Part 6
Chapter 15: The long drive home
We drove towards the state hospital. A few minutes after setting out Cathy pulled into a roadside drive-through. The girls ordered some food to go for themselves and we pulled out as soon as they collected their order.
I said, “Hey, what about me?”
“Oh, don’t worry, Mr. Murphy, we have food drinks in the ice chest for you!” said Kelly.
They drove a little farther down the road and pulled over at a roadside rest stop. There were a few picnic tables under some big trees. Cathy pulled the van up by one of the picnic tables and stopped. Kelly announced that we were going to have a picnic. Cathy took the food and drinks and set them on the table, while Kelly opened the sliding door. I obviously stayed sitting, strapped down in my chair.
Kelly said, “well, Mr. Murphy, you’re going to have to eat your lunch in here! I will release your head and one hand, only!”
I asked, “will you remove the spit hood?”
“OK, but only because you asked nicely!” said Kelly with a silly grin!
After releasing my hand, head and removing the hood, Kelly gave me a bottle of water and a food drink.
“Enjoy your meal,” she then closed the cage door and locked it. “We can’t be too careful with a dangerous mental patient like you!” Kelly said jokingly. “But I will leave the van door open for the fresh air.”
They sat down and ate their lunch at the picnic table, and I drank down my lunch in the cage of the transport van. As the girls put their trash into trash cans, two college-age kids, a girl, and a guy walked up. They stared into the open van door and the boy asked, “is that a real mental patient?”
Cathy said, “yes, you don’t think we transport sane people around like this, do you?”
Cathy and Kelly laughed.
“Sorry,” the boy said, “it’s just that we never saw anything like this before.“
Kelly walked over to the van door while Cathy cautioned the kids to stand back from the van. I thought it would be an excellent time to act up a bit and scare some kids. I threw my empty water bottle and yelled, “I'm not crazy!
Everyone jumped!
Kelly walked over and said, “Mr. Murphy, you must calm down.”
I yelled, “I don’t belong here!”
“We've been over this before, you’re here so we can help you get better,” Kelly explained warmly.
“We have to secure Mr. Murphy down again,” explained Cathy.
The girl asked, “you’re going to open that cage?
“Yes,” Cathy said as she walked up to Kelly’s side.
Kelly said, “you kids stand back.”
They moved several feet back from the van. Kathy put the key in the lock and whispered to me to resist a little. As she opened the cage door, I swung my free arm towards Kelly as if I was trying to hit her. She easily grabbed it and jumped up into the van, and Cathy followed. Together they easily subdued me and locked me back down, put my spit hood back on, and strapped my head back to the headrest.
“Ok, Mr. Murphy, that’s better, you’re safe and secure now!” Kelly said.
The officers climbed out of the back of the van then shut and locked the cage door behind them.
I started yelling again, “I'm not crazy, you’re trying to kill me!”
“OK, ok!” Cathy said as she slid the van door closed.
The two kids looked a little shocked and the girl said, “that is so wild! Is that guy OK?”
Kelly explained, “he is paranoid schizophrenic and developmentally disabled, so no, he is not OK! We don’t transport patients like this that are OK! That’s why he’s in chains and heavy restraints! Mr. Murphy is a VERY DANGEROUS man!”
The two kids were clearly dumbfounded and the boy said, “OK, we got to go,” and they ran off to their car!
I could hear what Kelly was saying to them through the van door, and I laughed to myself.
Cathy got behind the wheel, and Kelly climbed back into the passenger seat. They were both chuckling at the two college kids running off so fast.
Kelly said, “Mr. Murphy, you should not have scared those kids so badly!”
“Hey, I am crazy. What can I say!”
“Well, that is true, and getting more crazy by the day!” Kelly said with a laugh.
“You know you’re getting so good at being a patient, maybe we should ship you off to another state mental institution for a few weeks just to try another mental hospital out? What do you think, Kelly?” asked Cathy with a smile!
“Wow! That’s a great idea!” Kelly said!
“Wait a second!” I shouted in my retarded voice.
Kelly laughed and said, “now that we don’t have to give him shots every day, we could send him off for a few weeks!”
I protested and begged for them not to do that! They were both just laughing at me!
Kelly said, “we are just kidding!”
I was very relieved!
But Kelly said, “We could, you know, because you're a committed mental institution patient, and they do get transferred from hospital to hospital.”
“But I am not a real patient,” I said.
Kelly turned to me and said in a soft sweet voice, “Well, you have been medically certified insane by a doctor, legally committed by a judge, and sentenced to the state mental institution for the criminally insane. So, Brian, you are, in fact, a real mental patient.” Then Kelly just smiled at me and turned away.
As we rolled down the road, I sat there for some time thinking, locked in my chair in the transport van, and the words Kelly had just said soaked into my brain. Kelly was right, I am not a pretend patient anymore. It’s not like I could ask, “could you drop me off at home? I don't want to play anymore.” No, I was diagnosed and certified by a doctor. A misdiagnosis that I agreed to, but it’s still a certified diagnosis nevertheless. The judge sentenced me in good faith because of the information he was presented with. I was legally committed to the state mental institution for the criminally insane. It hit me that I am a real patient, and only Kelly and Dr. Amanda Smith can change that. I was dumbfounded! In my zeal to be a pretend patient, I didn’t see the fact that I had to become a real mental patient to do it.
I finally said to Kelly, “You're right.”
Kelly asked, “right about what?”
“That I am a real mental patient,” I said.
Kelly said to Cathy, “Well, we have made a major breakthrough with our patient! That’s the first step to getting well, Mr. Murphy, realizing and accepting your diagnosis and prognosis!”
They both laughed!
“I am glad you have finally come to this understanding, and yes, Mr. Murphy, you are the same as any of our other patients, subject to all rules and regulations of Ashland State mental institution! The hospital staff sees you as just another mental patient in need of treatment, nothing more, nothing less. Luckily, you don’t have a debilitating mental disease. Also, you have us to take care of you. Trust me, you will have more fun with us, and you get to leave in a year!” Kelly said with a smile.
The rest of the drive was very peaceful. Girls told me about all the things they had planned for me! I was happy just being a mental patient in the mental institution. We drove in the front gate because Kelly wanted me to see the mental institution from the outside again. “After all, this is the last time for a long time that you will see it from the outside!” Kelly told me with an evil smile.
We drove up the long drive and passed the main building and the main entrance to the hospital, and round to the sally port / patient entrance. Cathy radioed in to have the garage door opened. The van pulled in, and the door rolled down and closed. No guards, just one Nurse with a special needs wheelchair for me. The officers moved me out of the transport van and into the wheelchair and strapped me in. They rolled me into the patient entrance to be processed back into the hospital as the Sergeant at the desk did the paperwork to check me back in.
The Sergeant said, “oh, I remember now, this patient is missing some information in his file.”
Both Kelly and Cathy looked at each other in puzzlement. Me, I would have looked around, but my head was strapped down to the headrest of the wheelchair.
The sergeant said, “don’t worry, it will only take a few minutes to get it taken care of.”
They followed the other officer to the mug shot area. “We need a new photo. This old one doesn't look much like our patient anymore, and we need to update it.” They removed my split hood and the head strap. The officer looked into the screen and adjusted the picture, and then clicked, “OK, that’s done, now for the fingerprints.” I thought, what the hell, they can’t do that! I would be screwed! Kelly and Cathy looked like deer in the headlights.
The sergeant said, “Come on girls, roll Mr. Murphy over and take the mitts off his hands.”
Then Kelly reluctantly complied with the order. I started thrashing around as much as the straps would let me. Cathy pulled my head back into the headrest and strapped my head down.
I started yelling, “you can’t do that!”
Kelly was telling me to calm down, but I wasn’t. Finally, the nurse that was with us came back running with a hypo in her hand. As she came into the room she shouted, “hold his arm,” and Kelly complied. Only a couple of minutes after the shot I felt very calm, mellow, and sleepy. After that, they had no problem taking my fingerprints.
“Okay, we’re done. His updated fingerprints and photographs will be sent to the state’s criminal database. You can take him back to his room,” the Sergeant said.
Kelly and Cathy, still a little shocked from what had just happened, rolled me towards my room.
Cathy said, “I did not see that coming at all.”
Kelly replied, “me either.”
I was just too drugged up to care.
Chapter 16: Truly in the system
It was a few hours later that I finally got my wits about me and realized my situation had become a lot more dire. As I lay strapped to my bed, Dr. Smith came into my cell with Kelly.
Amanda said, “well, this issue with the fingerprints was unexpected but not unfixable. I just want you to know I have your lawyer, Robin, looking into this right now! So I wanted you not to worry or obsess about this problem. We will straighten it out.”
I asked, clearly worried, “but how can Robin fix this?”
Amanda said warmly that, “Robin is a very resourceful woman, and she has great contacts and resources. If anyone can do it, Robin can!”
I said, “I can’t believe this. Oh my god, I am stuck here now!”
Amanda said, “look, Brian, nothing has changed. You are still our mental patient and in our custody. You will be released in a year, as we all agreed! We just need to let Robin take care of this little matter! But everything is still the same! Trust me. We have brought you this far, and we will get you back out also!”
Kelly spoke to me about how much she loved me, and how everything was going to be okay!
Amanda told me she was going to give me a sedative to calm me down. After the shot, they both told me about the great adventures to come, and then both left the room.
After my door was closed and locked, the two walked down the corridor. “So do you think Robin can really get the fingerprints removed from the state system,” Kelly asked?
“She’s not sure she can. It’s a big deal,” Amanda said.
“So what do we do if she can’t get the records expunged?” Kelly asked.
“I guess we try to convince Brian he would like to stay longer with us,” said Amanda.
“Wow! We wanted to keep him for a while, but not forever!” said Kelly.
“I know, let’s just hope Robin can do it! I am just afraid that if Mr. Murphy obsesses about the fingerprints that it will make our testing harder, and Brian will not enjoy his stay with us,” said Amanda!
“Hey, wait,” Amanda shouted out! “I got it!”
“What,” Kelly asked?
“I know how we can keep Mr. Murphy from worrying about the fingerprints! We just give him one session of electroshock therapy!” Amanda said.
“Really, won’t that damage his brain?” Kelly asked, clearly sounding worried.
“No, not in one treatment, but he will lose the memory of the day before and day of treatment, so he will not know about the fingerprinting incident,” Amanda said.
“Wow, that's a wild and evil plan. I like it. Mr. Murphy can’t worry about what he doesn’t remember!” Kelly said.
“Let’s schedule the therapy for early tomorrow morning,'' said Amanda.
After she got to her office, Amanda set up the therapy session for 7:00am.
Chapter 17: A shocking new development
I was woken up early by Kelly, Patti, and Amanda. They were looking at me and smiling.
I asked, “what’s up?” in my retarded voice.
“Mr. Murphy, we have a big favor to ask,” Amanda said. “I got an email last night from a Colleague. She is trying to get clinical data on brain activity before and after electroconvulsive therapy, ECT for short. So Mr. Murphy, as a personal favor for me, would you please volunteer to do this therapy?”
I was shocked (no pun intended)! “Doesn’t that do brain damage?” I asked, clearly worried.
Amanda, in her best ‘doctor knows best’ voice said, “well, not at low levels, and we are only going to give you one treatment. So there will be no damage.”
I asked Kelly what she thought!
“If Doctor Smith says it’s safe, it’s safe, besides you get to see your friend nurse Nancy at the scanning unit again in a few days,” Kelly said with a laugh.
“Very funny,'' I said.
Kelly said, “you have dreamed of trying out all old therapy’s, this is the granddaddy of them all! You know you want to try it!”
Kelly was right. I wanted to try it! It was the thrill of the scariest mental hospital treatment! After thinking for a few more moments, I said, “okay, I will do it for science.”
Kelly said, “that’s so noble.”
They all laughed.
Amanda said, “great, but if you want to back out, you have to do it now! Once you're in the treatment room, we will not be able to stop it! The Nurses and techs would know something was fishy if a crazy man said no and we said okay! So now or never.”
“Let’s do it!” I said! I then asked if Robin had called about the fingerprints?
Amanda simply said, “no.”
Next, I was dressed in my red scrubs and transport restraints. Then I was put into the special needs wheelchair, and off we rolled, passing all the people in the halls wandering aimlessly. I loved it here, but in the back of my mind, I kept worrying about how I would get out of here with that fingerprint record floating around. We rolled down the corridor and made a right turn, down to the operating rooms! They pushed me into a set of large double doors into an operating room, but it was an operating theater. There was a half-circle of bleachers, so students or doctors could watch the operation or procedures. There were even three or four people in white coats sitting there. Amanda walked through the doors first.
Amanda said, “I see the interns are here to watch the show.”
Three nurses were setting up the equipment and checking it. The primary nurse reported to Amanda they were ready. I was told to struggle a little when they tried to move me to the table before leaving my cell. As the nurses started to release me from my wheelchair to move me, I began to struggle and yelled, “You're trying to kill me. I don't belong here.” Kelly grabbed me, and with the help of the nurses, they manhandled me to the table.
After I was secured to the table Amanda walked over and addressed the group, explaining the procedure and what the hoped for results would be!
I started yelling again, “you're trying to kill me! I am not crazy! I don’t belong here!”
“Now, now, Mr. Murphy, you’re wrong. You are exactly where you belong, here with us, so we can help you get well!” said Amanda.
Then Amanda turned and started addressing the group in the room again. I shouted out again.
Amanda turned towards me and said, “I guess you’re going to be a chatterbox today, nurse, please put the mouthguard in Mr. Murphy's mouth.”
The nurse, with great joy, put the guard in my mouth and put the head strap on tight so I could not spit it out. It was more like a gag than a mouth guard, I guess it’s to keep me from biting off my tongue, but right now, it was keeping me from talking!
After Amanda explained the process, she walked over to me and said, “we were ready to start Mr. Murphy!”
I shook my head no, for fun. The nurse told Amanda the voltage was set on the lower side. Amanda replied that I would have many treatments, so she did not want to fry my brain the 1st time. I started shaking my head and pulling against my bonds. I thought, ‘you can’t do that!’
“Don’t worry, Mr. Murphy, after this is done, you will not care what we do to you!” Amanda Said with an evil smile!
Amanda directed the nurse to give me the shot of propofol. Within moments my world went dark. The electrodes were then placed on my head. When they were ready I was given about 180 volts of electricity. My body convulsed. It was over, and I was rolled back to my cell.
Chapter 18: What you don’t know can’t worry you!
I opened my eyes and looked around. I was afraid for a minute, but then I realized I was strapped down in my bed in my high-security cell in the hospital. I felt at ease once again, and I wondered why I felt so groggy. I tried to think back and try to remember the last thing to happen to me. Then Patty walked In and saw I was awake.
Patty said, “I will be right back,” then turned around and ran back out. In a few minutes, Patti, Kelly, and Amanda came into my cell. Kelly asked how I was feeling.
I realized that whatever treatment they have done on me, they’re not sure if I am okay, so I decided I would have some fun with them. I just looked at all of the girls like I didn’t know who they were. I saw the concern on their faces.
Amanda asked if I knew my name.
I said, “I am Randy Murphy.”
They looked at each other in shock.
Then I said, “you’re trying to kill me.”
“Do you remember where you were before you came to the hospital?” Amanda asked.
I said, “I was in a group home, but they didn’t like me.”
Patti said, “oh my god, he thinks his cover story is real!”
“Brian stop screwing around, now!” shouted Kelly!
I started laughing! “You should have seen the look on your faces,” I said!
“That’s not funny,” Kelly said!
“What did you give me? I feel very foggy.”
Amanda said, “First, tell me the last thing you remember, Mr. Murphy?”
“I remember getting a pet scan and scaring some college kids, but after that, it’s a blank,” I said.
“OK, well, we asked you to let us do a treatment on you. The loss of memory is a rare side effect,” said Amanda.
“What did you do to me?” I asked.
“Well, you agreed to have electroconvulsive therapy,” Amanda said.
“I agreed to shock treatment?” I said, surprised.
“Yes, we were contacted by a colleague of mine needing brain scans before and after electroconvulsive therapy, and you agreed to have it done to you!” Amanda said.
“Wow, how did it go?” I asked.
“I will show you the video of it!” said Amanda.
After I watched the video on an iPad, I said, “wow, I wish I could remember that!” and I laughed.
“Well, I am sorry you don’t remember it, most patients don’t have memory loss. So to finish collecting this information for my colleague, we need to send you back to the county hospital to get another PET scan,” Amanda said.
Kelly said, “another road trip for you to see your girlfriend.”
“She is not my girlfriend. I thought you were my girlfriend?” I said.
“No, Mr. Murphy, I am your state police security officer, and hospital personnel cannot be involved socially with patients. But I do date this guy named Brian Conrad when he shows up!” Kelly said with a big smile.
“How long have I been asleep?” I asked.
“About two days,” Patti said.
“OK, what’s the date?” I asked.
Amanda said, “Well, Mr. Murphy, we feel that your experience here will be enhanced by you not knowing how much time has passed or what day it is. I think you'll find this year will pass very fast, this way you will not be counting down the days so you can enjoy yourself just living in the moment. I would like you not to know your release date till the morning we released you!”
“You’re not going to try to keep me longer, are you?” I asked.
“Mr. Murphy, only if you want us to! “Amanda said with a playful smile
“No, I think a year will be good enough!” I said with my retarded voice.
After a few more questions, Amanda was satisfied that my treatment did not damage me. She told the girls to shower me and take me to the day room. I was dressed in my red scrubs and put in a wheelchair, and rolled away to the shower room.
Amanda passed the message to the team that Mr. Murphy’s memory of his fingerprinting had been successfully erased, and that the incident could not be mentioned around him at all. As far as Mr. Murphy is concerned, it did not happen. Robin Lane will continue to work on having the records be expunged. Dr. Smith was pleased to have calmed her patient’s worries and stress so efficiently with a bit of help from Science!
Kelly gave me a great shower, and it was very relaxing, even strapped to a shower rack. New catheter bag, fresh scrubs, straitjacket, strapped into my wheelchair, and off we go to the day room! Patti and Kelly wheeled me into the day room and into my favorite spot so I could see the view outside and the people inside at the same time.
“OK, Mr. Murphy, we are going to leave you out here for an hour or two. Be good!” Patti said.
Kelly said nothing, just looked down at me and winked, and they were off.
I was there just to take in the sights. After some time, Kate, the psychiatric therapist, walked in view. She saw me and, at first, was a little taken back. I knew it was due to my new, more sad mental patient look. She regained her composure and smiled as she walked over to me.
“Mr. Murphy, how are you today?” Kate asked.
I looked up and said, “you're all trying to kill me!”
“Mr. Murphy, we are here trying to make you well!” Kate said with a warm smile.
I hung my head down. Kate talked to me for about half an hour, as always, I just said the strangest things that came to my mind. Kate wrote her notes on me and smiled as she said goodbye. The rest of the time, I just watched people and the green fields through the big windows.
I started dozing off when Kathy walked up to me and said, “so, are you ready to go to your room?”
I said, “okay!”
Kathy pushed me down the hallways, and she whispered in my ear, “let’s take the long way home!”
I said, “okay!”
We turned off the main hallway and rolled away down a part of the hospital I had not seen before. Kathy told me this was the part of the hospital that they do music therapy and art therapy and because I was a violent patient and would never be allowed to participate. “But,” Kathy said, “we have much more fun things lined up for you, Mr. Murphy. “
She would say no more, no matter how I asked. We rolled over to some double doors, and as Kathy pushed my wheelchair in, I could see it was a good-sized theater with a full stage.
I said, “wow, this is cool. Do they still use it?”
“Yes, once in a while. They have local bands or singing groups do shows for the patients,” said Kathy.
“I like to see one,” I said.
“Well I am sure we can arrange that, but you will probably have to be in your straightjacket, special needs wheelchair and a spit mask so the other patients will feel safe to be around you!” Kathy said with a smile.
“I guess I am a troubled child,” I said with a laugh!
We rolled out of the theater and back into the maze of hallways. We finally got back to the area I knew and we turned down the Corridor to my cell. I was bedded down for the night, all was right with the world.
The next morning the lights came on and the door opened. Patti walked in, and said, “Good morning. We need to get you ready to go for your PET scan.”
Patti quickly got me fed, and a new catheter bag connected to me. Just a few minutes later Kelly and Cathy walked in with my wheelchair and yellow jumpsuit. “Hi, let's get you ready to transport to the hospital for your PET scan.” Once again I was dressed and put into restraints for transport. The girls got me seated in the wheelchair and we were on our way!
We pulled up the desk to get my day pass. The desk sergeant looked at me and said, “you’re not going to be any trouble today are you?”
I was not sure what to say, so I shook my head no. I wonder why he said that?
Loaded up in the transport van and secured in the cage we were on our way! Passing the cemetery Cathy commented on all graves. Then we drove across the countryside and through the beautiful green hills! We finally pulled up to the hospital. Cathy went for the wheelchair and Kelly stayed with me, talking through the cage door.
I asked about when our next conjugal visit would be?
Kelly laughed at me! “Mr. Murphy, you're a patient! I can’t have a conjugal relationship with you! But I may meet up with my boyfriend Brian very soon!” Kelly said with a big smile.
Cathy came back with the wheelchair and asked, “what are you two up to?”
“Well Mr Murphy is trying get me to let him have sex with me!” Kelly said.
Cathy said, “that is a reportable Infraction and would land Mr. Murphy in the isolation ward, if he was not already there!”
“Cathy your right, I think I will write up Mr. Murphy so we can show he is still a dangerous inmate and in need of restraint. We don’t want anyone to think that Mr. Murphy is well behaved, do we?” said Kelly with a wicked smile.
Once again we rolled into the Imaging department.
Nurse Nancy smiled and said hello to us. “Mr. Murphy, I didn’t think I would be seeing you so soon.”
Kelly said, “he is like a bad penny he just keeps showing up!”
They all laughed. Kelly handed Nancy the paperwork for the procedure. Kelly explained that Mr. Murphy had ETC yesterday and Dr Smith wanted to see if there are any changes in brain activity, since the Dr is doing a study on it. Nancy got right to work on getting me on the table, strapped down and IV hooked up. Nancy told Kelly and Cathy that they could take a break and be back in 2 hours!
Kelly said, “OK, be good Mr. Murphy!”
I started my act and started yelling, “you're all trying to kill me!” Nancy tried to get me to be quiet but I kept going.
Nancy told Kelly this would not do, and then asked Kelly if it would be okay to tape my mouth shut.
Kelly smiled and said, “that would be fine.
I kept yelling as Kelly walked over and grabbed my jaw and held my mouth shut and Nancy applied 3 or 4 strips of tape over my mouth. Nancy sighed in relief and said, “that’s better!”
They all laughed! Then Kelly and Cathy said by and left. As Nancy finished strapping my head down she told me with a laugh that she could not tape a normal patient's mouth shut that would not stop talking, “but since you are a crazy mental patient I can! Who would believe you or care if you told them?” and with that she pushed the start button and the table moved into the PET scanner. I lay there thinking Nancy was absolutely right, no one would care.
Eventually I felt the table start siding out of the tube, and Kelly and Cathy were there to greet me. Nancy removed the IV and started to remove the tape on my mouth, but Kelly told her to leave it on! “We would like a peaceful drive back to the state mental hospital,” she explained, and they all laughed!
The girls got me up and back into the wheelchair with my transport restraints on. Cathy then pulled my spit mask over my head, hiding the tape gag. “We don’t want people to see we are abusing our patient!” Cathy said.
Nancy handed Kelly a portable drive with the PET scan load on it.
“Well Nancy it was nice to see you again,” Kelly said.
Nancy said, “it was a pleasure.”
With that we rolled down the hallway and headed towards the van. Once we got to the van I expected Kelly to remove the tape from my mouth, but she and Cathy just put me in the van and strapped me in tight. Cathy took back the wheelchair. Through the cage door Kelly just looked at me and smiled! “I kind of like seeing you so helpless, and now you can’t even talk! How do you like it? Blink your eyes once if you don’t like it or two times if you do like it,” Kelly said.
I thought about it. I did like it, isn’t the point for me to be here is to be controlled. I blinked two times!
“I thought so, I am going to leave you like this till we get you back to your cell,'' said Kelly.
Cathy jumped in the van and we were off back to the mental institution. They laughed about how much quieter I was after my PET scan. Again we came to the front gate.
Kelly said, “I am really sure this time will be the last time in a long time you will see the front gates and the main building from the outside!”
We pulled into the sallyport, and waited while the big garage door closed. A nurse stood by with a wheelchair for me. As the girls got me into the wheelchair the nurse said to Kelly that she had a dose of propofol ready just in case. I thought, ‘what’s that about?' I was rolled to the desk to check in. I was processed through with no issues, but I noticed that the guards were keeping a close watch on me. I guess with my record they felt I was a troublemaker and dangerous. I laughed to myself.
Once inside the girls rolled me down the hall as if I was any other patient, talking to staff members as we passed. We got to my isolation cell, the door was opened and I was pushed in. As the door was closed behind me Kelly said, “well I would leave your mouth taped shut the rest of the day, but I'm sure you’re hungry, so I will be nice to you and remove the tape.” With that Kelly removed my spit guard and ripped the tape off my face.
I yelled, “ouch.”
“Did that hurt Mr. Murphy?” Kelly asked with an evil smile.
I told Kelly that she had a sadistic streak that I had never seen before.
Kelly laughed and grabbed my face and kissed me and said, “I love you, you silly little patient!”
Cathy said, “get a room!”
We all laughed.
They strapped me down into my bed. Kelly told me that she would send the nurse to feed me. After I had lunch I fell into a deep sleep, exhausted from my trip.
Sometime later I woke to Amanda shaking me, saying “wake up.”
After I came to, I said, “hi Doctor Smith!”
Amanda smiled and said, “I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that you’re still a mental patient Committed to our mental institution.”
“That’s not bad news,” I said.
Amanda said, “Well most normal people would think so!” She smiled, and continued to tell me that there was no damage or changes to my brain scans!
I said, “That's great!”
“Before you get discharged next year we will do one more PET scan to make sure your stay with us has not adversely affected you,” Amanda said.
“I am sure I will be okay,” I said.
“I am sure you will be too, but mental institution life can take a toll on anyone! We are going to make sure it doesn’t affect you!” Amanda explained. “Now we have big plans for you tomorrow! We are going to put you in your 2nd wet pack and it’s going to be for a week!”
“Wow! That’s a long time!” I said.
Amanda said, “well the time will fly, you will see. Besides, before the year is over you will be able to stay in the wet pack for over a month!”
“Really?” I asked.
“Oh yes you will!” Dr Smith said in her matter of fact voice. “Now after your evening meal I will have the nurse give you a shot to help you sleep and tomorrow we will start your next adventure. How does that sound?”
“Great,'' I said!
Amanda rubbed my head and said “see you tomorrow!”