The Evil Inside

10. Visiting Hours

     John was sitting there in his chair, looking at the picture that the doctor was holding up. He was asked to say the first thing that came to his mind but was struggling to come up with anything. Usually he had no problem doing these tests, but that particular day he just wasn't in the mood to participate. He held up a hand and basically waved her off.

     "I'm sorry," John said as he rubbed his temple, "I'm just not in the mood to do exercises right now."

     "Are you alright, John?" the doctor asked.

     "I've been moody lately," John replied quickly, "I've been feeling antsy. I've been here for almost a year and the walls are starting to make me feel a little claustrophobic. It's really bringing me down. I'm not mad about it. I guess a more realistic term would be bummed out."

     "I appreciate your honesty, John." The doctor replied as she scribbled down some notes after she put the card with the picture away, "Let's talk about this more."

     "I really wish we wouldn't." John confessed.

     "Maybe we should call it a day then." The doctor said as she closed his work pad. She knew better than to push her luck.

     "Thanks," John said as he stood up, "I'll put more effort into our next session."

     The doctor help the door open for John and a big worker for the hospital stood there waiting for him, "Take Mr. Doe back to his ward, he's done here for the day."

     "Yes, Dr. Lawson." The orderly said as he waved an arm to show John the way.

     "Thank you, Dr. Lawson." John said as he left.

     "It's my pleasure," Dr. Lawson replied, "I hope you're feeling better the next time we meet."

     "I do too." John said as he finally left the room.

     Dr. Lawson waited for a moment after John left the room, closed the door and then proceeded to walk to the other end of the room and through another door that led to another room that was on the other side of a two way mirror. Inside the other room was Special Agent Wilson, who had been watching John's entire session.

     "What do you think, Mr. Wilson?" the doctor asked.

     "He seemed agitated," Wilson replied, "Has he shown any aggressive tendencies towards any of the staff or patients?"

     "None," Lawson replied, "He's been a model patient."

     "I'm still not taking any chances," Wilson said as he looked back at the doctor, "I'd like to keep my undercover officers where they are. Since you're not paying for them it doesn't affect your budget. You're basically getting free workers."

     "I don't like this deception." Lawson admitted, "I don't care if these agents used to work in real medical wards prior to being here. The fact that we are being dishonest by having undercover FBI agents working in a mental ward is dangerous and could freak out all my patients."

     "Only if they find out," Wilson said, "And that only happens if John's memory returns to him."

     "It hasn't so far," Lawson said as she sat down and sighed, "The brain is a mysterious machine to us even today. We don't know exactly how it works and that scares a lot of people. He could have total recall tomorrow or he may never get back a single image for the rest of his life. It's basically a tossup at this point and I can't make any promises if it will come back."

     "I don't want it to come back." Wilson admitted.

     "Ever?" Lawson asked.

     "Preferably." Wilson confirmed.