The Mentally Ill Patient

A Story by Borden

The sounds of the barking dogs and sirens added to the cacophony on the streets on the night of February 25th wherein a famous basketball athlete who had shown his utmost talent to his fans fell from the third floor of a hotel when he tried to escape a mentally ill patient who had entered his room. A reporter rushed to the scene and tried to ask a witness: "Isn't he Daniel Haven, the famous basketball player? What happened to him?" but the witness answered : "He was not visiting me anymore. I miss him so much". Then, he just ran away. The reporter tried to get closer to the fence made of barbed wire. He managed to squeeze himself in but Daniel was already inside the ambulance. He was directly rushed to the hospital where a physician gave initial treatment for pain. The physician's order read: "Morphine sulfate 10mg subcutaneous injection every 4 hours for severe pain".

When Daniel woke up, he was in a voluptuous bed with satin sheets. With an espresso on his bedside table, he took a sip and noticed the cold air brushing his rosy cheeks. The lightly colored curtains swaying with grace just like dancing with the wind. Outside the window, he saw a field of flowers. Their fragrance reached his nostrils. As he walked out of the room, he saw a mini-library but it's not filled with books. The shelves were filled with photo albums with pictures of him and his younger brother. Shelf by shelf he took out the albums and reminisced all the times he had together with him. When he got to the bottom part of the shelf, he noticed a miniature of a hospital. He was not so sure why it was there.

Suddenly, he heard someone calling his name. He looked out the window and saw a young boy. He looked familiar to him. He went outside to talk to him. "Hi brother!" The young boy said. "It seems like you don't remember me. I was sick for two years and stayed at the hospital. You were the one who brought me there. On the first year, you visited me almost everyday but on the second year, I rarely saw you. I missed you so much. So one night, I escaped from the hospital but the nurses saw me so I threatened them by sticking out a knife. Big men tried to stop me but I ran as fast as I could still clutching out the knife. Then I reached home, I saw you standing near the window. I couldn't understand why you tried to get away from me at that time. You even asked me how I got away from the psychiatric hospital. As I got nearer you, you suddenly jumped off the window. I was so scared so I ran downstairs to see if you were alright but a huge crowd of people was gathering around and so, I wasn't able to get near you".

Daniel, realizing something, said: "You're Fred. My younger brother. Now I remember. I'm so sorry. I was busy with my new career as a basketball payer. I have to do it to pay your hospital bills. But why are we in this place? Seems like no one else is living here. When did I get out of the hospital?"

Fred replied: "Just today. Anyway, that night you had an accident, I ran away because of fear but suddenly, somebody shot me on the chest. It was those men who were after me. Suddenly, I cannot move, I lost sight and could not hear anymore. I thought I would never see you again but here you are! Welcome home brother! Welcome to heaven!"