The Happy Project

Screening

Silas jolted awake and quickly looked around the small bleak hospital room, he got up out of bed then noticed a small meal tray sat on the table at the foot of the bed. He walked to the table and inspected the tray for a second, inside was a basic breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs and toast. Silas ignored the meal then walked to the door, he looked out the small window at each side of the very long hallway to see nothing but rooms. Silas tightly gripped the door handle then pulled on it but there was no use as it was still locked. He gave up and walked back to the table and drank a small bottle of water that he was given with his meal. After finishing the water, he paced around the room until four people entered Dr. Matthews, the nurse from this morning, the tall blonde woman he saw in the hallway yesterday and a small Indian woman he'd never seen before.
"Good morning Silas. This is Dr. Guinevere and this is Dr. Miranda, how are you feeling today?"
"I'll feel a lot better when you let me out of here." He said, while slowly backing away from them.
"Look Silas, it's very important that you follow all the rules here at The Happy Project." Dr. Guinevere hissed at him.
"Why? I didn't even consent to being here."
"The rules are set in place for not only your safety but for the safety of everyone here at this facility. Do you understand?" She said in a warning tone while standing two feet from his face. He looked her up and down with utter contempt before slowly nodding. "Good." She said with a fake smile.
"We went over this yesterday, but it's always nice to have a refresher. Rule one: Take all your tests and treatments seriously. Rule two: Do not lie, rule three: no talking to other patients. Rule four: follow all instructions you are given and finally, rule five: eat all of your meals, as we give you specialized diets to help boost your mental health."
"We also have an activity lounge open to all patients but being able to use it is a privilege not a right. Failure to follow the rules results in that privilege being taken away. Everything make sense?" Dr. Miranda smiled. Silas slowly nodded again then Dr. Guinevere and Dr. Miranda left the room and everyone could finally breathe.
"Sorry about Dr. Guinevere, she can be a bit intense sometimes." Dr. Matthews sighed while taking a seat at the table. Jennifer followed Silas around with a vitals cart as he continued to move away from her.. He was so uncomfortable and scared in this awful nightmare he couldn't wake from.
"Can I please just take your vitals? I promise I won't hurt you and it'll only take a minute." Jennifer pleaded with Silas as he continued to move away from her. He finally decided to stay still long enough for her to take his temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen then he immediately walked away from her once she was done. While they had been doing his vitals, Dr. Matthews inspected Silas' meal tray.
"What's up with this?"
"Not hungry."
"Is that common for you?"
"I don't know." Silas shrugged.
"Today we'll be going through a lot of questions, please answer truthfully and to the best of your ability. Ready?"
"Sure."
"How would you rate your mood on an average day from 1-10?"
"I don't know...5?"
"How is your sleep?"
"Fine I guess?"
"Do you have any nightmares?"
"I don't know."
"How is your appetite?"
"Fine? I don't know."
"Do you ever worry about small things?"
"I don't know."
"Have you ever thought about hurting yourself or that you'd be better off dead?"
"What?"
"Have you?"
"No! Who the hell thinks that?!"
"Do familiar surroundings sometimes seem strange or unreal?"
"No?"
"Do you ever worry at times that something may be wrong with you?"
"No, because I already told you that there is nothing wrong with me."
"Do you ever see or hear things that might not be there?"
"No?"
"Do you have any fears that may seem excessive or dramatic?"
"No."
"Do you have any hoarding tendencies?"
"I don't know, I don't think so."
"Do you find yourself needing things to be exact?"
"I don't know."
"Are you bothered by small repetitive sounds?"
"I don't know."
"Do you have moments where you are more or less talkative than usual?"
"I don't know."
"Do you ever feel speedy or irritable for seemingly no reason?"
"I don't know, dude I don't know any of these."
"There's just a few more."
"No, my questions now, why can't I remember anything?"
"We're figuring that out, does your head hurt?"
"Yeah it's killing me."
"Can I check your eyes again?"
"Sure." He sighed, Dr. Matthews looked at Silas' eyes with his pen light, then wrote a couple things down.
"Jennifer, could you grab this from the pharmacy while we finish up the questions?"
"Yeah."
"Thank you. Now, back to business. Have you ever deliberately hurt yourself or anyone else?"
"No?"
"Do you have issues with impulsivity?"
"I don't think so?"
"Have your emotions ever been extreme or dramatic?"
"No."
"Do you often distrust people?"
"I don't know myself very well but I'm gonna say yes."
"Me too. Have you ever felt empty inside?"
"I don't know."
"Do- never mind."
"What?"
"Do you ever feel like you have no idea who you are or that you have no identity?"
"Oh, yeah." He chuckled.
"Do you ever feel like you can't relax?"
"Yeah but everyone is like that."
"Do you have problems concentrating?"
"I don't know, I don't think so."
"Do you ever get so nervous you feel like you might pass out or throw up?"
"No? I don't know. "
"Do you ever feel numb?"
"Maybe?"
"How do you see the future?"
"I don't."
"What do you mean?"
"Can't really see a future if you don't know the past."
"That's understandable. Do you startle easily?"
"I don't know."
"Last question. Do you find yourself avoiding things that remind you of bad memories?"
"I don't know."
"Well that went a little bit better than I thought it would." Dr. Matthews sighed.