itself accordingly. Years of drinking to excess
had created a well prepared mind for it. Sitting at the bar, Andy’s
view was only of the rows of bottles in front of him and that was
the way he liked it. With a drink in his hand and a meaningless
view ahead of him he was amazed at how quickly he could ignore all
his troubles. Slowly, the rocks in his drink melted; the top one
shrunk in size and tumbled down beside the others. The familiar
jingling of cubes in the glass provided a comforting soundtrack to
his drinking. They never had enough time to melted fully however,
just enough to provide a little more water to the bourbon, giving
Andy the illusion that it tasted better the more he drank it. As he
sipped, quiet and alone, he thought about his son and if he did the
right thing leaving town.
In the city Connor was back in the
colorful, toy filled room with Doctor Frieda. Desperate to try and
re-establish a connection with the boy Frieda attempted to speak to
him again. Connor sat with another book in front of him, this time
he read a novel more appropriate for older teens as if “The
Tastiest Squirrel” was simply a book he read to get Frieda to
believe he was less intelligent than he really was.
“ Connor, I ’ll understand if you don’t want to
talk to me. But I am sorry about what happened
yesterday.”
“ Why did you feel it was ok to
lie to me?” Connor asked somberly as he placed the book face
down.
“ It was just a mistake. I
do have
nephews and nieces I read to, I just don’t have kids of my
own.”
“ Well then you should have just said that.
Would your nephew and niece be happy you lied to them?”
“ No, they wouldn’t.”
“ But you did it to me? I that
because I’m not as important to you as they are?”
“ No of course not Connor,
it’s just…”
“ It’s just that I’m a
patient, not a real person.”
From behind the glass MacNamee shook his
head.
“ He’s playing with him” he said quietly as
Crass nodded in agreement.
Connor picked his book back up and started
reading.
“ Connor …”
Frieda started
“… Don’t think that way; we all
care about you a lot here, me especially. We want to help you get
better.”
“ Funny, I’ve been hearing that a
lot today .”
Connor said from behind his book.
“ It’s true Connor, you can trust
us. You can trust me.”
Connor reluctantly put the book back down
again. He acted overly suspicious, like a mouse creeping from the
pantry trying to avoid a cat.
“ I can?” he asked timidly.
“ Yes, you can.”
“ Well I guess I must be able
to. I mean,
you got my toys for me didn’t you?
“ Yes, I did” Frieda said boldly.
From the other side of the
glass MacNamee’s eye’s widened and he breathed
heavily:
“ Oh shit!”
“ It was you wasn’t
it? ’ Connor’s
eyes focused in on Frieda “It was you who got them for
me?”
“ Yes I did Connor. I got them all
sorted out for you .”
“ Well you see; there’s another
problem.”
“ Doctor Greg told me he got the
toys for me. Him! Not you! Are you lying to me again?”
Flustered, Frieda tried his best to
answer.
“ No, I’m not lying to
you .”
“ Ah then Greg is a liar too then?”
“ Well no…you see I told him to
get them for you.”
Connor sat with the composure and patience
of a metronome.
“ Paul, you’re getting nervous. You people are
no good at telling the truth around here. How do you expect me to
trust you if everyone keeps giving me reasons not to?”
“ This kid is unbelievable!” blurted Crass “He’s
making fools out of us! Isn’t he supposed to be the sick
one?”
MacNamee stood beside his mentor trying
to compose himself. He looked hard at the older doctor before
deciding to raise a suggestion.
“ We need to give him something to
relax him. I recommend Valium .”
“ You want to drug the child just
to get a competitive advantage over him? Greg that’s not how we do
it here, we talk first .”
“ Ben, with all due
had created a well prepared mind for it. Sitting at the bar, Andy’s
view was only of the rows of bottles in front of him and that was
the way he liked it. With a drink in his hand and a meaningless
view ahead of him he was amazed at how quickly he could ignore all
his troubles. Slowly, the rocks in his drink melted; the top one
shrunk in size and tumbled down beside the others. The familiar
jingling of cubes in the glass provided a comforting soundtrack to
his drinking. They never had enough time to melted fully however,
just enough to provide a little more water to the bourbon, giving
Andy the illusion that it tasted better the more he drank it. As he
sipped, quiet and alone, he thought about his son and if he did the
right thing leaving town.
In the city Connor was back in the
colorful, toy filled room with Doctor Frieda. Desperate to try and
re-establish a connection with the boy Frieda attempted to speak to
him again. Connor sat with another book in front of him, this time
he read a novel more appropriate for older teens as if “The
Tastiest Squirrel” was simply a book he read to get Frieda to
believe he was less intelligent than he really was.
“ Connor, I ’ll understand if you don’t want to
talk to me. But I am sorry about what happened
yesterday.”
“ Why did you feel it was ok to
lie to me?” Connor asked somberly as he placed the book face
down.
“ It was just a mistake. I
do have
nephews and nieces I read to, I just don’t have kids of my
own.”
“ Well then you should have just said that.
Would your nephew and niece be happy you lied to them?”
“ No, they wouldn’t.”
“ But you did it to me? I that
because I’m not as important to you as they are?”
“ No of course not Connor,
it’s just…”
“ It’s just that I’m a
patient, not a real person.”
From behind the glass MacNamee shook his
head.
“ He’s playing with him” he said quietly as
Crass nodded in agreement.
Connor picked his book back up and started
reading.
“ Connor …”
Frieda started
“… Don’t think that way; we all
care about you a lot here, me especially. We want to help you get
better.”
“ Funny, I’ve been hearing that a
lot today .”
Connor said from behind his book.
“ It’s true Connor, you can trust
us. You can trust me.”
Connor reluctantly put the book back down
again. He acted overly suspicious, like a mouse creeping from the
pantry trying to avoid a cat.
“ I can?” he asked timidly.
“ Yes, you can.”
“ Well I guess I must be able
to. I mean,
you got my toys for me didn’t you?
“ Yes, I did” Frieda said boldly.
From the other side of the
glass MacNamee’s eye’s widened and he breathed
heavily:
“ Oh shit!”
“ It was you wasn’t
it? ’ Connor’s
eyes focused in on Frieda “It was you who got them for
me?”
“ Yes I did Connor. I got them all
sorted out for you .”
“ Well you see; there’s another
problem.”
“ Doctor Greg told me he got the
toys for me. Him! Not you! Are you lying to me again?”
Flustered, Frieda tried his best to
answer.
“ No, I’m not lying to
you .”
“ Ah then Greg is a liar too then?”
“ Well no…you see I told him to
get them for you.”
Connor sat with the composure and patience
of a metronome.
“ Paul, you’re getting nervous. You people are
no good at telling the truth around here. How do you expect me to
trust you if everyone keeps giving me reasons not to?”
“ This kid is unbelievable!” blurted Crass “He’s
making fools out of us! Isn’t he supposed to be the sick
one?”
MacNamee stood beside his mentor trying
to compose himself. He looked hard at the older doctor before
deciding to raise a suggestion.
“ We need to give him something to
relax him. I recommend Valium .”
“ You want to drug the child just
to get a competitive advantage over him? Greg that’s not how we do
it here, we talk first .”
“ Ben, with all due
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