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"EVERYONE HAS GOOD DAYS AND BAD DAYS"

# 12
Written by Anthony Crute

The Pleasant View Hospital sat surrounded by green pastures and fields. It was a three story hospital but looked much more like a large stately home. The gardens full of multi coloured flowers and the pond in the west of it’s property were particularly beautiful especially in the summer when many of the patients would stroll amongst the flowers and feed the wild water foul who made their home there.

The Pleasant View Hospital was a very special hospital. It was a mental hospital for the most difficult patients of all those with superpowers.

It was within the halls of this hospital that those patients who couldn’t be treated anywhere else were either treated until they were ready to be introduced into regular society or they were cared for indefinitely. Those whose powers had adverse affects on their mental state like feral mutants whose minds regressed. The super strong men and women whose powers boosted their hormones to unimaginable levels so that they couldn’t control their behaviour. The psychics who had retreated from the voices all around themselves into their own minds. The empaths who couldn’t deal with all the emotions they picked up and so many more strange and rare cases which were innumerable to count. The hospital also housed those who had other mental illnesses or developmental disorders who because of certain powers of abilities they had could be dangerous.

Next to The Vault, The Pleasant View Hospital was the place where Doctor Leonard Samson found most of his time being spent. He wished he could give more to the special cases within rather than the super-villains he found himself mostly dealing with.

It was currently because of a special call to him about one of their new patients which he found himself on route to it’s grounds in upstate New York.

He and Arlette AKA Murmur blinked into the grounds of the hospital almost on its front door. “Do you want me to come in and wait or go back to the office?”

Samson stopped and looked down at Arlette. He was in an opened collar shirt with no tie, his sleeves rolled up to show off his massive arms on which tiny green hairs blossomed through his skin. His hair was tied back behind his head. He had dressed for relaxation, he for the most part enjoyed his visits to the hospital. He had struck up good friendships with many members of the staff and enjoyed the company of some of his patients there, they made a refreshing change and he held out much hope for many of them.

Arlette was not normally one to ask what to do, she would usually do as she pleased in the times she wasn’t needed, which was the majority when she wasn’t transporting him. “Would you like to come in?”

The young Canadian shifted her gaze to her own feet for a second as she moved them nervously. “Perhaps, I am at a loose end today anyway.” She nodded, trying to hide the slight blush which had blossomed across her pretty face.

Leonard had noticed in the past week or so that she had been a lot more open and friendly than usual to everyone around her, even Amadeus had received less scathing sarcasm and insults than normal from her.

She had also been taking more interest in the work around the office actually asking questions about psychology and the running of the place from both him and his right hand woman Louise. It had been occurring ever since his run in with Faustus.

In the stand off between himself and his friends when he was under someone Faustus’ control she found her own powers of mental control useless and had been forced to rely on others and put herself on the line for them like she had never needed too in her life. She was an orphan who Department H had listed as not being a team player, hence why she was shipped out of the Omega Flight programme.

The events seemed to have bonded her with the other members of the makeshift team, who Samson had already ascertained were closer to her than many whose paths she had crossed before.

Samson smiled at her response, almost asking to be invited rather than admit that she would like to go with him. “I would like you to come, I may be a bit busy to give you a guided tour but I’m sure one of the nurses would show you around when she’s on her rounds.”

Arlette nodded an understanding. She turned as a large smile spread across the Doctor’s face as he looked past her. “Ah, here is just the woman,” he held out his arms and took a step past Arlette to embrace the small woman who was coming towards the two of them.

“It’s good to see you Doctor Samson,” said a croaky voice from behind his massive frame. It took a second for the embrace to end and Arlette to see the source of the voice.

She was dressed all in white in a standard nursing uniform, a small trail of what looked like baked bean juice was splattered against one shoulder. She had a broad smiling face, she exuded warmth like a fire would. Her skin tone was of dark brown but the freckles which dotted her wrinkled skin were even darker. Her black hair was turning several different colours of grey beneath her peaked hat.

“Etta, this is my assistant Arlette, she has kindly offered to help out in any way possible you would require while I see your newest patient.”

“Ah excellent, we’ve got a mountain of bed pans to empty.” She smiled and watched Arlette carefully as the girls expression quickly moved through revulsion to trying to think of a way to back out of whatever she had agreed too. Etta began to laugh loudly “I’m kidding, we’ll get you someone to have a chat with.”

“Doc!” a voice boomed down at them. Arlette turned to see a huge figure bounding down the few steps up to the big main doors of the hospital. He was a man in his mid thirties who was almost the same size as Doc Samson himself. His body was no where near as toned though and his fat moved as he bounded towards Samson who was welcoming him with open arms.

His face was very rounded and he had a wide forehead. His tongue protruded through his mouth ever so slightly even as he smiled and ran towards Samson. The two men embraced. His nose was flattened across the bridge and his eyes were pinched in, Arlette didn’t notice at the time but his irises were also dotted with white spots. She was no expert in developmental disorders and she couldn’t tell anyone what the symptoms or behaviour should be but she recognised his physical features as someone who had the genetic disorder Down’s Syndrome.

“Galvin,” Samson smiled as he pushed back on Galvin and looked into his smiling face. “You’ve had your hair cut since last week, it looks great.” The man smiled at Samson.

His hands moved quickly from Samson’s side and reached into the massive pocket of his oversized hooded jacket. He pulled out from each side a baseball glove and pushed one towards Samson. “You said we could play catch when you came next, which is now,” he smiled happily and pulled a baseball from his pocket.

Samson smiled as he turned the glove over in his hand. “I did and we will but first I should see this new patient who needs my help.” Galvin’s face took an immediate downturn. He looked as though his heart had just been broken.

“I could play catch with him if you want,” she turned to speak to Samson and Etta.

“I don’t think that would be such a good idea.” Etta shook her head.

“Galvin here has super strength,” Samson said as he patted Galvin on the shoulder. “You could try but any ball he through would likely knock you into the next state.”

Galvin looked embarrassed for a second, almost bashful as if it was a compliment being paid to him. Etta moved next to Arlette’s ear and spoke lowly to her “I know you’re new to this dear but in future try to address Galvin and the others directly, not talk about them like they’re not here.” Arlette suddenly felt three inches tall, Etta saw the look and tutted loudly “Don’t be silly girl, when I was training I did the exact same thing…shameful thing is back then wasn’t a member of staff did anything differently. It took a particularly smart mouth patient much like young Galvin here who told me off.” She winked conspiratorially to both Arlette and Galvin in one turn.

“So what do you think of the new boy were here to see?” asked Arlette to Galvin with a broad smile.

“We tend not to promote gossip either,” informed Samson with a gentle smile. Galvin however responded over the top of him.

“He’s mean, nasty…scary,” his face locked into a serious expression and he shook his head slowly.

“Now shush Galvin, you didn’t like when Monique was calling you names last week and how would young Terrance feel if he knew you were doing the same.”

Galvin looked to his feet and rubbed them together ashamedly as he mumbled a ‘sorry’.

“I best get off and go see my new patient then, room 12 was it?” Samson asked, Etta nodded confirmation. “Well I will see you afterwards Galvin, I’ve cleared my whole schedule for the rest of the day so we can play as long as you want.” The two men smiled at one another broadly. “I’ll see you later too Arlette, have fun.”

The green haired psychiatrist began to climb the stairs and vanished into the hospital.

“Well lets see who else is around for you to make an acquaintance of eh girl?” Etta motioned for Arlette to follow her and they began to walk around the side of the hospital, Galvin followed behind them tossing his baseball between his two hands as he did so. The two women could hear it screaming through the air between the two as it was hurled with super strength.

The three walked making small talk as they went around the side of the hospital. It’s large solid white walls reminded Arlette much of a place she had been taken for a visit to some kind of stately home by Hull house during her formative years.

They soon arrived at what looked like a fire door on a wing of the building which looked much newer than the other part around the front of the house. There were large windows built into the walls and the ceiling creating a sunroom.

The door was held open by a chain to the outside wall and Etta slipped through the gap before the other too. “Here’s one of our most enigmatic clients, Saleem.” She smiled and motioned to the figure who was sitting in the sunroom. He was in just a simple pair of pyjamas.

Arlette thought he looked Indian, he was thin and seemed to be made entirely of sinewy muscle.

“I’m from Pakistan actually…well my family are I’m from NYC,” he smiled weakly and then again more forcefully.

Arlette paused for a moment “Telepath?” She was taken aback by the strange smile he had just flashed to her.

“No not quite…and sorry if you were taken aback by my smile, it was apparently weak the first time,” he admitted with a depressed acceptance. Then sighed.

“Saleem hears a voice,” Etta informed “Docs figured him for schizophrenic but Leo had him transferred. He thinks the voice has something to do with some power of Saleem’s…doesn’t stop his awfully bad depression though does it hun?” She smiled warmly.

Saleem returned it. “It’s like I can hear exposition or something…or a narrator to my life. It said I smiled weakly so I tried again and then told me you were taken aback…then said I spoke with a depressing acceptance. It’s enough to drive you crazy I tell you,” he smiled with a bittersweet grin and then sighed again as the voice in his head told him such.

Arlette didn’t think it sounded much like any sort of super power. “It sometimes lets me know what people are thinking though,” he smiled “lets me know when some things are coming too. Like premonitions” Saleem could not know how much use his powers would be in the trying time he, Etta, Arlette, Galvin and another of his fellow patients had ahead of them that day. He shivered and let out a shriek. “Like that. Something is wrong….very wrong.”

Arlette shot a look over to Etta unsure of whether Saleem was being serious or whether this was part of some mental issue he had. Saleem sighed loudly again, knowing these sort of things it wasn’t surprising he was clinically depressed. He ignored the last comment determined not to alienate this new visitor even more than she was. That last sentence got him though.

“Do you think we should tell Leonard?” Etta asked. “He’s the one who thought Saleem had powers. You two are the superheroes I’m out of my depth here.” Etta shrugged.

“I couldn’t hurt, can you show me where he is. Saleem you should come too to explain what exactly is going on…I have no idea myself.” Etta nodded and indicated the way they should go.

Room 12…

Samson had walked through the halls saying hello to patients and staff who he knew as he went. He kept promising to get back to them for a chat later on after he’d made an initial assessment with his newest patient Terrance.

Terrance was a teenage boy, he had troubles fitting in with his family and friends back in his home town…not too strange really. Terrance had however been withdrawing into himself more and more as time went along until it appeared he was in some kind of catatonic state, though most readings simply measured it as sleep. When in this state apparently strange occurrences were happening around him. Things which led to his transfer from hospital to hospital until finally the case was transferred to him and he was put here.

Samson looked at the wooden door which had a 12 carved into the front. Just below the number was a badge holder in which a piece of card reading ‘Terrance Ward’ had been slipped. Below that in permanent black marker someone had scrawled ‘TRAUMA!’ The pen then led off in a black line where it looked like the pen had been yanked down. It had happened when one of the staff pulled the patient away who had written on the door.

His large mitt grabbed the knob of the door and turned it before pushing the door open and slid through it closing it behind him. “Hello Terrance, I’m Doctor…oh god, no.”

He inhaled sharply as he did so. This was not the room he had seen many times before but instead it was a room which he had seen so many more times but not for many a year.

The floor was covered in red and white checked tiles and the walls were painted a thick cream colour. The window outside instead of looking out onto the grounds of The Pleasant View Hospital looked out upon the streets of Tulsa, Oklahoma just beyond a locked fence at which a security guard sat in a booth.

A single camp bed was set up in one corner below one of the meshed windows. In the corner sat two sets of leather chairs. One was wedged into the corner between the wall and a chest of draws on which sat a radio.

A figure sat in one of the chairs. Leonard recognised him instantly. Everything from his stance and figure as he sat in the chair to the scent which filled the air all around him.

The figure turned to him with big glassy tear filled eyes, this was one of the bad days he knew it. “Mark?” he asked, his voice breaking. Leonard caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror on the wall as he crossed to the room. He was no longer the gamma irradiated super shrink but back to his original form, he was in his mid twenties and dressed in a suit which didn’t suit him and was ill fitting.

The photos he had seen of his uncle in his youth before his death, he did look a little like him. Leo bit his lip gently and swore under his breath as he crossed the rest of the distance and took the seat across from his now long dead father who looked at him with next to no recollection for his son.

He looked over at his father’s face, he had a much squarer and stronger face than Leonard did at the moment. He had always looked up at his father as a sort of he-man built thickly and strongly. He spent a couple of years being a strong man in a show down on the boardwalk. He was planning to raise enough money to go to college but one thing came to another and he ended up not going, it’s why his father had been so keen to always push Leonard to greatness.

“I’m glad you’re here Mark, Marie is bringing little Leonard around in a little while to see.” He paused for a moment and creased his brow whilst screwing up his face as if he was trudging through his memory for something which was just out of reach. He looked around the room, his eyes were filling with tears again and the look of helplessness was etched across his face. “I’m not sure where I am, how will they find me?”

He stood up sharply and looked around the room taking a step away from the chair. “Where am I?” he was breathing heavily.

This was why it was a bad day. His father had enough about him today to realise some things were wrong. Some days he would sit in his chair and think he was back in his youth awaiting his mother to call him for dinner or he was awaiting Marie to go on a date and all would be well, he wouldn’t even realise what room he was in. Then there were the bad days, he knew he didn’t recognise this room, he couldn’t remember how he got there or where his family were. He was confused, scared and angry all at the same time.

He paused for a second and then turned. “Who are you? You’re not Mark who are you?” he barked and moved towards him quickly almost like he was about to tackle him.

Leonard sidestepped rapidly and let his father slam into the chair rocking it backwards. “Dad!” he yelled as he moved away. “Dad, it’s me Leonard.”

His father stopped and looked over to him through narrowed eyes. “Dad, it’s me Leo. I’m a little older than you might remember.” His hands were up in a calming motion.

His father watched his face. “No, Leo is just a baby, you can’t be.” He paused for a moment and moved his head as if to clear out some fog which had rolled into it. “I remember him at his 10th birthday…but he’s just a baby. In high school too…” he looked up to Leo, the tears rolling down his cheeks.

He recognised his son now, he had aged some but he could definitely see his son’s face within that of this man. He meant to hug his son to comfort him and tell him whatever was happening would be okay but instead he stumbled like a child into his son’s chest and hugged him while Leonard had to put his arms around him in a hug.

“What’s going on?” he sobbed.

“Dad what do you know about Alzheimer’s?” he rubbed his forehead gently as he tried to think of the best way to speak to his father.

“It’s senility, what old men get before the end…” his father shook his head as he spoke. It sounded so antiquarian and not like the man Leonard once knew.

His father was one of the smartest men he knew. He didn’t go to college but knew something about everything, even when Leonard had started at college he was amazed at how much his father knew in all of his subjects from physics to chemistry. He supposed that he never really talked about psychology to him, it only became his driving force after this, after his father’s illness which spurred him on to learn more.

“Kind of,” he sighed and indicated to the chair in the corner “you should sit down, I’ve got some things to explain.”

Outside Room 12…

Arlette, Etta, Saleem and Galvin were moving quickly down the corridors of the hospital. Staff and patients moved slowly aside watching them carefully as they moved quickly. One such patient was the other who would complete their adventure that day, Sally Chase.

Saleem skidded to a halt and looked around him in the corridor and through the few doors he could clearly see through. He fixed his eyes on the young blonde woman who had just been identified to him by the voice in his head which seemed to be giving a running commentary on his life. “Sally,” he motioned for the woman to come towards him.

The others had stopped by now and were taking a few steps back towards him. Sally Chase moved through the door of the room towards him. “Hey Saleem, y’all seem in a rush.”

Her tone was southern USA, Arlette was sure but she couldn’t place it exactly. She was a young and pretty woman somewhere in her very early twenties if not before. Her hair hung limply across her face with parts tucked behind her ears. She was pale white and wearing hospital issue gowns unlike the other patients who wore their own clothing didn’t help her complexion any.

“You need to come with us,” he informed and held out his hand for her to take.

“Why?” she first moved her hand towards his and then pulled it back away from him. She seemed nervous.

“I don’t know….the voices said you were coming with us to do whatever were going to do,” Saleem was aware how insane this sounded but often the voice over to his life was very sketchy.

“I- I don’t think I,” there was suddenly a shimmering of the air around her.

“Sally you need to calm down,” Etta informed as she took a step towards the young woman.

“Don’t say that!” she snapped in her southern accent. “You can’t tell me to calm down because I’ll just get more worried about it happening,” she began to inhale and exhale in a deliberate calming technique she had been taught not knowing yet that it was already to late and she would just have to deal with her condition once more head on.

“She’s going to blow!” called Saleem not really helping her calm down, in fact triggering the definite release of her powers. He felt terrible as he realised this while hitting the floor.

Etta grabbed Arlette and tried to move her down the corridor but the Canadian was transfixed on the girl as flames began to erupt up her arms and across her body. She was screaming at the top of her lungs as it did so, this just seemed to make the fire burn brighter.

The problem was made worse instantly as an ear splitting scream shattered several of the windows and made everyone in the corridor cling to their own ears for fear they might explode. Arlette looked to one of the patients who had dropped to the floor, she was only a small girl and it appeared the scream was emanating from her ala Banshee and Siryn of the X-Men.

Arlette’s eyes flicked back up to Sally and in a second she was gone. The two appeared a second late soaking wet and on all fours coughing. The screaming of the little girl was slowly dying away.

Etta moved quickly towards the little girl who had been screaming and stroked her hair gently until another member of staff could get to her. Arlette looked on at her in amazement, given the pain which had been raging through her body it seemed her first instinct was to check on her patient.

When another member of the staff managed to come over Etta moved towards Arlette and Sally who were now climbing to their feet. “Are you okay?” she asked to Sally, who nodded whilst still taking slow breaths. “What did you do?” she asked as she turned to Arlette now.

“Teleported us into a pond,” gasped the Canadian “It’s stop her lighting up until she dries out. We need to keep going.” She took a step forward, Etta grabbed Sally’s hand and with a comforting smile began to lead her towards the room they were heading to.

Room 12…

Leonard sat at the foot of his father’s chair. His legs were crossed and he leaned forward slightly. His father was telling him the story of The Golem of Prague much like he did in his youth.

The tears and confusion had continued for a few minutes after Leonard had explained about Alzheimer’s but then almost like a switch had been flipped his mind seemed to draw memories from a different portion of his life and he began with these stories.

He paused for a moment “Rabbi Judah…eh…” he flustered again and sat with a confused look on his face again. Leonard’s heart was in his throat again. His father had told this story hundreds of times and never faltered once and now he had forgotten the name of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel. His father looked hurt for a second.

“Enough,” barked Samson suddenly. His hair began to grow long and green quickly while his suit bulged with the muscles sprouting across his body. “Terrance I’ve had enough of this. I know how your powers work but they’re off the mark now.” He stood to his feet and closed his eyes wishing for the image all around him to fall away. “I’ve faced this before and I’ve been through this before and it made me stronger, made me who I am…thank you for letting me see him again, but I won’t go through this again. It ends now.”

He opened his eyes now expecting to see Terrance but instead he saw an empty room 12. Well not empty but with no people in it. Around the room were dotted volumes of books and photos which he himself recognised. They were his things.

He caught a glimpse of himself again in the mirror. Grey streaks were shooting through his green hair which he had tied up behind his head. There were lines sketched across his face indicating he had aged.

“Stop it Amadeus!” he barked “I won't do this anymore, I wont play these games Amadeus….eh Terrance!”

He paused for a second and then a thought entered his mind. He wondered whether Betty would be ready for their date on time or not. The thought moved quickly from his mind as he remembered Betty’s death. It seemed Terrance was not so off par with his powers, Leonard’s greatest fear was being realised Alzheimer’s was after all strongly hereditary.

Outside Room 12…

The group paused outside the door for a second or two after Etta rapped on the door gently awaiting the response of Doc Samson. “I don’t like it here,” said Galvin with a shake of his head, his eyes turning away from the door and the faces of his companions as he did so. His head was cocked slightly to the side.

“I don’t really understand what I’m doing here, how am I supposed to help?” Sally asked, she seemed quite nervous and kept looking down at her own hands as if she was expecting them to burst into flame at any moment thankfully the dripping water indicated they wouldn’t, still she feared it.

Sally was pyrophobic which isn’t too bad in and of itself, it’s a natural phobia which many had. Sally’s came from the accident in their home in her youth when she lost her parents. Unfortunately Sally was also a mutant a pyrotechnic. Her life since her powers erupted had been a recurring cycle. She got worried and scared of her powers which caused them to erupt which made her even more scared. It was a vicious cycle.

“I don’t know we are,” admitted Saleem with a sad tone “just that something wrong is happening and were all supposed to be here.”

“What through your powers?” Sally questioned. “You just heard a voice say we were supposed to do something and so you just followed it? Like some puppet?”

“Enough,” Arlette turned to face the two. “I know you have powers but you’re both knew to this whole superhero stuff, all we can do is try.”

She seized the handle of the door and turned it. Instantly she was alone.

They were all alone, all totally alone with no one to help.

Etta found herself back in her youth walking the country roads around her home. She used to walk them lazily in the summer months feeling the warmth of the sun on her and the heat of the dirt on her feet as she walked over the hot stones having the long grass tickle around her knees. Her father always warned her about the dangers but she was not one to listen to warnings, never had been. She had never ran into one of the ‘ghost men’ so why would she fear them.

The truth was she did though. She had heard her mother and father talking in hushed tones about this clan of ghost men who galloped around and hurt people like them, their tears and their prayers that again and again they would pass over their happy home and leave them be to themselves.

Etta heard the thunder of hooves just over the hill. She turned with her heart in her mouth and watched as the ghost men began to gallop over the hill. She began to run, screaming in terror all the while.

Galvin found himself at home again, a place he hadn’t seen in many years. He could smell his mother’s cookies baking in the kitchen. She always made the best cookies, she always made them just for him.

She loved him so much and doted on him. He loved her in return, she was the person he loved her so much. She was his mommy and he was her little boy and he always would be she told him. Their time together would last forever and other than when she had to work and he had to go to the day centre they could always play together.

Galvin stomped through the sitting room shouting happily, calling her name “Mommy!” he bounced through the archway into the kitchen.

His mother greeted him with a large grin. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, she turned to face him with a smile. In her hands she held a tray of her cookies. Galvin hadn’t seen her in so long, he ran towards her shouting her name and threw his arms around her.

Snap!

Galvin loosened his grip and let her fall backwards again crumbling to the floor. “Mommy!” he dropped to his knees and stroked the side of her face. He was crying loudly. He tried not to think about this, tried not to focus on it everyday. The day he accidentally killed his mother. He suddenly found himself in the sitting room again with the scent of cookies wafting through the air, his mother singing sweetly in the kitchen. He hadn’t seen her in so long he called her name excitedly and began to run to the kitchen.

Saleem found himself locked strapped tightly in a jacket huddling in the corner of the room. The voices in his head were louder than ever but they were no longer just telling him what was happening or what would happen but they were telling him what to do. Giving him orders of what he should say and what he should think, they said the words and he responded like some replay of them, some weaker, pathetic replay with no will of his own. He sunk deeply into his grief because the voices told him he should be.

Sally was burning, screaming and burning constantly all the while everything around here was catching alight and crumbling to ash.

Arlette found herself kneeling in the dirt. She was in a pretty pink party dress which she had always loved and thus wore even if she was going to go outside and play in the dirt.

She identified where she was even before she caught a full glimpse of it. There on the hill which she was kneeling at the bottom of was the place where she had grown up. The place all of the children had a shared name for ‘Hell House’.

It hung over her like a brooding vulture awaiting to pick at her remains. She wouldn’t go towards it, she swore she would never go back.

“Arlette,” called a voice from somewhere behind her. A tickle of fear ran up her back as she heard the voice “Come to me my daughter,” he cried. She set off running instantly without turning to look at the man she knew was somewhere behind her. She would not turn to her father, she couldn’t.

She ran focusing on nothing but, until a figure seemed to move in her peripheral vision. He was a teenage boy. She fixed him with a glare as she sprinted and then blinked from existence appearing next to him and grabbing him with both hands.

He looked up at her with brown watering eyes. They were lined with eyeliner. His hair was swept across his face. “Help me, he’s after me,” he begged.

Arlette was about to ask who when she saw him in the trees which surrounded them. He sat cross legged his white skin as brilliant as the moon which lit the sky behind him. He smiled at her with yellow teeth as the call from her father wafted through the trees. She gripped the boy tightly. “We need to run,” she informed. “You also need to wake up!”

Leonard Samson however was having a visit. He sat on the edge of his bed while a figure sat in the chair across from him. He was a lean man in his late twenties dressed in a shirt and tie. He was talking animatedly about gamma radiation. “Bruce,” Samson smiled. “I stopped worrying about all of that years ago Bruce.” He smiled. The smile faded as he saw the expression on the younger man’s face.

The younger man looked nothing like Bruce in fact. He was Chinese for one thing and looked much more clean cut than Bruce ever did. The man had a clear look of Amadeus about him but he was much to old to be his young friend. He looked down at his own hands for a second, their aged and wrinkled appearance. It appeared he was not as spry as he thought he was.

“Amnesia or…” he looked up at the man as he searched for his words. Amadeus looked like he was trying to help him. “It’s the second one then?” Samson knew the symptoms well but the name escaped him at the moment, it was on the tip of his tongue but felt obscured in his mind.

He began to cry bringing his hands to his eyes. He couldn’t be like this, he couldn’t live this way like he saw his father. Living from one moment to the next not knowing his own past. Having his mind skip from period of his life to period of his life forgetting everything between them. Mistaking the most important people in the world to him for others who he hadn’t seen in years. Seeing the hurt on their faces and not understanding why.

The confusion which came with Alzheimer’s was the worst to him. The clouded confusions of things he knew, important facts and understandings. The plaques and tangles of neurones in his brain slowly eating away at everything which made him him.

“Leonard,” the voice spoke gently. Samson slowly moved his hands away from his face to look up at Etta who was crouched down beside him. “It’s all over now honey.”

Their were tracks of tears still rolling down her face but she was smiling widely.

Leonard moved the hands away from his face slowly and looked around room 12. He recognised the people who were gathered around as patients he had seen in his time here. They woo were busy wiping the tears they had cried from their faces. Galvin did not, he continued to cry too little bothered about social niceties and keeping up appearances. Etta moved from Leonard to comfort him.

Doc Samson stood up and turned towards the bed which lay in the corner. Sitting up in bed was his newest patient Terrance Ward. His hair was flattened from lying down so much and his skin was pale and washed out, streams of black tears rolled from his face. Arlette was sitting next to him rubbing his arm gently, she too had red streaks from tears but hers had dried.

“Everything okay?” Samson asked as he neared the two.

“This is Trauma, he’s been having some problems keeping his powers under control,” Arlette smiled at Terrance.

“I can imagine,” Samson smiled weakly as memories from his experience rushed into his mind.

“It’s not his fault and we can’t blame him,” defended Arlette sharply. “He’s some issues with his father. He’s the real cause of all his problems. He got inside his head and caused them to go out of control.”

“Oh?” Samson didn’t understand where this defensive streak from Arlette came from, it was not like her “who exactly would your father be?”

Trauma looked to Samson and then to Arlette who nodded her support to him. “Nightmare, king of terrors,” he shuddered as he spoke the word. “He got to me through my dreams and kept me asleep…kept me using my powers on all those around me whether I wanted to or not.”

Samson nodded slowly. He was already figuring out the best way to build a wall between Terry’s unconscious and the power controlling portion of him. Surgery? Hypnosis? Contact a trusted psychic?

He patted Terrance gently on the shoulder “You’ll be okay, trust me. We’ll get you through this.”

Later…

Samson walked from Galvin’s room shaking his head slowly. “He doesn’t want to play anymore. He just wants to be alone…could you look in on him?” he asked Etta as she stood in the doorway trying to chat normally with the others.

Leonard looked across the faces of the others who were there. Terrance was currently in a different room in the hospital talking to his mother on the phone as he awaited a visit from someone Leonard had rang.

Saleem was still sheepishly apologising to the others as he had been since the events had happened. “I’m so sorry Sally,” he spoke sadly almost grovelling. “If I’d known that we wouldn’t have made a difference I wouldn’t have put you through that…I listen to the voices too much...look at what I did to Galvin…” he broke off.

“If you hadn’t Arlette wouldn’t have been there to tell Terry to wake up,” Sally comforted. She was still dripping wet and seemed happy for it. She shuddered briefly as the memories of the flames engulfing her filled her mind.

Leonard briefly thought of how much extra therapy each of these patients was going to need and how much he truly owed them all. “If everyone is sure they’re okay for tonight I could probably do with a rest. I’ll be back first thing tomorrow to check up on everyone.”

Etta and the patients nodded and then embraced Leonard and Arlette in turn before waving them off as they walked down the corridor. “I could just teleport us from here,” she informed.

“Wait till were outside, just wanted to talk a little.” Samson nodded and smiled. “First off thank you, you helped me out in there. I was losing myself, getting wrapped up in the illusion. I don’t know how I would have gotten out if you hadn’t stopped him. How did you do it?”

Arlette looked up to him as she pushed open the door. “I just told him to wake up, I didn’t even think that it work, it wasn’t a plan just a lucky coincidence.”

“But how did you do it? I talked to the others and they all submitted as easily as I did, trapped entirely in the illusion crippled by fear. Terry said you fought from the second you saw some house he could feel you fighting with everything you had and that’s why he managed to come to you for help. You were terrified but you fought it.”

Arlette sighed, there were parts of her she guarded for a reason but after this afternoon she could feel her walls crumbling. “Firstly, I’ve cried all I’m ever going to over that place and the things that happened there. Secondly, I don’t scare easily and thirdly lets just say Trauma and I share a certain heritage, he’s not the only one ”

They stepped outside into the setting sun and Arlette gripped The Doc’s hand before he could speak again. In the next second he found himself in his apartment and felt her grip release him before she vanished.

He was alone again. He walked across his living room and opened the drinks cabinet which he barely used and poured himself a glass. He picked up a photo which sat there. It was of him, his mother and his father on his high school graduation.

He picked up both the glass and the photo and sunk slowly into the chair next to the cabinet. The tears came before the alcohol reached his lips giving it a strange salty taste as they mingled on the tip of his tongue.

Today had been one of the bad days.

The End

Next Time: Hopefully a good day…but doubtful what with a visit to The Vault to see The Purple Man and then Crusher Creel turning up and this time…well this time he wants marriage counselling if I’m honest so that wont be a problem right?