I Want To Paint Your Lips

Chapter 2

Delirious dragged the two pieces of pasta off the fork with his teeth, sitting back and chewing as Evan stabbed a few more and waited. He watched as the mental patient took his time in eating. He always did, and Evan had long since stopped urging him to go any faster. He’d had to give up his previous patients to take up Delirious full-time.

It meant visiting for check-ups three times a day plus taking time to take him anywhere else, such as monthly doctor checks or fortnightly bathroom runs, and whenever he deemed necessary he could take the patient to the arts room where he would sit and draw and paint for hours. He loved the art room. Evan did too.

Directing another forkful to the red painted lips, Delirious swallowed and took another bite. Music played lightly from Evan’s phone, taking up the silence and blocking out any white noise that would bring the voices back to Jon’s mind. He still scuffed his feet.

“How are the voices?” Evan asked gently, feeding the thin man who shook his head. “Not been bothering you?” He shook his head no again and the Asian man smiled lightly. “That’s good.” He nodded, eyes crinkling before closing while he continued to chew. The bowl was set down and the Evan stood from where he’d been sitting on the edge of the table. “Full?” Nod. “Tired?” Nod.

Delirious pushed his face up towards Evan, crinkling his nose in discomfort. “I have an itch,” he declared, tilting his head to the right to expose his pale neck. “Just above the collar at the back of my neck.” The brown-eyed man smiled slightly at the childish antics but bent forward and let his fingers drift around the back of Delirious’ neck. “Just there!” he chirped, Evan scratching his fingers along the skin to the top of the belt collar, as Jonathon smiled. “Left, left, left, left – other left! – yes just… there.” Delirious smirked before shooting forward and pressing a firm, deliberate kiss to Evan’s cheek. “Thanks, baby,” he said, cackling and rocking back.

Evan stepped back, startled by the action vastly and watching the man giggle and laugh like he’d played a hilarious joke. He probably had. The guy didn’t have much entertainment around other than Evan, so it wasn’t a huge surprise that he was doing weird things, but Evan couldn’t exactly wrap his head around older mental patient kissing him on the cheek.

“Are you just gonna stand there, big boy?” Delirious broke into more frantic laughter, shaking his chains and kicking his feet with a big grin. His eyes stayed on the man in front of him who swallowed and nodded firmly.

He’d let himself be the butt of the joke for now, no harm done. “Alright Del, try get some sleep. I know it’s hard but it’s better than nothing and tomorrow afternoon, you can shower and clean up. Sound good?” Evan said, collecting his belongings.

“Sounds tolerable,” he shrugged, attempting to roll his shoulders only to sit with cracking his neck.

Nod. “Goodnight Delirious.”

“Don’t I get a goodnight kiss?”

The door locked shut, trapping his laughter inside.

“Looks like someone’s got a girl swooning,” the thick Irish accent mystified beside Evan, dragging out a chair at the table and plonking down beside him. The voice belonged to a tall man, with thick eyebrows and facial hair. He had a kind face, and a rich voice, eyes dropping to Evan’s cheek.

The shorter man glanced up at him, reaching up and rubbing at the offended cheek in confusion. Pulling his fingers away, they came off tinted red and he blushed. Of course, Delirious’ red lips. The whites and greens are all face paints, but he prefers proper lipstick to mark his smile – it’s nicer on his lips and doesn’t harden. It does, however, rub off on everything it touches; including Evan’s cheek.

“Er, yeah I guess,” he laughed awkwardly, reaching down the table and grabbing an apple to throw up for the Irishman to catch and tugged his phone out of his pocket. He didn’t particularly want to admit to his patient’s joke. “How’s Calibre?” He flicked open his phone, pulling up the camera and turning his face to look at the lipstick smudge. It was very obviously a pair of lips that had been there, but there was smudging around it from the stretch of his smile. He put his phone away and used a tissue to wipe it away.

Daithi, the Irishman, sighed softly. “Yeah he’s goin’ okay, more out of it than usual. Squeaker is stickin’ around fer longer nowadays but he’s okay when I get to see him. How’s Delirious?”

Daithi de Nogla had a patient with multiple personality disorder named Lui Calibre.

“A bit odd, but he always has been. Friendly,” Evan murmured taking a bite of an apple himself. Other caretakers mingled around the cafeteria, snacking and chatting before they were to go off on their other shifts to see other patients. Most people had two or three mild patients with lower risk statuses, some who were allowed to walk around and had more freedom because they were more set in their minds.

Others, like Delirious, were on the higher side of things, level 9.1 on the scale. He was unpredictable and dangerous, and for that he needed to be checked frequently and kept company for large portions of the day. He needed the level three strait jacket, and was on one of the tighter schedules. Lui was similar, a 7.4. Unpredictable and in need of attention, but rarely ever seen as dangerous. He had a level two jacket though, no collar and the sleeves were shorter and open. He had to wear gloves instead, but had a bit more wiggle-room in his schedule too.

Three knocks on wood signalled for attention at the right side of the room and the pair turned in their seats to an organiser. She stood with her blouse tucked in and pencil skirt neat. A boy stood beside her, only looking about twenty. He had a small smile on and stared at the ground with his arms tucked around a file. “I’d like to introduce Bryce, he’s only twenty but he has one of the best psychology records I’ve seen and has proven himself quite the talented one. Please teach him the ropes here and there and let him know he is welcome. He will be taking control of Ryan 7.9, known as Ohm.”

“Ryan? Yeesh that won’t be fun for a first patient,” Daithi muttered as the lady dismissed the attention and gave the boy a light push towards the tables. Most people turned back to their conversations, uninterested. Daithi half stood, waving a hand. “Bryce!” he called, and the boy perked up, hurrying to the table with the two older men. “Take a seat, Brycey, we’ll show the ropes of havin’ a higher rank patient.” The boy beamed shyly, sitting himself across from the two and Evan smiled at him.

“It’s intimidating but you’ll get it – I’m Evan Fong, this is Daithi de Nogla,” he introduced. “He has a 7.4 and I’ve got a 9.1. We’ll give you a hand, we both know Ohm and he is definitely hard to handle at times so we can help whenever. You got a walkie?” To answer, Bryce unlatched his little device and held it up. “Add channel three, that’s the one Daithi, me and a few others with higher ranks chat with – you’ll meet them soon enough. You can alert us when you need something and it will beep three times if you are needed with your patient, they have a button they can press which will get your attention but they should only use it if it’s necessary. If you get five beeps, you gotta haul ass over there. It’s likely that it’ll be a disturbance that the cell will automatically notify you about through detectors and sensors. It hopefully won’t happen often, and if it does you’ll be ready by then.”

Bryce took it all in nodding and adding the channel in just as Daithi grabbed his. “We gotta new guy on the Three, lads, he’s been given Ohm – his name’s Bryce. Be nice.”

It crackled and he returned it to his belt, knowing the other few would have heard and understood. They’d be able to introduce him later. For now, the three were done for the day and Evan was looking forward to a good night’s sleep. Bryce’s unit was by Daithi’s on the other side of the small campus just outside the facility, so they said their goodbyes as they hopped off the little bus at their stop, leaving Evan to get off five minutes later and fall into bed with his shoes still on.