Insanity Plea- G.D.

II

I looked back over the patient file. Age twenty-five, same as me. Grayson had just been admitted yesterday, so he was new here too.

It was time for him to take some of his meds, so I grabbed the ones that he needed and headed to his room.

The door to his room was shut, but there was a small window. He was just sitting in his bed, staring blankly at the stained wall.

I knocked on the door lightly. "Hi Grayson," I said as I opened the door. "I'm here with some of your meds."

I handed him a few pills, along with a small cup of water. He swallowed them, showing no emotion.

"I'm also going to be your counselor." Grayson smiled a bit. "I'm Elizabeth."

"Can I call you Lizzie?"

"Yeah, of course." Nobody had ever given me a nickname.

"So," I began, "why are you here?"

Tears filled his eyes. "I just want Ethan back."

"Who's Ethan?"

"My twin brother."

"I'm sure he'll come visit you soon."

"No he won't."

"Why?"

"He's dead."

"Oh... well I'm really sorry."

"Thanks." He was crying harder now. "I miss him so much."

I cautiously sat down next to Grayson on his bed. I put my arm around him and he laid his head on my shoulder. "I know you do."

I was reluctant to ask, but I was genuinely curious. "How did he die?"

"A couple weeks ago, he was out at a bar with some of his friends. This guy Johnny was there. He went to college with Ethan and they never got along very well. Johnny was drunk and started a fight with Ethan. He had a gun and shot Ethan right in the heart."

I comforted him, hugging him while he sobbed into my shoulder. "Thank you for telling me Grayson."

He sniffled and continued talking. "Then he went on trial. The jury didn't make a decision, so he was let off on bail.

"After the trial, he came up to me outside and he told me, 'sorry for killing your brother,' but he obviously didn't mean it.

"I punched him because I was so angry. I started to walk away, but he pulled out his gun. I managed to point it at him just as he pulled the trigger. I was standing there holding the gun when a police officer saw me. By the time he had gotten over to me, Johnny had already bled out and died.

"I went on trial. Even though it was self defense, all of the evidence was against me. There was an obvious motive, and there was no motive for Johnny to have tried to kill me. I knew that the jury would find me guilty, so I took the insanity plea."

"Wow." I was speechless. It was just a lot to take in.

"I'm not crazy. But I'm afraid I'll go insane in this place. It's so depressing here, and they're giving me all these drugs, and I'm being treated as nothing more than an insane murderer."

"I'll make sure you don't go crazy. I'll see what I can do about your meds, and I'll make sure that you can leave and go back home."

"Sounds good."

"I hope you're okay with me spending a lot of time with you."

Grayson smiled. "I'm more than okay with that. You're pretty cool, Lizzie."

"You too."