On the way back to the ward, Scott contemplated how he was going to approach Derek with the absurdly crazy questions and explanations that floated around in his head. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Derek; his anger was probably five times worse than Isaac's.
"Maybe I shouldn't do this," Scott muttered, feeling suddenly small and threatened.

"This was your idea," Stiles argued, "Not mine. Besides, you've talked to him before, and you weren't intimidated then. What happened?"
"When I first got here, you told me that he suffers from outbursts of rage. What happens if I trigger that rage?"
Stiles shrugged. "I don't think he'd be violent and take it out on you, otherwise he wouldn't be on this ward." Stiles shoved him in Derek's directions. "If he does try and attack you, I'll be your backup." Scott glanced at his friend, making sure that he had heard him right. He took in Stiles' slight, lean frame. Although he had some muscles that were well defined, Derek could easily beat both of them six ways to Sunday.
"That's so reassuring," he muttered, before heading over to where Derek was sitting.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?"
Derek barely glanced up from his cards. He shrugged. "Go ahead." Scott took a seat next to Derek, close enough so that they could whisper.
"Who's your doctor?"

"Dr. Morrell," he replied. "But why do you care?"
"Well, you know Lydia….She has this whole theory about Morrell, Barrow and Harris are responsible for the patient's death and that you-"
Derek paused in shuffling his cards and glanced up at Scott, a deadly serious look on his face.

"Are you trying to tell me that three doctors are conspiring together, killing certain patients, but making it look like suicides?" Scott's eyebrows rose. Derek seemed to catch on fast without any reasonable need to doubt.
"Something along those lines," Scott replied. He leaned in closer. "But first I need to know your opinion of Morrell. Do you think she would be capable of killing someone?"
Derek shrugged and placed the card deck in front of him. "Torturing someone…Yes. Killing someone…Maybe."
"Why do you think that?"

"She used Electroshock Therapy on me when I first came here. It helped, I guess, but there were other things that she did…things that made me uncomfortable." He fell silent, his eyes darkening as a glassy look appeared in them.
"Like what?" Scott asked, pressing for more information. Derek pulled the cards closer to him, and directed his gaze down to the cards in his hands, which had started trembling slightly.

"I can't show you here," he whispered. Slowly, he got up from his seat and headed towards the bathroom, motioning for Scott to follow. Confused, Scott got up from his chair and followed Derek, two steps behind. As the bathroom door swung shut behind Scott. Making sure that they were the only ones in the room, Derek pulled off his shirt and turned around. Pale white scars feathered his toned back, from shoulder to hip; forming an X. Gently Scott traced a finger along the most prominent scar. He felt a twinge of sympathy for Derek; although the cuts had healed, it still looked like they hurt.
"Morrell did this," Scott asked, thoroughly shocked. "You've never told anyone?"
"Don't you think I tried?" Derek replied, turning to face Scott. "I can't exactly flat out tell my uncle that my doctor has been torturing me. I'm not sure he'd believe me."
"But doesn't anyone else in the hospital know, like another doctor or something?"
"I don't think so," Derek replied quietly, "If someone did know, I'd think they'd give me a different doctor and they'd have kicked her out for unethical practices by now."

"Is she still hurting you?" Averting his gaze, Derek shook his head slowly.
"Not psychically, not anymore," he muttered quietly. Scott let his mind wrap around Derek's words as he tried to process what he had said. If Morrell wasn't psychically torturing him anymore, what kind of torture could she be inflicting? Emotional? Psychological? ...Sexual? Scott felt a renewed amount of determination ignite within him. If he could expose these corrupt doctors, he'd be able to spare others like Derek and Isaac.

They both tensed as they heard the bathroom door swing open on its squeaky hinges.
"Hey, what are you boys doing?" They took a step back from each other as the orderly approached them, a slightly disgusted expression on his face.
"Put your shirt back on," he ordered Derek. Derek did as ordered and then they were both marched back out into the hall, practically pushing both boys out the door.

Once they were out of the orderlies ear shot, Derek asked, "Are you sure what Lydia says is true?" He paused. "Is she trustworthy?" Even though Scott had doubted Lydia, something about how she had more knowledge of what actually happened within the hospital made him want to trust her.
"I think she can be trusted." He glared at Scott, his green eyes deeply analyzing him. He nodded once and then turned away.
"I'll take your word for it."
"So you'll help me?" Scott asked, hopeful.
"I guess…Yeah, I'll help you.

After talking to Derek, Scott hunted down Isaac, who he found in their bedroom. He was curled up on his bed, facing the wall. Scott lingered uncomfortably in the doorway, struggling on how to phrase his apology.
As though seeming to sense eyes on him, Isaac glanced over his shoulder. Realizing it was Scott, he turned back to face the wall.

"This is your room, too, you know," he muttered, "Don't wait for an invitation to come in." Sheepishly, Scott stepped into the room, kicking the door shut with his foot. Scott paused momentarily before deciding to approach the apology head on.
"Isaac, I'm sorry about what I said at lunch. I didn't know that Barrow was such a sensitive subject for you. I hope you can forgive me." There was a moment of silence before he heard Isaac sigh in resignation.

"I'm not mad at you, Scott," he replied. He rolled over to face Scott. "It's just I don't want to relive those memories…"
"I get that, I do." Scott paused as he considered his words. "It's just that, Dr. Barrow might be responsible for hurting patients…maybe even killing them."
"Barrow hurt Derek too," Isaac asked, sounding surprised.

"Not Barrow, Dr. Morrell," Scott corrected. "But, yeah, she hurt him. He showed me the scars." He sat himself on his bed to make himself more comfortable. He rested his hands on his knees, deliberating on what to say.
"I think we can trust Lydia. I don't know how, but she seems to know a lot about what goes on in this place," Scott exclaimed. "And if it is true, what those three are doing to patients is horrible; we can't let that happen to anyone else."

"Well, what can you do; what can we do?" he asked, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "I mean, we can't just go around telling anyone who may or may not believe us. We are in a nuthouse after all; I don't think many people believe anything that insane people say." Scott couldn't help but admit that Isaac had a point. None or very little people would outright believe someone who had been classified as mentally unstable. If telling someone on the outside was the way Scott was going to go through with exposing three corrupt doctors, he'd have to find someone he trusted completely. There weren't many; he couldn't even trust his own mother; she probably wouldn't believe him anyway.
"I'll think of something…We'll think of something."

Scott wasn't all that surprised when Derek joined them at dinner that evening. The only person that seemed surprised was Stiles.
"Ah, hello," Stiles said awkwardly as Derek took a seat next to him. He inched away from Derek and glanced up at Scott, who was smirking at Stiles' discomfort.
"Am I missing something," he asked.
"Derek's going to help us," Scott said quietly. "I thought it'd be handy if he sat with us, that way we can all conspire together."

Pushing his food tray away, Stiles rubbed his hands together, a mischievous look on his face. "Conspiring is one of my favourite words," he stated, a sly grin on his face. He leaned in close to Scott and beckoned Derek and Isaac closer. "So, first things first-we have to figure out exactly how we plan to expose Barrow, Morrell, and Harris."
"Well, we're going to need evidence," Scott exclaimed, "It helps that Derek and Isaac are victims of their abuse. But the problem is finding concrete evidence to convict them."

"That and finding someone that will believe us," Isaac added. The four of them fell silent, lost in thought.
"Well I don't really have anyone," Isaac stated flatly, "But you guys have family. Would any of them believe you?" A silence fell between them as Scott, Stiles and Derek mulled over whether their family would believe their crazy story. Scott knew that his mother wouldn't; she probably brush it off as an attempt to weasel himself out of the hospital. Scott didn't know about Stiles' dad, but getting the Sheriff involved could be a good or bad thing.

"My uncle might," Derek exclaimed lowly. Scott thought he sounded uncertain, but at least it was something.
"Visiting days ended today, though," Isaac said, "We'd have to wait all week for you'd to see him again. By that time…something else could've happened." There was a slight pause as Derek took this into consideration. His brow furrowed in concentration as he nervously bit at his thumb nail. He sighed, sounding defeated.

"We go to him then," Derek muttered. Scott stared at Derek for a long moment, processing what he had just said. He opened his mouth to speak, but struggled for words to say. After a moment of gaping like a fish, Scott managed to say, "Are you suggesting that we…escape?" His voice had died down to a whisper. Escaping was a big risk taker, and if they got caught, they'd all suffer the consequences. But just the thought of escaping gave Scott a nervous sort of energy that he recognized as excitement. He hadn't felt excited in a long time.

A/N: So what do you all think? I plan to bring in Peter again in either the next chapter or the one after that. If my writing goes the way I plan, the next chapter should show one of the doctor's darker side, and there also might be a POV change from Scott to Stiles.