Suffering Alone In Silence

SECOND POST IN 24 HOURS

Frank’s POV

We walk down a corridor then turn into another. We walk a little way down the second corridor then stop in front of a large room with a glass door. The blinds have been pulled over half of the doorway. I stare at it in awe. The room is bigger than mine, nicely furnished as well.

“This is where you will be staying for a few days Frank.” Mel smiles at me.

“It’s Frankie, and cool.” I answer her.

She looks taken aback for a moment before smiling again.

“Okay, Frankie it is.” She agrees.

She opens the room and gestures for me to enter first. I do so without hesitation. I dump my bag by the doorway and take a walk around the room. I study everything in great detail, then turn to Gerard with a big smile on my face.

“I have a TV Gee! Come have a look!” I state loudly and excitedly.
“
Okay.” He agrees.

He comes over to me and we look at the big TV together for a moment.

“Can I have a TV in my other room when I come back?” I ask.

“I’ll see if it’s okay, but I won’t promise anything.” He replies.

I smile and a small squeal comes from my mouth. I am taken aback by the sound I made and stand in thought for a moment.

“Frankie, Gerard and I are just going to step out for a moment. You can watch TV if you like.” Mel addresses me.

“Okay.” I say, going over to her and getting the remote from her hands.

I watch them leave and close the glass door behind them. Once they are out of my view I turn my attention back to the TV and wait for them to return.

Gerard’s POV

I walk away from frank and follow Mel to her office, which is just out of view from Frank’s new room.

“I’ve never seen this before Gerard.” Mel states as she closes the door behind me.

We take our seats and open Frank’s file. Each of us has a copy.

“Can you shed any light on this at all?” I ask.

“I read a case study once on another patient with similar problems. It was deemed a miraculous recovery. They let him go. He got a job, married a great girl and had a family.”She pauses for a moment.

“Something went wrong though. I’m not sure, like I said it was a case study. He committed suicide 5 years later though.” She sighs.

"This was a good 10 years ago Gerard, medicine has changed a lot since then. We’ll work out what’s going on in his head, Gerard, I promise.” She finishes.

I decide on another question to ask her, one that is of relevance to Frank.

“What signs will we be watching for while he’s here?”

Mel sighs, as if in great thought.

“Maybe...” She begins

“Perhaps repetitive behaviours, varied mood swings within given time frames. “ She continues.

“Can I suggest something?” She asks.

“Sure” I reply

“Can we see if we can induce some kind of paranoia, or psychosis?” She asks.

Her voice is quiet, unsure, nervous. I’m not sure if I want to induce anything. It took me long enough to get him to this point. I don’t want him going backwards. I voice this to Mel.

“It might not send him backwards. It could provoke an untreated diagnosis if anything. If we can’t get any reaction out of him, then perhaps we could look at sending him home for a few days and gradually increase it, see if he can cope in the real world.” She replies.

Anything anyone wants to do to Frank needs my final opinion. I take a deep breath and hope to whoever is out there that this works.

“Okay, you can do it.” I agree.

We get the paperwork sorted and then head back to Frank’s room. When we walk in, he is asleep on his bed. The TV is still on. It’s on the news. I wonder if he really is trying to connect back with the real world.

“Frankie, wake up.” I whisper, petting his hair.

He grumbles a little bit, before rolling over. His eyes flutter open and he gives me a smile.

“I’ve got to go now Frankie. I’ll be back to see you tomorrow.” I say.

“Okay, bye Gee” He mumbles, sleep thick in his voice.

“See you tomorrow.” I say to Mel on my way out.

Time for some sleep, I think to myself, getting in my car and driving home.