(A/N: I hope you like what you're reading so far. Please enjoy and Review, Thanks! :)
The observations continued through midday until it was time for lunch.
Giving an exhausted sigh and feeling physically fatigued, Arnold made his way to the cafeteria.
He grabbed himself a sandwich and tea to calm his nerves. Today hadn't been ideal for Arnold, and he still had his own patients to deal with. "Oh nooo" He groaned at the thought.
With only an hour for lunch and his next appointment closing in, Arnold finished eating with time to spare. He placed his head down on the cafeteria table for a moment, giving himself some time to rest. His energy was spent from earlier this morning.
As he sat there, something occurred to him, he had never anticipated the physical challenged of these patients would incur on him. Just thinking about it made him feel extremely sore.
His muscles were taut from all the dodging and blocking the patients required of him. Dr. Benson seemed to enjoy the spectacle they were bestowing upon him. His back ached from the repeat punches he sustain from a young man in delirium.
He thought, "How long can I take this?"
He sighed once more and continued reviewing his day which would not end. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured and that brought his optimistic mood back, "Beside, it's no biggie, it's all for the greater good." Now he realized what the guard and the tour guide meant when they called it...the jungle. It had its similarities to what happened to him there.
As he continued to rest, a soft voice spoke to him.
"Mind if I sit down?" a woman in her mid 20's with auburn hair and brown eyes said. Arnold's head quickly popped up from the table and for a second he was dumbfounded as he looked at her. She was beautiful all dressed in white. "U-uh sure" he uttered, his eyes still on her.
She smiled as she sat and placed her tray on the table. "Hard day huh?"
Arnold chuckled as he rubbed his temples, trying to minimize the headache forming. "Yeeaahh! A very hard day." he sighed wearily.
"Well, don't worry you'll get used to it" she smiled then took a bite of her Caesar's salad.
"I sure hope so" he replied.
"By the way my name is Sasha, Sasha Nichols " she extended her hand to him "And you are?" she asked inquiringly.
"Arnold ...Arnold S-" dishes fell in the kitchen nearby making a raucous.
She shook his hand as she said "Nice to meet you. I haven't seen you here before, are you new?"
"Yeah..Actually... this is my first day" he replied shyly looking at her. He blushed and couldn't believe it, he blamed it on exhaustion. "I'm just tired. Yeah, that's it."
"You're …...a doctor?" she smiled at his reaction and inquired flirtatiously twiddling a lock of her hair.
"Why yes...yes I am" Arnold answered feeling timid all of sudden at her advances.
"And you?" he countered quickly trying to control the conversation.
"No, I'm a nurse, hence the white outfit" she said pointing to it.
"Oh...yeah.. right" an awkward feeling came over him, taking away his focus from the woman next to him. She giggled. Arnold continued, trying to make small talk with the redheaded beauty, "Um...S-so how long have you been working here?"
"I would say about 6 years" she replied, continuing to eat her lunch. She turned to look at him and smiled.
Arnold losing his composure stammered nervously, "W-wow t-that's...that's a long time. I mean not that you're old or anything...cause your not. I mean...you're a very beautiful young woman...not that I'm trying to be forward with you..cause I'm not..sort of"
She interrupted, smiling at his capricious nature. " Relax Arnold, I get it" she said sweetly.
"Smooth move genius...NOT!', he thought. "Babbling like an idiot? Ugh, that's so humiliating. What is it with me and women? I am so off my game. I need to speak to Gerald later about this."
His thoughts were all over the place in the company of this woman, he couldn't handle it. Feeling uncomfortable, Arnold's whole face turned crimson. He huffed at himself for being so uncool.
"Arnold are you okay?" she said as she touched his shoulder with a look of concern.
"I know that look….it's the pity look", he thought, "Great, just...great...I need to bail before this gets worse. And for sure, later on, I need a serious talk with Gerald."
"Oh...uh.. yeah...Whoa! look at the time. Standing up from the table, he knocked his chair down, nervously chuckling.
"I guess my lunch break is over. Well, it was nice meeting you...um..."
"Sasha" she replied.
"Oh...right ..Sasha. Well, I guess I'll see you around then, Bye" Arnold stated while grabbing his lab coat, scurrying out of the cafeteria before she replied.
Once safely out of that mess, he leaned against a wall, rolling his eyes at himself.
"I don't care what you say Gerald, I'm not bold at all!" he murmured, then headed towards the doctors' wing.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he approached his mentor's office. He knocked many times, but received no answer. He turned the knob to see that the door was unlocked and went in.
He called out for his mentor, but no one replied. Reaching his colleague's desk, he noticed a post it with a message and several files under it.
Arnold,
Here are your patients' files. All their information is in there.
Put your knowledge into practice my boy, now get to it.
By the way, no need to rearrange the files they are stacked up
in the appropriate session order.
Good Luck,
Henrik
With a renewed optimistic outlook, Arnold grabbed the files and walked to his first appointment.
He simulated some of his mentor's routine into his by going through each patient's file prior to entering the room.
He introduced himself to them and gave them the opportunity for them to get to know him. After his introduction, he conducted a behavior analysis on them, inquiring about their personal lives, what led them here in Hillview, in order to determine the best approach to treating them.
In each appointment, he repeats the same process and so far, interaction with his patients had gone well. There were no violent outbursts or aggressive behavior of any kind and he became more and more excited at making a difference as each session passed on.
He knew it wouldn't be easy for them, but seeing them responding and cooperating made him hopeful; stability was what he looked for in their lives. His method was working so far and having one more appointment to go, he felt unstoppable.
He checked his watch, 3:40pm.
"Well, I have about 20 min to look over this file, and review it." he said optimistically.
He sat down in the employees lounge, sipping on his hot cup of coffee while he looked over his last patient's file.
"First name: Eleanor, Last name: Unknown"
"Caucasian, Female, age 24" he pauses and shakes his head. "She's my age" he muttered.
With much interest he continued, " Diagnosis: Dissociative Identity Disorder or multiple personality (MPD). Subject is identified as having 3 distinct personalities to date. Each personality alternatively takes full control of said subject. At times she is unwilling to cooperate and is intolerable. Concerning the past, each personality is unable to fully recall distinctive information. The subject at times experiences forgetfulness or loses track of time a known indication MPD."
"Cause of condition: Unknown but needs to be further investigated."
"Patient History: Not available"
"Contacts: Not available"
"Basic observation: First Identity discovered named Eleanor - it is believed that she exhibits characteristics of personality type-2. Although, it remains to be proven. Names of other personalities remain unknown due to unwillingness to comply. Personality Type 1 – Known to be docile and mild tempered, well versed in the written word. Personality Type 2- Known to be devious and stealthy, often attempts to escape, Personality Type 3- Known to be physically aggressive and forceful, but reasonable at times. However, use extreme caution when dealing with her."
"Advisory: Doctor to patient interaction in this case should be handled meticulously in order for the patient to open up. If not, the patient may in turn suffer from permanent psychosis."
"Additional Notes:WARNING: Under no circumstances is the patient to leave her room."
Upon finishing reading the file, Arnold ponders for a moment on how he should approach this next patient. She seemed at the most, hostile to her caregivers.
Arnold takes a deep breath and glances at his watch, 3:58 pm.
"Whoa, I've got two minutes to get there," he said to himself. He hastily made his way to the elevators and came out onto the 10th floor. He walked towards the east wing according to the patient's room number. He hadn't been in this section of the institution before. Arnold reached a door which required clearance, he pressed a button on the intercom requesting entrance since his employee card was not yet available.
He identified himself and the nurse let him in. And currently made his way to room 10-7. As he passed by, he greeted the staff, thereby also introducing himself. Seeing that his patient's room also required clearance; once again, he requested access from the nurse.
She in turn handed him her Id card temporarily. With card in hand he swiped it in the slot, seeing the red-light switch to green to mark the door as heard three beeps sounding, indicating him to enter the room before it locked on its own. He walked in.
As he closed the door behind him carefully, he noticed right away that the room was cushioned in white.
"This is a padded cell" he whispered in awe as he glanced around.
The room had no windows, no openings of any kind. There was just a cot across one of the walls, and a table with a chair bounded to the floor. He turned his attention to a soft box chair that was planted close to the entrance door along the wall. He could tell that it was recently brought in for him.
He marched over and took a seat. He observed the room fully, until his eyes landed on the back of a blonde-haired woman in a white and blue jumpsuit. His patient he presumed. The patient was crouched down, her feet supporting her as she rocked back and forth and back and forth on the padded cell floor.
Sensing deja vu from his dream the previous day, Arnold gulped. "Get a grip Arnold, it's just your imagination playing with you again. Just take it easy and do your job!" He thought.
Afraid to move to her, Arnold cleared his throat. He aimed at getting her attention.
However, his patient was unperturbed by his actions. She continued to rock herself back and forth and back and forth.
Although, Arnold attempted to try again, and this time louder. He cleared his throat, and still... no reaction. Finally, with resolve he spoke the name presented on the file. He said it firmly, yet kindly.
"Eleanor?"
His patient paused momentarily, then returned to rocking again. He called her name again, "E-Eleanor?" this time his voice sounding a little pitchy at the end.
And the woman stopped rocking. Slowly, she rotated her head sideways to look at him over her shoulder. Arnold tried to get a glimpse of her face, but couldn't get a clear view. Her hair concealed her features, it was unbecoming.
Her messy blonde-hair was loose and tousled all over her face, and her eyes were narrowed to slits as she glared at him. She turned her head back forward in its original position, and began rocking once more.
Arnold suddenly growing impatient, took a deep breath, and spoke her name with a commanding authority.
"Eleanor!" the loudness of his voice, shocked both him and the woman.
His patient progressively stood up, clenching her fists, the anger apparent on her face. When she fully turned around, she annoyingly screamed at the man disturbing her peace. "WHAT?"
Arnold flinched at her reaction, and then stared at her in disbelief. His eyes were wide and his mouth was gaping open like a fish gasping for air. Words were unable to escape his lips at the moment.
His eyes canvassed her face, her body, examining and matching every aspect he once beheld.
He closed his eyes, breathing her name, "Hel..ga"
He looked to her once more wondering if she was real, and yet as he gazed at her he knew undeniably that... it was her.
Suddenly, he felt an ache consuming his heart. It was the same feeling he had from that dream.
Desperately, his desire was to reach out to her like he used to, but his mind warned him against it. He was working now, and his goal was to examine and treat her mental state. His brow furrowed as his head and eyes lowered. Regaining his composure, he took a deep breath and looked into her file. "What happened to you?" He softly murmured as he looked to the page of her file.
The woman now perplexed at his behavior, remained standing with her hands on her hips. She threw a fierce glare at him and spoke again.
"Well? I'm waiting!" she uttered rudely, her posture now somewhat relaxed; although, her weight kept swaying from one leg to the other. Probably due to the softness of the padded cell floor.
Seeing that he was at a loss for words she yelled at him, sending him a scowl. "WHAT...THE... HECK... DO YOU WANT?"
Arnold lifted his head up from her case file and looked to her.
Trying to tread lightly on the delicate situation before him he tried to coax her to calm down. He examined her body language. From the look of it, she didn't recognize him.
He confidently maintained eye contact with her, slowly standing up with his arms extended forward, his palms flexed upwards in a mock surrender. "Look, please calm down. I just...want to talk."
Instantly, her demeanor changed and a mischievous smile came over her face.
Arnold took it as a good sign. She's cooperating. Slowly, she lowered herself, sitting Indian style on the padded floor while maintaining eye contact with him. She crossed her arms over her chest in anticipation.
"Hmph, Okay...talk" she said assertively.
Elated by her responsive attitude, Arnold quickly sat down on his chair. So many thoughts were going through his mind that he didn't know where to start.
He picked up his clipboard and began his assessment. He swallowed a dry lump as he looked to her.
Currently, his intentions were to determine her tendencies through observation and questioning. He was observing them to see if she had compulsions, delusions, whether she's physically distressed, sociable or withdrawn. Anything abnormal in her character he had to report. In the process of the interview, he intended to investigate for signs of trauma whether it is physical or emotional. If any abnormalities in her behavior were detected he would devise the appropriate course of action for her full recovery. He was suddenly overwhelmed at being in this position, in this room with...her.
Is this what truly became of Helga?
Once they were both settled, Arnold smiled at her and began asking basic questions.
"Can you please state your full name?"
He received no response.
He coughed into his hand, "What is today's date?" he asked.
No response
"Do you know where you are?" he inquired, starting to get irritated.
No response again
Fed up with the silent treatment, Arnold spoke sternly. "Listen here, I'm trying to help you. Why won't you say something, anything?"
The woman before him smirked, "You said you wanted to talk...so I let you talk" she continued, "I never said that I wanted to talk!" she stated nonchalantly, rolling her eyes at him.
Arnold composed himself again. "Alright."
He thought, "Helga was never easy to deal with that's for sure. Now it seems there are other personalities involved? Wait?"
Arnold realized something, "Personality"
He continued with his thought process, "Hmph, she's clever with what she did there. Could it be that she's personality type-2? I'll have to test it further. As I recalled she responded to the name Eleanor earlier and didn't deny it, so that must be who she is now!" Arnold seeing a breakthrough, quickly wrote this observation in his notes.
As she stretched her legs out while resting her palms on the floor to support her upper body, the woman tilted her head innocently as she smiled at him.
She pressed on, "Say doc, could I get some fresh air, we could...you know...take a walk in the courtyard. Then, I might be more inclined to cooperate." She harmlessly explained.
Arnold pondered at her request, "Maybe that's not such a bad idea, fresh air does seem quite nic-"
"Hey! Wait just a damn minute, who does she think she's fooling! Her file said that she is not to leave this room. What a sneaky woman. She just wants to escape!"
Seeing the shrewdness in her tactics, he countered, "Hmm"
He paused as if in thought then replied casually, "Well, to tell you the truth, I think fresh air is overrated. I mean here is just as any good of a place to talk...don't you think" he replied with a winked and offered her a smirk in return.
"Gotcha" He thought as he looked down for a moment to write his interaction with the woman in his notes again.
But when he looked up, he noticed her face and demeanor had changed.
Unexpectedly, her look felt... familiar, yet cold.
At that point in time, the woman rapidly came at him, her fists clenched about to punch his lights out.
"Why you slimy little weasel" she said and Arnold sat there unable to react to her quickness.
She reached him as he stayed deep-seated in his chair.
And when 'ol Betsy was raised ready to strike, it was stopped by two male orderlies who happened to show up to give her her scheduled medication.
They grabbed her, and sent her down on her stomach pressing her against the padded floor. Still cursing, she managed to tilt sideways towards one orderly and lifted her knee up, ramming it at his groin. She sent the man curled up on the floor in pain.
Arnold flinched. "That must've hurt" he murmured while squinting his eyes and scrunching his face.
With one man down, the other orderly begged for Arnold's help. Arnold reluctantly ran to his aid carefully holding on to the woman on the ground. Swiftly, the nurse entered the room, kneeled down and planted a large syringe on the woman's left buttock.
Within seconds, his patient's speech slurred as she held her head up momentarily, staring at him knowingly.
" Yooouuu...you.. did.. thisss.. to me! Foot...ball Hea-" and then her head dropped to the floor.
Arnold stood over her, frozen, his mouth unenclosed at the familiar nickname she just uttered. Not only that, in his dream she said the same thing.
"What she said, sounded exactly like the whispering I heard in my dream" He thoughtfully recalled. He stood there, dazed for a few minutes. But was snapped back by the scene displayed before him.
He made note to include in her file his last observation, "That last character seems to be personality- Type 3, that had to have been Helga. She's the only one who ever called me football-head" he thought as he stifled a laugh at the rather odd term of endearment given to him long ago.
He walked over to the ailing orderly, "Hey man, are you alright?" he asked concernedly.
The orderly angrily replied through gritted teeth, "I just got kicked in the nuts by some crazy, deranged chick. Do I look alright to you, doc?"
Arnold felt aggravated at the orderly calling Helga crazy and deranged, but realizing what she had done to him slowly put a small smirk on his face. "What an ass...serves him right" he thought.
[A/N: Psychosis- complete loss of contact with reality, delusional]