Mini-fiction by John Iwaniec aka taxigringo

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Knorge Goes to the Hospital by Taxigringo

John was led by two policemen to the nice facility that Dr. Belfiori said had nice people who would help him. The policemen where sympathetic to poor John's plight, but showed a court order and tried to assure John that it was just for observation. Everything would be fine.A curious thing happened. Anxiety mounted and a desperation set in. John, so peaceful and respectful to all authority, went through a primal change. Completely uncharacteristic of his nature, he began cussing and cursing and thrashing wildly. The rear door of the Ford Crown Victoria was kicked so hard that the upper part sprung open four inches. The police who initially felt that John was a gentle victim of psychiatric capriciousness reversed their opinion of the situation. "Knorge! Knorge! Knorge!" John screamed hysterically. Officer Morales was becoming uncomfortable. Officer Cult tried to calm things down. "Who is this Knorge you're calling for.""Ayiiieeee!" It was officer Morales' turn to scream. The cruiser was going out of control as he aimed his 10mm Glock erratically and fired several rounds. Culp knocked the gun from his hand. The Crown Vic stalled in a ditch. Morales ran from the vehicle like a man chased by the devil.Culp, momentarily bewildered, searched frantically for what caused his partner to go berserk. His pulse raced as he looked at John in the back seat. John was now quite calm and said, "What do we do now?" He had his hand over his lap as if he were cuddling an invisible dog.Police photographers and accident investigators showed up first. The radio communications aroused the curiosity of all listeners and every non-committed officer arrived shortly along with plenty of media crews trying to figure out what was causing so much commotion. It would take some time to settle on an account that would not make them a laughing stock nor liable for a lawsuit from John.Officer Morales was found on top of a van still shaking with fright. Meanwhile John was taken to Metropolitan Hospital, to the psychiatric ward of course. It was not so nice. Neither where the people.Double steel doors with wire embedded glass panes closed after entering. Three police officers held John down on a gurney as a technician locked down his arms and legs with heavy nylon straps. Shortly thereafter, Officer Morales was brought in and immediately given a sedative. It would be a long night for the Chief of Psychiatry.An orderly brought a radio phone to Dr. Mahaney. "Dr. Belfiori is on the line for you." Mahaney took the phone. "What is the situation with this Mr. John.""I think we have found a genuine code black. The patient is a veteran. Naturally the V.A. will want to take over. I recommend you stall them until I get there. Medicate the patient immediately. 300 milligrams of Thorazine, 50 milligrams of Resperdal and 15 milligrams Artane. I'm on the way.""That is a tall order. You had better be sure this is a code Black."Dr. Mahaney led Dr. Belfiori to his office that was free of surveillance objects.Belfiori wasted no time with courtesies but went right to the heart of the matter. "This man is not only able to project his fantasies on others, but also do so remotely without his actually willing it. It is a perfect case of my theory of Psychological Resonance in Mass Populations. You now have in your care a policeman that became hysterical. Question the man and I believe you will discover that the object of his hallucination is a giant cockroach two feet long." A woman was running down the hall screaming and when Mahaney looked out the door he recognized her as one of the psychiatric nurses. "I think that we have a problem." Belfiori had already surmised the situation and a fearful look fell over his face. "I told you to completely sedate the patient with Resperdal and Thorazine," he barked at Mahaney.Mahaney returned, "The man was under before you even arrived here. What now genius?"Dr. Belfiori was holding back an anxiety that threatened complete panic. His mind raced and vacillated between trying to understand the phenomenon and making a decision to avoid disaster. "Give him to the V. A.. Quickly!" Induce a chemical coma. Now!"Belfiori's anxiety was infecting Mahaney and now it was Mahaney's turn to vacillate between following Belfiori's order and the possibility that it was Belfiori who was losing his mind. At his professional level the loss incurred by making the wrong choice was substantial. Another orderly succumbed to the strange panic. There would be an investigation and consequences if he just dumped this developing maelstrom into the V. A. Hospital without....Mahaney looked aghast at Belfiori who was now standing on the desk with large beads of perspiration on his face. For the first time in his life he was able to empathize with psychotic patients.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home