Lost in the Madness

Jimmy was born towards the end of the winter on February the 9th, 1981 to the Sullivan family.

Even in his early years he was known for an infamous smile and contagious laughter that enlightened every place he stepped on. He was a walking ray of sunshine. The optimistic one that always wanted to play.

As he grew he became even more energetic – always climbing on trees and walls, running around for hours without getting tired. He couldn’t sit still for longer than five seconds; it bored him and he had to find something interesting. At family reunions he’d talk to his relatives for hours without repeating himself.

At school he was quite a trouble. He wouldn’t do his homework, he wouldn’t study and he would interrupt every class he took part of. The answers to his teacher’s questions came out as a blurt from his mouth every single time; he cared not whether they were correct or not. He definitely had all the attention he could get.

His parents thought he was just acting like a child but his behavior never ceased, even as he got older. The house’s phone wouldn’t stop ringing, concerned teachers would call all the time about their young child’s careless behavior and lack of study.

“James” his mother would preach every single time, she was tired from the never-ending calls “your English teacher called again”

Jimmy looked up at her, his eyes sparkling with mischievousness as a small and innocent smile made its way to his lips.

“I’m sorry” he said, looking straight at his mother with a stare that would melt anyone’s heart.

“Oh, Jimmy” she sighed, closing her eyes tightly and pinching the bridge of her nose, shaking her head “why can’t you understand that-“

She stopped talking when she opened her eyes and saw that Jimmy was now focused on something else and had stopped listening to her words. She followed his gaze.

“Stop looking at that squirrel!” she yelled at him, pointing her index finger at his small figure. Jimmy didn’t acknowledge her words once again and started chasing the small squirrel around the garden.

His mother looked at her son, dumbfounded from the lack of attention he’d given to her. She sighed once again, louder this time, and entered the house through the back door in defeat. It was useless trying to get him to focus on something. He was just a child.

At the age of fourteen Jimmy had grown to be a beautiful and very talented young man, but his behavior hadn’t changed over the years. It was a surprise to his parents that he would still be able to stay at school.

He would still interrupt conversations by excitedly exclaiming random things like ‘Look! It’s a blue car!’ or ‘Look at the size of that duck!’. It was now really worrying his parents. There was something wrong. That childish behavior seemed like something more.

And they were right.

One visit to the psychiatric and he was diagnosed with ADHD – attention deficity hyperactivity disorder. It explained everything. The restlessness, the hyperactivity, the excessive talking, the interruptions – everything.

He was put on Ritalin at the age of fifteen, but it didn’t last long. He had his outbursts every now and then, and he always refused taking the medicine. It made him feel like a prisoner, like a lunatic that had to be sedated in order to keep the rest happy and calm.

Besides the way Jimmy felt about the medicine given to him, it had severe side-effects on him. He would get migraines, nauseas, and suffer from insomnia that was driving him crazy. His parents understood his suffering only when he took the bottle of pills and threw it into the burning fireplace.

They tried other drugs on him – Methylin, Desoxyn, Focalin, Dexedrine and more drugs, but nothing seemed to help. Every single drug seemed to be rejected by Jimmy’s body and ended up causing only pain and suffer to him.

By the age of seventeen his parents had given up.

When Jimmy got his emancipation at the age of eighteen and entered the life of adults he left the house and decided to face the real world by himself. He was ready and wanted independence.

He didn’t last long in the places he chose to work in, he would get impatient or impulsive and the combination of working with his disorder lead him to do things that ended up costing him his job. Sometimes he got so bored that he decided to quit by himself.

His life consisted on changing his jobs frequently, living in dull – and sometimes dangerous – places. The disorder was taking the best of him, it was preventing him from living a normal life and it drove him straight to rock-bottom.

Seeing his state, his oldest sister decided she’d find the way to help him recover from the disorder. He wasn’t doing well and couldn’t take care of himself, she didn’t want their parents to acknowledge his state. That’d worry them too much.

While searching for a cure to his disorder that didn’t involve drugs – since they had no effect on Jimmy – she stumbled upon Huntington Beach Hospital. Their psychiatric wing was offering a new psychotherapy for adults suffering from ADHD.

“Jimmy!” she yelled and started chasing after her brother who was chasing a bunch of geese in Central Park. Her heart was beating fast against her chest and she was panting, she didn’t know how her brother didn’t get tired.

He didn’t listen to her, he kept on chasing the geese while exclaiming words and phrases that made no sense.

“James Owen Sullivan!” his sister exclaimed solemnly from the spot she was now standing on, her hair dancing around her head because of the wind. Jimmy stopped and turned around with a confused expression on his face.

“Yes, sis?” he questioned, tilting his head to the side. He’d never seen his sister so serious. She tucked her hair behind her ears and approached him.

“We must talk” she stated and reached out for his hands, holding them in hers. She smiled warmly and sadly at him. He understood.

Jimmy’s sister explained everything he had to know about Huntington Beach Hospital and the process of psychotherapy he’d go through in order to cure him so he’d be able to maintain a normal lifestyle. He tried his best to pay attention.

And that was it. In the year of 2002 Jimmy entered through the heavy doors of the hospital’s psychiatric wing and started his life in there, brightening everybody’s day and making them feel better. He was the only one that wasn’t afraid of Matt and thus he let him see through him.

“What’s going on in here?” one of the nurses exclaimed, bursting through Zacky’s room’s door. She had an angry expression on her face and her eyes demanded answers. “Do you know what hour it is?”

“We were just-“ Brian started saying.

“I don’t care, Mr.. Haner” she said, looking around, from man to man and fixing her gaze on Johnny “And what are you doing in here, Mr.. Seward? I believe you don’t belong in the psychiatric wing”

“I know, but-“

“No buts!” she exclaimed, interrupting his words and stepping aside, pointing with her finger to the corridor “Now all of you, leave Mr.. Baker’s room and go back to your own beds to get some sleep”

Matt, Jimmy, Johnny and Brian got up from their chairs with their gazes fixed on the floor, looking like children that got caught with their hands in the forbidden cookie jar.

“I’ll see you tomorrow” Zacky whispered loud enough for the four men to hear with a smirk on his lips. The four nodded at his words and exited the room, followed by the angry nurse murmuring incomprehensible words about the men.

Zacky sighed when the door closed and looked at the clock. It was now almost five AM. He leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling and smiling.

The End.