Scream Silently

Dalton felt a cold, bony hand clasp onto his arm as he lie on his bed, motionless. His heart skipped a beat, but his body was too limp to twitch with a jump. He closed his eyes as the feeling of the hand drifted away, but his heart rate wouldn’t resume its normal pace. His stomach sank and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
-----
Scarlett finished her breakfast in bed, and fell back down to sleep. Randy came in and took the tray, being careful not to wake her until the social worker arrived to speak with her.
“Scarlett?” A mid-height, slender woman wearing a conservative business suit walked in.
“Mm..” Scarlett nodded.
“My name is Kathryn, and I’m just here to ask you a few questions.”
“Why?” asked Scarlett.
“Well… I’m a psychologist and I have to make sure you’re alright before I send you home.”
“I’m fine,” said Scarlett, “I just want to see Dalton again… I really miss him, you know. I feel bad for what I did and all.”
“I understand,” said Kathryn, “but this is just standard protocol.”
“… Ok, I guess.”
“So, why did you take so many pills that night, Scarlett?”
“I don’t know, I just kind of felt numb, and I was thinking about death a lot. I was at Dalton’s house and he was sleeping in the other room, and I just wondered what if he isn’t there and I was just dreaming? So I don’t know why I decided to do that. But that’s what I remember thinking.”
Kathryn took a few notes on a yellow notepad. “Okay. Did you have any intention of ending your life?”
“Not really, I wasn’t even really thinking about how I’m technically alive or anything. The whole concept of life wasn’t really in my thinking. I guess I just don’t understand death so I don’t think about it like that.”
Kathryn nodded. “You’re pretty good at expressing yourself.”
“… I am? I don’t think I’m making any sense.”
“Oh, no, you’re fine. Do you ever hear voices, or anything like that?”
“… I don’t know. I mean I don’t hear voices from nowhere, but I see a lot of things staring at me. I see faces in everything I look at and they’re always watching me. And sometimes I see this tall man without a face, I think he’s following me and Dalton. I’m always with Dalton when I see him. I think Dalton sees him too, because it looks like he does a double take whenever I see this faceless man, but I never really asked. The man scares me, so I don’t want to talk about him.”
Kathryn’s expression never changed as she wrote more on her notepad. “Okay, thank you, Scarlett, now a doctor is going to come in and ask you some routine questions about your physical health.”
“Ok.” Scarlett nodded.
-----
Hours passed and Dalton didn’t move. His skin felt like it would start melting, and then a chill would run down his spine. Sometimes, he felt like he was being watched, and sometimes he saw someone in the doorway but he never saw a face. He was too disoriented to think too much of it.
“Who are you?” he asked.
There was no answer.
-----
Dalton hadn’t been seen by either of his parents for an entire day now, and his stepfather had time to cool down from the incident.
His stepfather knocked on the door. There was no answer, but the door swung open slowly with a high-pitched creaking sound.
The bed was empty and the window was open.
Ten minutes later, the police station received a report on a missing person by the name of Dalton.
-----
Scarlett could hear voices outside her room, and she made out the words ‘schizophrenia, medication, and monitor.’ I can’t be crazy, she thought, I don’t have some crazy illness like schizophrenia. They must be talking about a different patient.
Moments later, Randy came into the room. “I have some news for you, Scarlett. You’re leaving this room today.”