Insanity [Patrick Stump Fanfiction]

IV

"Who the hell are you? Why are you down here?"

Shit.

"I'm the new worker here. Jordan. I'm not quite sure where I am. I'm supposed to be finding the... the other board games. Maria sent me down here and I kinda got lost," I shrugged. I totally just pulled that lie off the top of my head. I'm getting better at lying. In a way, that's a pretty good thing if you ask me.

"Oh, well you must've taken a right turn instead of a left. The storage room is this way follow me," he was dressed in a white lab coat, a black t shirt, and baggy blue jeans. "I'm Doctor Boroti."

"Nice to meet you."

The rest of the walk was an awkward silence. The only sound was the pounding shoes on the cement floor.

"Here you are," he held out a hand that directed me into a small closet-like room full of boardgames and decks of cards.

"Thanks. Sorry about the mess up," I mumbled as my face turned bright red on command.

"Not a problem! You're new here, you'll get the hang of it soon," the doctor said with a small smile. "Now do you know how to get back out to the lobby?"

"Yeah, I think so," I shrugged.

I sped away with an armful of boardgames.

I got back the the lobby fairly quick. Maria was sitting at a table with Alice. She watched me enter the lobby with judgement in her eyes. "Where'd you get those?"

"The basement. When I met you downstairs, I saw a storage closet. Candy Land jumped out at me and so I thought the patients might want some new games to play with instead of the older ones," I shrugged. "I'll take them back down if you want me to." I surprised myself. My voice didn't shake and, to me, I came off as calm and cool. I just hoped Maria thought so too.

"No, I think the changes might be good for them," Maria decided. She stood up from the table and unloaded some of the new board games from my arms. "Thanks for being so thoughtful for the patients. It seems like you really want to help out around here!" She said gently with a smile. She rested her hand on my shoulder momentarily before removing it to go sit back down with Alice, who she was teaching to play solitaire.

"Of course!" I called after her. I let loose an impish grin to myself. She didn't realize I only did it to stay out of trouble. Whatever she doesn't know won't hurt her.

--------------------

I saw Patrick emerge from the basement around two hours after the run in with Maria. He looked drained of all energy and life that he had in him. He passed through the lobby and pulled a chair up to the front window.

I decided to just watch him. He looked out the window, not moving a muscle. He looked like he didn't mind being alone, I learned from a patient, Xander, that he actually preferred it. I watched in silence.

After a while, I couldn't stand watching him. He was lost in thought and staring at nothing. There wasn't much to see outside considering it was cloudy and cool. Rain slid down the dirty, streaked glass.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I stood up and walked over to Patrick. To be totally honest, I was nervous as hell. He just spent hours in the basement having who-knows-what done to him. I didn't want to aggravate him or annoy him in any way. I didn't want to have him lash out at me.

"Hi, Patrick," I said gently. I pulled up a chair next to him and sat on it backwards.

Patrick didn't move. "Jordan," he whispered. "They hurt me."

"They hurt you?" I echoed.

"Jordan, they hurt me," Patrick muttered. He slowly turned his head to face me.

My curiosity got the best of me and I asked, "what'd they do to you?"

"Electrocution," he spat the word like it was poisonous. "To cure you, I have to shock to. Sit still, shut up, cooperate. Induces seizures. You'll be okay in a while," Patrick parroted.

"How many times has it happened to you?"

"Lost count," he shrugged as if it was nothing. Based on the way he could recite what the doctor said to him every time, it happened a lot.

"Not acceptable," I muttered under my breath.

Patrick started rocking back and forth in his chair. He closed his eyes and rocked even harder. I looked around nervously, trying not to draw attention to the two of us.

"Patrick," I whispered harshly. I gently put my arm around his shoulder and he froze instantly. His eyes shot open. He started to hyperventilate. Before he could scream, I cooed, "Patrick, you're okay. It's Jordan." He began to calm down and slow his breathing. I squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and removed my hand.

"If I tell you something will you believe me?" Patrick asked, sincerely.

"Of course," I smiled gently. I was only half lying to him.

"I own this place. I bought it. It used to be an old storage shed. I built it into a friendly house for people who their families couldn't support anymore. I don't belong here," Patrick mumbled. His voice was low. "The patients took over and locked me up. I used to work in an office out of Chicago and I came here one day. Maria. She and her followers took over and I couldn't take back control."

I sat in silence. I didn't know if I should believe him or not. He is in an asylum after all.