I'll Help You Hide From Them

The Joys of Sleeping Pills

I feel pathetic when Kier and some officers see me reach for my sleeping pills. One officer instantly takes them off me to examine the label, taking one out to open up and test to make sure I'm not being poisoned.

"They're not poisonous, they're just sleeping pills. The most dangerous thing I could do with them is either choke or overdose." I complain.

They don't seem at all convinced and even check the receipt to be sure what I've brought hasn't been manipulated in any way.

"Look, if you don't believe me talk to Dr. Illingworth. He gave me the prescription okay?" I point out in frustration. "So much for privacy." I mutter.

"Unfortunately, your privacy and security have to clash if we're to keep you in a secure environment." The officer in charge tries to explain.

"Do I need to provide you with everything I did with Dr. Illingworth? How many times I went to the loo and shit!" I growl.

"Drew, please just let them do their job." Kier murmurs, uncomfortable at seeing me angry about this.

"It's a waste and a direct invasion of my privacy! So, have you decided I'm not being poisoned and am going to be able to finally get a good night's sleep?" I snarl at the officer checking the pills.

"We need to do a few more checks." The officer replies, clearly partly enjoying this spectacle.

I'm about to swing at him when Kier with a few other officers need to hold me back.

"Is it possible that you've developed an addiction to these pills?" The officer doing the checks smirks smugly.

"It's fucking impossible!" I snap.

"How can you be so sure? Your display of violence speaks volumes against that." He counters.

"On the grounds that the prescription, as you can clearly see, was given out today. This isn't a pill that you take at different times in the day, you take it before going to bed. Kier here, as well as many others, can even vouch for me to say that I've taken out no time to have a nap, therefore there's absolutely no chance that I have taken these pills before today. You can't be addicted to a drug you've never been given, can you?" I point out to shut him up.

"I'll give you a moment to tell us of any other medication you're taking." He continues to smirk. "Anything that can explain your erratic behaviour?"

"I'm not taking anything unprescribed if you're hinting that I would. An explanation for my irritation and annoyance at your painstakingly anal process is that I've been, believe it or not, going through PTSD and have had trouble sleeping in general!" I hiss at them, turning my attention to the officer in charge. "Now do you see why I don't want you to all impede on my privacy like this?" I challenge.

"Please, we're not doing this to make you feel worse, we're only trying to do our jobs thoroughly." She tells me with a sympathetic expression.

Damn her and her fake pity!

"You can let go of him, I don't think he'll be as careless as to strike an officer, regardless of what he deems to be the cause of his provoked behaviour." She tells them.

Sure enough, I'm released. I glare at all of them as they look at me as if I've gone absolutely mad, angering me further but I understand that if I do try to punch the scumbag examining my pills, they'll probably feel like they've won in proving me to be irrational or paranoid.

Kier notices my bitter expression and tries to distract me but I don't quite let it work. My eyes keep flitting between all of the officers in the room, making sure that they're not touching anything. Kier seems to notice this and rests his hand on my shoulder reassuringly. I flinch a little at the unexpected touch but calm down when I see his soft expression.