almost reminded him of his dear em. She was dressed in all white and looked high in authority.
"Good morning, Alex, my name is Dr. Branom. I'm Doctor Brodsky's assistant" she said to him.
"Good Morning, Missus. Lovely day, isn't it?" Alex said with a big smile.
"Indeed it is. May I take this?" she said taking the breakfast tray away from him "How are you feeling this morning?"
"Fine, fine" he said to her.
"Good. In a few minutes, you'll meet Dr. Brodsky and we'll begin your treatment. You're a very lucky boy to have been chosen" she said.
"I realize all that, Missus, and I'm very grateful to all concerned" he said playing up his good boy routine.
"We're going to friends now, sir" she said with almost a glare in her eye.
"I hope so Missus" he said now a little worried. The look did not please him, and he felt a wild fear creep through his spine. Dr. Branom was now putting a needle into a small glass vile and tapped it lightly.
"What's the hypo for then? Going to send me to sleep?" Alex said looking at the needle; he never did like that sort of thing.
"Oh no, nothing of the sort" she said coming towards him.
"Vitamins will it be then?" he said as the needle drew closer.
"Something like that. You are a little undernourished, so after each meal were going to give you a shot. Roll over on your right side please, loosen your pyjama pants and pull them half-way down" she said standing over him.
Alex reluctantly let them give him a shot in his bum and he turned back over to look at Dr. Branom.
"What exactly is the treatment here going to be then?" he said now wanting to know exactly what he was getting into.
"It's quite simple really. Were just going to show you some films" the doctor said with a smile.
"You mean like going to the pictures?" he said feeling somewhat relieved.
"Something like that" she said.
"Well, that's good. I like to viddy the old films now and again" he said now sitting back. This was going to be a piece of cake. He would watch the old cal films and be off on his way to the outside.
Soon he was taken to what seemed like a large auditorium and strapped to an examination chair. The put lid locks on his eyes and attached some sort of headrest with wires of all sorts sticking out of it. They had even put him in a strait jacket for some odd reason.
It all seemed so strange to him, but if he was going to be out in a fortnight to his Evangeline, he was willing to put up with anything.
Then the films began. Alex found the first one to be alright, he liked how it showed the color of blood almost like in real life. He admired how realistic it seemed although it looked like it was shot in almost a Hollywood style. The scenes did not bother him as much as the next few.
It was now a girl getting the old in and out by a couple of toughies. Alex watched and wondered if they actually had actors doing this or just some random lewdies they picked up off the streets. Surely this couldn't be made into an actual film seeing as how Alex heard every laugh every scream from the girl as if he was standing right there.
His thoughts turned back to that night with Evangeline, thinking of how she hadn't resisted him as the girl did with the thugs on the screen. How she had wrapped her loving arms around his body and melted into him like wood to fire. Then like a horrible nightmare, Alex suddenly imagined Evangeline being the girl on the screen, and his stomach turned with distaste about what the bratties were doing to the ptista.
Alex began to squirm, trying to draw his eyes away from the screen. He tried to drown out the images of Evangeline being given the in and out and her beautiful scream in terror. His hands were bound and he could not reach for her, it made him want to cry out for it to stop.
Alex heard a voice in the background which must be the head doctor "Very soon now the drug will cause the subject to experience a death-like paralysis together with deep feelings of terror and helplessness. One of our earlier test subjects described it as being like death, a sense of stifling and drowning, and it is during this period we have found the subject will make his most rewarding associations between his catastrophic experience and environment and the violence he sees."
"Let me be sick... I want to get up. Get me something to be sick in... Stop the film... Please stop it... I can't stand it anymore. Stop it please... please" Alex said loudly almost seeming to whimper at the mere helplessness of him.
The film had stopped and Alex was taken back to his room. He felt terrible and wanted Evangeline more than ever. He wanted to hold her and make sure the nightmare he had seen was just a dream and nothing more.
"Well, that was a very promising start. By my calculations, you should be starting to feel alright again. Yes? Dr. Brodsky's pleased with you. Now tomorrow there'll be two sessions, of course, morning and afternoon" Dr. Branom said to him.
"You mean I have to viddy two sessions in one day?" Alex said in disbelief.
"I imagine you'll be feeling a little bit limp by the end of the day. But we have to be hard on you. You have to be cured" she said now not smiling at all.
"But it was horrible" he said.
"Well, of course, it was horrible. Violence is a very horrible thing. That's what you're learning now. Your body is learning it" she said trying to comfort him.
"I just don't understand about feeling sick the way I did. I never used to feel sick before. I used to feel like the very opposite. I mean, doing it or watching it, I used to feel real horrorshow. I just don't understand why, how or what" he said looking down at his hands.
"You felt ill this afternoon because you're getting better. You see, when we're healthy we respond to the presence of the hateful with fear and nausea. You're becoming healthy that's all. By this time tomorrow you'll be healthier still" said before leaving the room.
Alex looked out the one window in his room and felt utter hopelessness.
Evangeline had tracked down Alex's home and had found out the institution where they had taken him. Now it was only finding the place so she could try and see if she could visit with him. Evangeline held Alex's snake, whose name was Basil, and caressed the tip of its nose. She decided to take him with her, just to see if maybe the company of her would bring the snake's spirits up.
She now sat in Liam's living room and began looking through the telephone book for the number for the Ludovico Center. She heard footsteps come up to the door and the clanging of keys against the lock before Liam stuck his head in the doorway to make sure she was there.
"Ello love" he said and suddenly stopped at the sight of Basil "What in the sodding hell is that?"
"His name is Basil, and he's actually a loving little thing" she said petting her new friend "Alex's mum was just going to let him die, so I took him in. He won't bother anything; I think he's actually taken down your mice population by half."
"Well, as long as it doesn't try to kill me in my sleep or anything" he said putting down his things.
"Liam" Evangeline said "Would you be a dear and take me to this address tomorrow?"
Liam looked at the address she was pointing at and looked back at her in bewilderment. "Why in Bog's name do you want to go there?"
"Because that's where Alex is" she said.
"Now love, don't you think you're getting a bit obsessive? I mean, he's gone. There's not much you can do about it now" he said putting his hand on her shoulder.
"You don't understand Liam; he's different than everybody thinks. I know he's done bad things, but well, haven't we all?" she said crossing her arms "For the first time in a long time, I've felt something almost like being alive; he makes me feel like that. I won't give up on him because I know deep down inside he is a good person."
"Well" Liam said "If your heart is set, then so is mine." Evangeline smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before taking Basil and heading to bed.
Tomorrow she was going to see Alex, come hell or high water.