Part 7
Chapter 19: All wrapped up in research
The lights came on in my cell, and Patti walked in. “Hi Mr. Murphy, how are you on this fine morning?”
“Good!” I said.
“Well, it’s a big day for you, going for another wet pack. Are you excited?” Patti asked.
“Well, excited and a little scared,” I said.
“Well, you liked your last one, didn’t you?” Patti asked.
“It was interesting last time, but this time it’s for a whole week!” I said.
Patti smiled and said, “It’s OK. The time will fly by. It’s like you will be in suspended animation.
“Yes, you’re right—it kind of is,” I said.
“Well, lots to do to get you ready. I'll bring you your breakfast,”. Patti said as she left my cell.
After breakfast, Kelly rolled in a wheelchair. Patti and Kelly got me up and out of bed. They removed my catheter but left me in my suicide gown, then they put on handcuffs and shackles on me and strapped me in the wheelchair.
Once at the shower room, I was strapped to the shower rack and the suicide gown was removed. Patti left the room, and Kelly gave me my shower, giving special care to all my parts and afterwards Kelly dried me off with so much care! I was in heaven!
Patti returned. They both covered me in shaving cream and started shaving my head and body! Kelly said, “Don’t move, Mr. Murphy, we don’t want to remove anything, do we?” They both laughed!
After my close shave, no pun intended, a new catheter was installed along with its bag. I was dressed in red scrubs, handcuffed and shackled, put into my wheelchair, and strapped in. Once again, all hair was removed, including my eyebrows. I looked like a newborn.
Kelly said, “Well, you’re now ready to be mummified. Let’s go!” Then we were off!
Patti said, “Remember, Mr. Murphy, once you’re in the preparation room, you must act like a real patient.”
“I am a real patient,” I said with my retarded voice.
Patti looked with surprise at Kelly.
Kelly had a nonchalant look on her face and said dryly, “we had a discussion about this the other day, and Mr. Murphy now understands and accepts that he is a legally committed mental patient!”
Patti said, leerily, “Okay, I guess we have that settled. Then just make sure to act crazy!”
We came to the double doors and Kelly smiled and said, “have fun” then pushed me through the doors into the room. The room was buzzing with people setting up various pieces of equipment.
Dr. Smith walked over to me, “and it’s the star of the show, and how are you doing, Mr. Murphy, it’s a big day today!
I said, “you’re all trying to kill me! I don’t belong here, and I am not crazy.” I pulled against my restraints.
“OK, let’s get Mr. Murphy sedated so we can get him prepared for the wet pack,” Doctor Smith said
They gave me a shot, and I started feeling very sleepy. There was a buzz of activity around me, people sticking sensors on my body and head. I noticed that they were putting on many more sensors than last time. Then I drifted off to sleep. When I awoke, I was unsure how long I had been out for. I realized that I had been fitted with an intubation tube and my mouth was taped shut.
Amanda Leaned over me and said, “Hi Brian, and we are alone right now, everyone’s on a break. As you can tell, you have been intubated, and you cannot speak. So with your eyes, blink 1 for no, 2 for yes. Are you in any pain?” I blinked no. “Good! We have you all wired up and connected to the life support equipment, and also we installed a nasogastric feeding tube. So your feeding tube now attaches to a pump, so it will pump liquid nourishment directly to your stomach. We placed the feeding tube because you are staying in the wet pack for a more extended period of time. Do you understand?”
I blinked yes.
“Patti told me that you now accept the fact that you are legally a committed mental patient. Is this true?”
I blinked twice for yes.
“This is a very interesting development. Do you still understand you will be released in a year?”
I blinked twice. “That’s good, and when you've recovered from the wet pack, we must have a long conversation about this. It’s very intriguing. So are you ready to go on your adventure?
I blinked yes!
Amanda gave me a big beautiful smile! “You make me so happy to have a patient like you that is willing to do this study for me!
Amanda leaned over and kissed me on my forehead. “OK, the team will be back in a second, and then it’s time to wrap you up for your wet pack.”
The other nurses and technicians started filing into the room. Amanda began to give orders, and the wrapping began. They started at my feet, working their way up my legs and doing each separately. All of the wires and tubes were taped to my body and running down past my feet and then off to their appropriate machine. Once my legs were wrapped up, they continued up my torso. Each arm was wrapped, and my fingers were separately wrapped. Balls were placed in my hands and then wrapped again. A rigid cervical collar was placed around my neck and secured. Now my legs were pushed together, my arms were laid on my stomach, and I was wrapped head to neck three more times.
I thought ‘Amanda didn’t want me to move at all!’ The only part of me that was not wrapped was my head. Amanda, after inspecting her team's work, was satisfied.
Dr. Smith walked up to my face and said, “Mr. Murphy, we are ready to seal you up in your wrappings. I want you to relax, and we will make sure you are safe and Secure!”
I darted my eyes around (they were the only thing I could move!) like I was scared. But really, I was in heaven!
Dr. Smith told Patti to tape my eyes shut and wrapped my head up. Patti walked into my view and said to me in a soft voice that I would be OK and just relax. She told me she would put a gel in my eyes to keep them lubricated. Patti held my eyes open one at a time and put the gel in. It felt like KY jelly. Patti then covered my eyes with pads and taped them nice and tight. I thought I was on my way now! My nose was packed and taped shut. Earbuds were placed in my ears so they could talk to me. My head was wrapped. I was completely wrapped up and ready for entombment in my stainless steel sarcophagus.
Next, I was put in the canvas body bag, and the straps pulled tight. All of the tubes and wires ran down my body out past my feet, and through a small opening in the canvas body bag. I could feel the bag being lifted with the overhead hoist. I was moved over the tank and lowered in. I could feel the warm water seeping into my bandages. The water was like a nice warm bath, not too hot, not too cold. The next thing I knew, I was sinking into the water, and it was going over my face. At first, I started to panic a little, but I realized that no water was going into my nose or mouth, and the ventilator was doing its job and giving me plenty of good air.
I could feel the nurses pulling on my body, and they were unhooking the D rings from the lift and rehooking the D rings on the canvas body bag into the walls of the hydro tank to keep me off the bottom and to keep me from floating into the lid of the tank. After Doctor Smith checked and verified that I was OK and that everything was set up correctly, she ordered the lid placed on the tank and sealed shut.
As I heard the lid being placed over the tank and secured, I thought to myself, ‘well, here I am again, wrapped up like a mummy, on a respirator, sealed in a water-filled tank, covered in electrodes and sensors.’
Dr. Smith looked over all of the medical displays showing my vitals. She was delighted with all the information she was collecting. The Doctor then started the program she had designed for me over the last few weeks since my previous wet pack. I had no idea what to expect, but I was bracing for the worst.
Amanda was being sneaky this time. Instead of starting the cycle of hot and cold laced with electric shocks from all the electrodes placed all over my body, she has set it up so it will start up in a few hours. Just to throw me off balance and keep me guessing.
Dr. Smith gave instructions to the two nurses tasked with watching over me.
Amanda told them if anything changed or my vital signs started showing distress, to page her immediately! The nurses acknowledged their order.
Meanwhile, I lay mummified, waiting for whatever Amanda has planned for me. After what seemed like forever, I was getting comfortable and started to doze off, and then it came—strong electric shocks all over my body! I tried to move or squirm, but I could not move an inch in the tight wrappings. I tried to yell and shout, but of course I couldn’t make a sound. During this time, the water started changing temperature. I could feel it getting colder, and the shocks continued.
Finally, the electric shocks slowed down and then stopped completely, and the water started warming up. Then water started getting hot, and the shocks started up again, and I started jerking as hard as I could. I was going crazy, pulling against my wrappings as much as I could.
I kept thinking, why was I doing this!
Just then, the shocks slowed down and finally stopped, and the water started cooling off to body temperature again. I lay there just enjoying not being shocked. A little bit later, I felt tingling going up and down my body, and it started concentrating around my crotch area. Next, the tingling started feeling like it was coming in waves. It was not painful, but rather enjoyable. I was starting to realize I was getting turned on by the gentle shocks I was receiving on and around my member!
Then a sexy female voice started talking in my earbuds, saying very sexy things. I was getting even more turned on. The voice sounded like a recording, and I did not recognize the voice at all. Also it was so quiet and sultry that I had trouble making out the words. All of a sudden, I climaxed. It felt wonderful!
I lay there for some time unmolested. Then it started again, cold water and electric shocks, and it went on for what felt like hours. I felt like I was at the end of my rope. Had I been in the wet pack for hours or days, I had no way of telling.
After what may have been days of this continuous routine, I was finally able to fall into a deep sleep. Sometime later, I heard a voice speaking to me. I was not sure if I was dreaming or not. The voice in a soft sweet tone said “you like the wet pack treatment.” Before I was sure if I was awake or not, it stopped. I told myself that I was hallucinating. After the next cycle of hot and cold water and the shocks, everything started to blur together.
Outside of the metal sarcophagus, Dr. Smith was observing her patient with great interest. “We are collecting some very interesting data here,” she told Kelly.
“The one thing I don’t understand is the messages that you are sending to his earbuds, what is that supposed to do?” Kelly asked.
“I am trying to prove if subliminal messages actually work when the subject is in sensory deprivation. But I wanted to start with something subtle and then build from there. I am not trying to brainwash him, I just want to plant harmless suggestions that we can observe and then measure the results,” said Amanda with a smile.
“Well, please don’t mess with his mind too much. I still want him back to normal when his year in the mental Institution is over,” Kelly said.
“Don’t worry my dear Kelly, I would never do anything to permanently harm Mr. Murphy,” Amanda said with a sincere voice.
After three and a half days the sensors on my body started giving erratic readings or failing altogether. Dr. Smith was immediately summoned to come to the lab and see for herself. After going over all the data, Dr. Smith made the decision to pull Mr. Murphy out of the wet pack ahead of schedule. Dr. Smith called and scheduled the team she needed to remove me from my wet pack.
Later that day the team was assembled and ready to remove me from my stainless steel sarcophagus and wet pack.
I was going in and out of consciousness. I was never really sure if I was awake or asleep, dreaming or hallucinating. But it seemed like the shocks had stopped for some time. Next, I heard the latches being opened on the tank. I thought ‘am I getting out, or are they just messing with me, to break me down more, if that was possible?’
The nurses removed the lid of the tank and connected the hoist cables to my canvas bag, and released it from the tank. I was then lifted up, and they let my canvas bag drain for a few minutes.
Next, I could feel I was being moved over to the table. I was lower down, and the hoist was disconnected. I could feel hands pulling and tugging on the canvas bag and freeing me from it. I could feel the nurses unwrapping my head, but they left my eye pads in place along with the ventilator. The nurses quickly removed the rest of the wrappings and strapped my arms and legs down to the table with medical restraints.
Dr. Amanda and nurse Patti checked the sensors attached to my body and found out why the sensors were malfunctioning. My skin had maceration, basically, my skin was waterlogged, and the sensors could not make a good connection.
Dr. Amanda said, “this is not good, basically, Mr. Murphy’s skin is starting to rot. We need to get him dried and cover him with medical skin cream.”
Dr. Smith ordered another nurse to go to the supply room and get a full compression garment for burns and a hood. Next, she told the anesthesiologist to give me a general anesthesia and to knock me out.
The last thoughts in my mind were, skin rotting, burn suit, and why are they knocking me out? Then nothing!
The nurse arrived back with the compression garments that Dr. Smith requested. Dr. Smith ordered the sensors removed from me carefully. Then my body was to be completely dried off and then coated with medicated skin cream. Once that was done, the burn suit was slid over my body and zipped up. My catheter and feeding tube were reconnected. The burn hood had openings for the eyes, nose, and mouth with a zipper on the back of the head. The eye patches were removed from my eyes. The ventilator hose was disconnected from the tube going down my throat. Then the hood was quickly pulled over my head and zipped up, and the ventilator hose was reconnected, and the air started to flow again.
One of the nurses asked why she was having me put in a compression burn suit?
Dr. Smith said, “because of the maceration, the skin was highly susceptible to infection and needed to be protected. So the medicated cream and the burn suit will let Mr. Murphy heal safely.”
Patti asked, “So how long do you think Mr. Murphy will have to wear the burn suit?”
“I think about two weeks, we will keep Mr. Murphy sedated for a week, at least, to make sure he is not in any pain as his skin heals. Then I need to find a way to be able to keep Mr. Murphy in a wet pack longer without damaging his skin,” Amanda said in a clinical voice.
Unknown to me a week later, I came out of my sedated state and opened my eyes. I was strapped down to my hospital bed, nothing unusual there. But then I noticed there was a lot of medical equipment around my bed. I saw Kathy sitting in a chair and reading a book.
Kathy looked up and said, “Hey, sleepyhead, how do you feel?”
I said “groggy and thirsty!”
Kathy got up and walked over and poured some water into a plastic cup. She then placed a straw in it and gave me a drink.
I told her thank you! Then I asked how long I’d been asleep?
Kathy smiled and said, “you know Dr. Smith doesn’t want you to obsess about time. So just relax and live in the moment. I will walk over to the nurse's desk and call Amanda and let her know that you're awake.”
Kathy then smiled and walked out my cell door, closing and locking it behind her.
Chapter 20: Time marches on
My cell door opened then Kelly and Amanda walked in with big smiles!
Kelly said, “hello Brian, how are you feeling?” Then she gave me a quick kiss.
“I am okay, just a little groggy,” I said
Amanda said, “well, you have been asleep for a few days to let your skin heal. You notice you are wearing a compression suit and hood, it is mostly used for burns. But the way your skin was peeling off, we felt it was the best way to help you heal.”
“So, does this mean no more wet packs?” I asked.
“Until your skin gets back to normal and we come up with a way to protect your skin in the wet pack, we will put the wet pack therapy on hold for now!” said Dr. Smith.
“But in the meantime, Mr. Murphy, it's bed rest for you!” Kelly said with a smile.
Over the next week, every other day, nurses came in and changed my burn suit, removing the dead skin from my body. Next, they would lather me up with medicated cream and zip me back into a clean full burn suit with a hood. Then secured me to my bed with the 5 point bed restraint system.
Finally, after seemed like forever, Dr. Amanda checked me over and declared that my skin was back to normal. I was relieved to hear that! Amanda then told me she had set up a meeting tomorrow with her and me so that we could go over my treatment and my mental state.
The next morning the lights in my room came on and Kelly and Patti came into my room. They both said hello as Patti locked the cell door.
“Hi Brian, I have missed you a lot,” Kelly said with love in her eyes!
I said in my retarded voice that I missed her too!
“How do you feel, Mr. Murphy?” Patti asked.
“I feel great and very rested!” I said with a laugh.
They both smiled!
“OK, Mr. Murphy, we need to get you showered and dressed for your appointment with Dr. Smith,” Patti said.
“Okey-dokey!” I said.
The girls quickly released me from my restraints and removed the suicide smock. They dressed me in red scrubs., then strapped me down in the wheelchair. They pushed me out of my cell and down the hall to the shower room. Once again, I found myself strapped to the frame in the middle of the shower room, spread eagle and naked.
Patti sprayed me down with the water hose. The water was adjusted to the perfect temperature. Once I was hosed down, Patti told us she had something to check on, and she would be back in ten minutes. Then she smiled and turned and walked out the door.
Kelly smiled and started gently scrubbing me all over with a soapy washcloth. I was already turned on by the time she got down to my private parts, and I came even though Kelly barely touched me.
She looked up at me and smiled, then said, “my Mr. Murphy, you must learn to control yourself.” She laughed and continued to scrub me down.
I told her we needed to book a night in our special cell in the basement.
Kelly looked up, smiled, and said, “Mr. Murphy, I am going to have to report you again if you keep asking to have sex with me. But I have made arrangements to see my boyfriend down there very soon!”
Just then, Patti walked in with clean clothes, red scrubs, and a white straitjacket. They finished drying me off and released me from the shower rack. They quickly changed my catheter bag and put on a fresh disposable diaper and my red scrubs. Next, the straitjacket was put on me, and the straps tightened.
Kelly smiled and said, “OK, Mr. Murphy, let’s get you in your wheelchair and take you to your appointment to see Dr. Smith!”
After I was strapped in, we were off. We rolled to the main wing of the hospital to a conference room. Kelly knocked on the door, then opened it and rolled in.
“Hello, Kelly and Mr. Murphy!” Amanda said in a professional tone.
I said, “Hi, what’s up, doc!” Which sounded sillier with my retarded voice.
They both laughed.
“Well, how are you today, Mr. Murphy?” Amanda said.
“I am good, for a committed mental patient!” I said.
Amanda smiled and said, “So, no objections to your living conditions or treatment here in our
Institution?”
“No, I am very happy with my situation!” I said.
“OK, great! I would like to discuss your last wet pack. Kelly, you can stay for this part, I have some information I would like to share with you both. Please, Kelly, take a chair.” Amanda said.
They both sat down at the conference table I was rolled up to.
Amanda began, “As you know, we had an issue with water saturation in your skin. It’s called maceration and causes your skin to flake off. Obviously, this is not a good thing, so I have come up with a solution for this issue. The next time we do a wet pack treatment, you will be wrapped up like normal, but before we place you into the canvas body bag, we will vacuum seal you in a latex bag. This way, you can still feel all sensations of the warm and cold water without any risk of maceration. I think this is an appropriate compromise for your safety and without sacrificing our data collection. How does that sound, Mr. Murphy?”
“It sounds like just another layer of mummification. But if it keeps me in my skin, I am all for it!” I said.
Kelly said, “Sounds like a better way to do long-term wet packs.”
”Ok, It’s settled. We will use the vacuum pack method for your next wet pack,” Amanda said.
“When will that be?” I asked
“Oh in a few weeks. We need to let you rest up some, if all goes well your next wet pack will be at least two weeks long,” Amanda said.
“Wow, that’s exciting and terrifying at the same time,” I said.
“Nothing to worry about,” said Dr. Anderson in her ‘doctor knows best’ voice.
“OK if you two don’t have any questions about the new wet pack procedure, we will start my consultation with my patient. Kelly I will page you when Mr. Murphy is ready to go back to his room,” Amanda said.
“OK, I will see you two later,” Kelly said, then smiled and turned and left the room.
“OK Mr Murphy I want to talk to you about the statement you made to Patti about how you feel like a real mental patient,” Amanda said with great interest.
I said, “I don’t feel like a real mental patient, I am a real mental patient.”
“So Mr. Murphy, why do you say that?” Amanda asked.
“Well the last time I checked, I have been committed to Ashland State mental Institution in your care by the court. So Dr. Smith, can I just get up and walk out the front door of the hospital?” I asked.
Amanda smiled and said, “well, no, you could not leave right away. We would have to arrange it.”
“So I would say that makes me a mental institution patient, wouldn’t you?” I said with the best smile my deformed face could manage.
“I see your point. So how does that make you feel?” Amanda asked.
“I’m very content to be here in the hospital for the year we agreed to. I have never felt so stress free. Everyone is so nice to me, even people who don’t know I am normal, and just here to help you with your study,” I said.
“Well you're also here to live out your own fantasies!” Amanda pointed out.
“True!” I said.
“So how is reality living up to your fantasy?” Amanda asked.
“Well, it is more amazing than I dreamed it would be. I love the attention and the restraints. I like the field trips, going to court and the regular hospital for PET scan was amazing. It’s fun be treated by the staff, who don’t know my true mental state, like a severely retarded patient who is barely aware of his surroundings. It just makes me feel free of any stress or pressure to be someone, to achieve or excel. It’s just a very peaceful existence.” I said with great enthusiasm!
“Very interesting,” Amanda said with a intrigued look on her face.
Amanda then asked “so you feel your life is easier and stress free?”
“Yes, I would say so, the only thing that isn’t is the wet packs,” I said.
“So you don’t like the wet pack treatment?” asked Amanda.
“Well it’s a love, hate relationship. I love them most of the time, but sometimes I hate it.” I said.
“Do you want to stop having the wet pack treatment?” Amanda asked.
“That’s the thing, I feel like I really need it. I have a strong desire to be wrapped up and isolated in the tank. Weird right?” I said.
“Not really, you have found your happy place. A place where you feel safe and secure.” Amanda said with a sincere smile.
“Well it’s a strange happy place, you have to admit!” I said.
“True, but that’s why you’re here with us, isn’t it? You have unusual needs,” Amanda said with the ‘doctor knows best’ voice.
“Wow! I am sicker than I thought!” I said.
“Now Mr. Murphy, that's why you're here to let us help work through your issues so you can return back into normal society, or just to have a fun time and help me with my experiments!” Amanda said with an evil smile.
We both laughed!
After that Amanda asked many questions about my treatment and my insights into life in a mental hospital. She took copious notes. After Amanda was done picking my brain, she told me that I was doing well and she was happy with my mental state and the information she has gained from my wet pack sessions. So Amanda called Kelly to come pick me up and take me back to my room in the isolation ward.
Chapter 21: The Missing Person Case
A few days later, Kelly was pushing me in my wheelchair down the hall after retrieving me from the day room. As we rolled down the hallway, another hospital police officer said “there she is!”
“Hey Kelly, these two sheriff detectives would like to talk to you,” the officer said.
The detectives walked over and introduced themselves as detective Blackburn and detective Cannon and they shook hands with Kelly. The older detective told Kelly they had a few questions for her and asked if there was someplace private they could speak to her.
Kelly said just a second and she walked over to an unused office, unlocked it and pushed me in my wheelchair into the room. Kelly then said, “Come on in, we can talk here.”
The detectives looked at each other and then the older male detective said that this was a private matter. “I don’t think you want a mental patient to hear this.”
Kelly smiled and laughed. “Detective Cannon, my patient Mr Murphy can barely talk and is severely mentally retarded, so our secrets are safe with him.”
“Ok then,” said the female detective and closed the door. They all took a seat.
“Officer Kelly, we have a few questions to ask you about your boyfriend Brian Conrad.”
Kelly stated, “former boyfriend, that jerk broke up with me through email, a little over a month ago.”
“Sorry, your former boyfriend, have you had any contact with him in the last several weeks?” Asked detective Blackburn.
Kelly said, “no, I tried calling him after I got the email, but his phone went right to voicemail. I drove over to his condo and everything was gone. What’s going on, is Brian in trouble, has he done something?”
Detective Blackburn looked up from her notes and said, “not that we know of. At this time we are looking into his disappearance as a missing persons case.”
I just sat there and rolled my head back and forth, trying to look as retarded as possible. The officers asked questions about my mental state before I disappeared, was I despondent, worried, or afraid. Kelly told them, no he seemed fine the last time that she saw me. The Irony was not lost on me.
After a few more questions the detectives told Kelly if she had any contact with me or heard anything about my whereabouts to contact them immediately. Kelly told them she would.
They left the room, Kelly locked me in the room and escorted the sheriff's detectives out of the hospital. When she came back into the room where I was, she was giggling and smiling.
Kelly said between giggles, “so now you’re officially a missing person.”
I asked “why is that so funny?”
“Because they were interviewing me about your whereabouts and your sitting right in front of them! That’s pretty funny, don’t you think!” Kelly said as she was laughing.
I smiled and said “You're right, it's very ironic! But I’m not sure that it's a good thing that they are looking for me?”
Kelly smiled and said “it doesn’t matter, they're never going to find you, for two reasons. First, you don’t exist in the outside world, we have removed all traces of you. Two, they were just in the same room with you and they could not see you were the person they were looking for. So you’re safe with us here in the hospital and in a few days I’m sure your missing person case will go into the cold case file. Never to be looked at again, lost in a sea of dead cases.”
Kelly looked quite happy!