323

Light. Of course light, always light. I sit up groggily, my head throbbing. The light pierces my eyes like another needle. Where am I?

  I hear hollow voices to my right and look over. There are four shapes, white all of them, and glowing in the fluorescent hue of the room.

  “I’m not sure if I’ve heard you correctly. What happened exactly?” The first voice murmurs low and rumbling.

  “He attacked me!” Ah, I remember that voice. It’s him. What was his name? I remember My Nurse saying it, but the name itself eludes me. Regan? Ryan? Reynolds? Reynolds. That’s it.

Proud of myself for remembering, I smile.

 “Miss James, you have something to add to that?” The first voice hums again. It’s deep and husky, and I remember it from somewhere, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t place it.

 “I have reason to believe that my patient has a very strong sense of loyalty, Dr. Hamilton. When Dr. Reynolds and I began having a discussion, I think Max sensed that I was in some sort of danger and needed rescuing. He really does have a very acute mind, if he only had the opportunities necessary to improve       .”

 “Oh here we go again.” Dr. Reynolds cuts in. “Evie, the fact is this poor guy’s got mush for brains and now we see that he’s dangerous too. Dr. Hamilton, this patient is incapable of speech. Before today he’s been almost entirely unresponsive, except for random outbursts of uncontrolled emotion. He’s tried to escape almost monthly. He spends all of his time both downstairs and up in his room engaging in physical activity, training. Maybe he’s an ex-service man suffering from PTSD. I really don’t know. But I do know that he’s in better physical condition than I am and he’s primed for violence. And after today it would appear that he’s looking for a fight. I recommend something that would weaken      .”

  “No!” My Nurse bursts out. “Doctor, you must see that this patient was only trying to help me.”

 “Why would he have reason to suspect that you were in danger of being harmed?” As my eyes clear I can see the first man better. He is tall. As tall as me. And in his husky voice I sense total control. But right now this doesn’t worry me. He seems to be on My Nurse’s side. He’s raising a thick black brow at Reynolds. “Doctor, please explain the nature of your conversation with Miss James.”

Dr. Reynolds’ face grows whiter than his jacket. He glares at My Nurse and I can feel my pulse quicken again. “I was attempting to help her with some career choices.”

 “I assure you I was quite alright, but you see Max….” My Nurse begins.

 “Max?”

 “The patient, sir. I believe he’s very protective, and as you can see I’ve developed a special friendship with him.”

 “You two are both assigned to this patient?”

 “Yes.” They answer together.

 “And yet you seem to have very different findings after months of study.” The tall man clears his throat and puts down his pad. “I think the thing to do is have another look at this Max of yours Miss James.” He pulls off his glasses and starts towards me.

It is now that I notice up to this point there’s been a glass wall between us. He opens a door in it and steps into my side.

 “Hello Max.” He says gruffly. For the first time I’ve found a voice I can’t detect anything from. No fear. No annoyance. No kindness.

Nothing.

Nothing but perfect control.