Save Me

Jenn and Todd went through a long corridor, before Todd stopped in front of a door. “128X”.

He looked at Jenn, and forced the smallest smile. A nervous smile.

“We… we're here?”, Jenn asked.

Todd nodded. “Are you ready?”.

Jenn took a deep breath. No, she wasn't ready. Yes, she could feel her heart go wild. No, she couldn't help the apprehension growing in her stomach.

But she had to do this. He was a patient; she had to take care of him. It was her mission, it was her job.

She nodded.

“If things start to get out of control, just…uh…yell or something. I'll post two men in front of this door okay?”, Todd said.

“Okay…”, Jenn whispered.

“Oh, and last thing: good luck.”

Jenn nodded and entered the room.

She closed the door and looked at Brian Haner. The guy seemed tall. Yeah, she said `seemed' because he was sat on the floor with his back against the wall so it was difficult to say how tall he was. He was strongly built, and had his arms full of tattoos. He had long dark hair, high cheek bones, and brown eyes. He was wearing a white tank top, and white pants. Yeah, the “uniform” of the hospital.

“Hello.”, she said, still looking at him.

He raised his head slowly and looked at her. He smirked.

“Hi.”, was all he said.

“I… I… I'm Dr. Vegan.”. She didn't know how to start.

“Cool.”, Brian answered sarcastically.

Jenn sighed. “ I'm here to… to…”

“ Evaluate how mentally sick I am? Try to find a solution to help me? Nice try but I don't need you. Bye.”, he cut her.

Jenn didn't know what to add. She was really stressed.

“I'm here to try to get to know you.”, she managed to say.

“Oh, really?”, he chuckled. “You know, if you're looking for a boyfriend there are other places you can find one. Websites, bars, clubs. But maybe you are very weird and you have a thing for crazy assholes from asylum.”

He looked at her deeply in the eyes.

“I'm not…looking for a boyfriend.”, she simply answered. She didn't expect him to say that. She was really confused, but she had to act like she was normal. Like if everything was okay.

“Why? You've got one? Or…you're lesbian?”, he asked still smirking.

Jenn frowned. “It's none of your business!”, she almost shouted.

He looked at her angrily. He stood up and moved closer to her.

“You. Don't. Use. That. Tone. On. Me. Okay?”

She remained silent. He was still walking toward her, slowly. She walked back, trying to keep a distance between them.

Her back hit the wall. He walked more quickly and placed his arms on each side of her, his hand against the wall.

“I said, okay?”, he repeated.

Jenn still refused to answer. The reason was that she was starting to panic. Brian was so close to her. Their faces were only a few centimeters apart.

She could see anger in his eyes, and that was what terrified her.

He put his right hand round her neck. She put her hands on his wrist, trying to pull his hand away. Fail.

She remembered what Todd said. That two men were supposed to be on the other side of the door.

Just when she thought about yelling, two men, dressed in white came in the room. The first one had a syringe in his hand, and the other one had a truncheon and handcuffs.

“Release her, Haner!”, the first one said.

The second moved closer to Brian and was ready to hit him.

“NO!”, Jenn yelled, and she had three confused faces looking at her. “I mean… everything's okay…”

The first one raised his eyebrow. “You sure?”

Jenn nodded, forcing a smile. Brian's hand was still around her neck, and their bodies were ridiculously close. “ Yeah, perfectly fine.”

The two men looked at each other. “If you say so…”. And they exited the room.

Brian looked at Jenn. “You… You're a sort of masochist or….?”, he started.

Jenn looked at him with a serious expression on her face.

“I'm here to do my job, and I've no time to loose. It would have been a waste of time if those men had made you sleep.”

Brian took his hand off her neck. “Why? You want to get rid of me as soon as possible?”, he chuckled.

Jenn looked at him confused. She frowned. “No… I mean, we only got two months. It's short.”

It was Brian's turn to frown. “Two months? Why?”

Jenn's eyes went wide. She realized he wasn't aware that… he was nearly a dead man.

“Oh…. Then I guess Dr. Grey didn't spoke about it with you… “, she said it, mostly to herself.

“Spoke about what?!”, he shouted. He sounded impatient, and angry again.

Jenn looked at him. You could see how much she was sorry. She didn't want to be the one to announce it to him. She looked at her hands.

Brian passed a hand through his long hair. He moved his hand, thinking of taking a grasp of Jenn's neck again, but she grabbed his wrist.

“Don't.”, she advised. “It's not helping you.”

“Then tell me what the fuck is going on!”, he yelled.

“In two month, you'll die. By a lethal injection. Decision of the government.”

“The government, really?”, he chuckled. “I didn't know the government was interested in my case.”

Jenn shook her head, and explained the whole story to him.

He was looking at her, but his face was emotionless. He had his arms crossed over his chest.

“And why are you here, if I'm supposed to be killed in two months?”

“I'm here to try to… to help you. To heal you.”, she answered.

“In two months?! You know that a lot of people like you have tried it, for years. And it didn't work. You're so full of yourself. You think you'll succeed where everyone else failed. You're unconscious.”, he said, looking at her in disgust.

For an unknown reason, Jenn felt hurt. Brian's words were hurting her.

“In fact, I didn't choose to be here. Grey asked my boss if I could take care of a case in L.A. My boss asked me and I said yes. Today, I came for the first time here, and Grey explained me the real reason of my presence. I didn't know who you were since… 20 minutes before I opened this door.”, she answered, obviously annoyed.

“Plus! If those doctors before failed to heal you it was because of YOU, only YOU. You refused to take the medicines they gave you. That's why you're still here NOW!”, she shouted the last part.

Brian was surprised. Normally, he would have punched her. He couldn't stand the fact that people used that kind of tone with him. But here, it was different.

He looked at her for several minutes. Both of them remained silent.

Jenn wanted to know what was going on in Brian's mind.

“And why did you say yes?”, he finally asked.

“I don't understand.”

“Why did you accept to…take care of my case? You could have said no, right? You weren't forced to do it?”

Jenn looked at her feet. She didn't want to talk about it with Brian. Not because it was personal or something, be she didn't have to speak of her private life or her opinions with a patient.

But at the same time, she wanted Brian to know the truth.

“I'm against deaf penalty. I think it's unfair if they kill you. You have a chance to heal. And if I can help you with that, then I'll try.”

“And what do you have to do exactly?”

“Find a way to control your behavior, or find why you sometimes become violent and everything, make you become…you know sociable, again.”

“And you think you'll manage to do that in only two months haha?”

“I didn't say I'll manage to do it. I said I'll try.”

“And if you fail?”

“Then… An inspector from the government will come, and you'll have a kind of test to see if what I did really worked. If he decides that it didn't work, he'll…he'll …”, she couldn't finish her sentence.

“Okay.”, Brian cut her.

“Okay?”, she asked confused.

“Yeah okay. It's not like I have the choice anyway.”

He sat down again, in the exact position than when Jenn entered the room.

“Will you let me help you?”, she asked in a soft voice.

“I don't see the point in this. I mean, it's clear that you won't succeed so you'll waste your time. Plus, I think dying is better than stay here. I hate here.”

“Brian, if we manage to do this, in two months you'll be out of here.”

“We?”

“Yes, you and me, Brian. I can't do it without your help.”, she explained.

“What if I say no?”

“Then I'll go back to where I come from and forget about you. And in two month, people dressed in white will come to get you. They'll drag you to a room where you'll be laid on a table. They'll tie your wrists, your elbows, your knees and your ankles, and they'll inject you … a lethal injection…”

“I… I don't won't to live two months with a fake hope that I'll be out of here. I prefer that you let me alone. I'll have two months to get ready for death.”

Jenn didn't what to do or say. She approached him, and sat next to him.

“I don't want you to think like that.”, she spoke softly. “We'll get through this, together. I promise to do my best. I just need you to… trust me.”

“The only thing I want… is to see my son one last time before I die.”

Jenn was taken aback. “Your son?”