THE ELYSIAN

𝙲 𝙷 𝙰 𝙿 𝚃 𝙴 𝚁 𝙴 𝙸 𝙶 𝙷 𝚃

𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴: 𝟷𝟸:𝟸𝟺 𝙰.𝙼.
𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽: 𝙶𝚁𝚈𝚂𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙴𝙼𝙴𝚁𝙶𝙴𝙽𝙲𝚈 𝙷𝙾𝚂𝙿𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙻, 𝚁𝙾𝙾𝙼 𝟹𝟶𝟺.
𝙿.𝙾.𝚅. : 𝙼𝙸𝙻𝙾 𝙹𝙰𝙼𝙴𝚂 𝙲𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚃𝙲𝙷

Sitting in the hospital bed, I watch as Moriah stands and leaves.
When she shuts the door behind her, I lean my head back.
Why did I have to yell at her?
I shouldn't have yelled at her.
I closed my eyes, trying to not to fall deeper in a sea of self-hate, but failing miserably.
What...or who....was she talking about?
I have tried to see therapist and psychiatrist and doctors over and over again, and nothing that they've prescribed or advised has worked.
Only for a little while, but I was scared of becoming addicted to the methods and medications, so I stopped them before it got worse.
I didn't really know....
I'm not sure if I wanted to know.
A knock on my door startled me, then a tall, elegant woman walks into my room, smiling.
She had dark eyes that twinkled with kindness and silver hair that was pinned in a traditional hairstyle only the women who were Nobles wore.
Intricate braids surrounding her head like a crown, each curve smooth and perfect. Her hair wasn't gray, but silver, shining in the bright lights of the room.
She was dressed in a crisp, white coat and white scrubs underneath, and a stethoscope hundred around her neck.
"Hello, Mr. Crathetch. How are you feeling?"
She smiled while she straightened her crisp, white doctor's coat.
"I'm...doing alright."
She grimaced.
"You hesitated."
She walked over to me, examining my brain activity on a hologram above me.
"It seems that there are signs of...guilt? Anxiety or anguish of some kind? What's causing you trouble, Milo?"
I kept my head down, avoiding eye contact with her.
She sighs, then takes the white chair floating by the sink and moves it towards her.
I remember seeing in history books at school when I was little the image of what chairs and tables and most furniture in the Days of Old used to look like. All of them had legs to support the weight of whatever was placed on them, but now all the furniture, for both classes, had no legs and were made of either tinted glass or steel. When you wanted to moved one, you would simply press a button on the side to unlock it from its place in the room, and it only made a slight hissing noise.
She walks over to the other side of the room, almost tiptoeing, and presses a small button that was almost unnoticeable.
She sighs, then sits down on the floating chair next to me.
"Relax, Milo. No one can hear us now. What's causing you trouble?"
I take a deep breath, trying to relax my tense muscles just a little bit.
"It's...well...I had an argument with someone. I shouldn't have yelled at her. She was just trying to help me, but I'm just so tired of all these medications and psychiatrists and anxiety attacks-"
"Okay, okay. Don't get yourself worked up. Who was the one that was arguing with you?"
"I don't want her to get in trou-"
"She won't get in trouble, I promise."
This doctor was the only doctor that has had this much patience with me.
"Her name is Moriah. I...I had to investigate her case because she went missing not too long ago. She got out safe, but...ever since then I've been...thinking about her differently. It's scaring me to my core. I don't know how to get rid of this. She's a literal ray of sunshine...but...I'm a dark thundercloud."
"I see...well, Milo, I believe I have the right prescription for you..."
She took out a small notepad form her pocket and a pen from her coat pocket and wrote something down.
She tore the paper off and handed it to me.
It was an address.
"What's this?"
"It's my church address. I believe with all of my heart, and I would know because I've been a doctor for 30 years, that the only Person to turn to for help now is Jesus Christ. Trust me, Milo."
Something stirred deep down in my chest when she said those words. Something that I've never felt before.
It was hope.
Hope for my anxiety attacks to go away. Hope for my depression to go away. Hope for my life to get better.
"I'm not pushing this down your throat, but I know for a fact that Jesus loves you very much, Milo. He has a plan for your life. That plan might include starting a life together with Moriah in a few years. It might include things that you never could imagine or even dream of. He can pull you out of that darkness you're in. He can give you a life of pure joy."
Pure joy?
Impossible, I thought.
"I don't think that you would believe me if I told you I was an alcoholic and a fornicator before I came to church?"
Stunned, I look over her features. She was poised and modest, but I never would've thought...
"Not at all."
She nodded and smiled.
"Now I have four children and nine grandchildren. I also happen to know Moriah very well."
I started to get a little nervous.
"You do?"
"Oh yes," she replied, "I was there to help change who she was at her birth and I was there to help with some of her mother's cancer treatment. Her death was very hard on their family."
She stood up and started to undo all of the cables and then took out the IV in my arm.
"I hope that you will accept my offer to go to church. I will be expecting you there."
She winked, then she pressed the button on the other side of the room again.
"I'm going to bring a few medical papers in. They're just copies of why you came in today. Do you need me to call someone to pick you up?"
She widened her eyes, as if she was trying to tell me something.
I can't tell Moriah to pick me up.
The only person I can tell is Harry.
"Yes please. Detective Harrison Sinclair."
She nodded, then walked out.
I rubbed my face with my hands. I'm so tired of all this.
I looked at the paper again. It had the address and the time of the services on Sunday.
I decided not to go to the appointment tomorrow with Harrison's sister.
I'm going to throw away those pills.
Instead, I'm going to try living for Jesus Christ.