Sanitarium - Asylum Finale {Completed}

12. Breaking Rules and Breaking Spirits

"Did we all fall down? From the lights to the pavement, from the van to the floor, from backstage to the doctor, from the Earth to the morgue, morgue, morgue, morgue." --- Desert Song

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Breaking Rules and Breaking Spirits

Paranoia's P.O.V.

They cured me.

It's the only thing I can think as Kobra lifts me out of the chair and carries me out of the room and into another one, the one on the opposite side of the two way glass. "I'm sorry," he mumbles. "I'm so sorry for what I did."

I'm practically clinging to him so that I don't crash to the floor. I tighten my arms around his neck like I'm giving him a hug. "I know you are," I whisper back. "It's not your fault. It's mine. You didn't do anything wrong."

"But your face - "

"Kobra," I say softly. "It wasn't your fault. I egged you on. I was only afraid because I didn't know I was capable of doing something like that." I manage a smile. "I was afraid of myself, not of you."

He holds me tighter as the door shuts behind us. "You're not capable of doing something like that. Not like this you're not. You're better than that."

I'm not sure if I'm laughing or not. I know that I'm crying, both from relief and from the pain in my head from remembering and my body from the shocks. My chest hurts when I breathe and there's a definite throbbing pain in my head; it's all I can do to lift my head to look around the room. Ghoul, Jet, and Party are here, just like I'd assumed. Jet is the first to reach Kobra and I. "Paranoia, I'm so sorry for what we did. It was all my idea. It was all I could think of to do - "

I reach out and lay my hand against his cheek. "Stop. You fixed me. You did everything perfectly. Don't apologize anymore."

He sighs a little out of relief and steps aside, allowing Ghoul to come forward. He opens his mouth like he's about to apologize as well, but I silence him by speaking instead. "In love with me, huh?" I chuckle at his embarrassed face. "Isn't that sweet?"

"So you remember everything we said...?" I nod. "Oh, great. Yeah, I was. But I'm not now. I promise."

I giggle. "Sure, Ghoul. Whatever you say."

Party comes over and bumps Ghoul to the side with his hip. He looks at Kobra, then he looks at me, and then he looks back to Kobra. I glance up at the younger brother. "Can you let me stand?"

"Do you think you can?" he responds. I nod. "Fine."

He lets go of me, gently setting me on my feet. Despite my assurance that yes, I can stand on my own two feet, my legs immediately give out and I collapse. Party catches me around the waist before I fall too far and clutches me against his chest, his eyes wide. "Are you okay?" he asks. I nod again. "Jesus, please don't ever do anything like that again."

"What, standing?" He gives me an exasperated look. "I'm crazy, Party. You really think I could have resisted Korse when I'd been seeing him for however long? I didn't know he was still alive."

He tilts his head forward and rests his forehead against mine, closing his eyes. "You're not crazy. You never were. Korse was causing you to have hallucinations. It wasn't your fault. None of it was your fault, ever."

I smile faintly. "Good luck convincing everyone else of that, honey. They all think I'm a psychopathic murderer."

"You're not," Ghoul snaps. "You're normal, just like the rest of us. It was Korse's fault you did everything, not yours. You're not the one everyone should be blaming."