"Alright class, here we have case number 0100205. Upon induction to the ward, patient displayed symptoms of malnutrition, fatigue, and dehydration. Patient displays agitated behavior and experiences hallucinations. No family history is on record and no immediate family. Who would like to take this one?"
The group of timid students fidgeted as the professor eyed the crowd. Crammed into the hall, the students continued to focus on the man behind the glass, sitting in a barren room that provided only the base requirements to be considered a living space. The man returned their curiosity with a pale lifeless stare.
"Doctor, does the patient display any signs of impaired speech or social anxiety?" a feminine voice called from the group.
"No, Lilly, the patient is perfectly coherent and shows none of the psychological detachment associated with Schizophrenia. The patient's episodes are induced by the lack of a social presence and are only seen when the patient believes himself to be alone. This has led us to also rule out any diagnosis of bi-polar disorder as it is characterized by a rapid shift in mood. Upon realization that he is alone, the patient simply develops a more sever state of depression and paranoia, but retains this psychological state regardless of his surroundings."
"Has the patient experienced any significant trauma proceeding these episodes?" another voice inquired.
"conclusively, we do not know. The patient has no emergency contacts and was taken into custody after he refused to leave a cemetery. The police report that the grave had been recently filled, though the girl occupying it had no records and was likely an illegal alien. Through our surveillance of the subject, we have been able to determine that the two were most likely lovers."
"So then is the patient suffering from a case of severe depression onset by grief?"
"Very good Jullian, yes our patient has had an extremely traumatic experience, causing the patient develop a case of severe depression. The patient does not act on his body's impulses to obtain food and water, causing his malnutrition and in turn causing his hallucinations."
"What does he hallucinate professor?" Lilly inquired once again.
"When the subject is left alone, he believes that someone is in the room watching him, causing him to panic. We believe that the subject's grief has caused him to associate the lack of a social presence with being alone. Alone in the sense that he may never be able to interact with another person again. This frightens him because he is unable to recognize that being alone does not mean that he will always be alone. Does that answer your question? Now the next patient...."
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John sat in his chair, starring at the young students as they, in turn, studied him. He didn't mind, so long as they were there. Then she wouldn't come for him. Just so long as he wasn't alone, he would be safe. The group's focus continued to shift between John and their instructor as he sat in silence until the students began shuffling out of view.
Wait! The students were leaving.. the group was moving on. That meant that he would be alone...
Already he could feel someone in the room with him.
"Why do you do this to me?" John asked.
He knew the figure wouldn't answer him; it never did. John knew the figure was there, though. He could see it standing by the wall out of the corner of his eye. He sat there as he attempted to discern its shape.
John couldn't quite tell but surmised that it was a woman by the contours of its gray tinged body, all smooth curves without any texture. No matter how hard he tried, though, he could never discern its face. It was as if the figure had no face to be seen, like the thing itself was nothing more than a blank pallet pulled over a skeleton to make it seem human. He could take it's presence no more.
"Someone please, help me?" he whispered.
'No one is coming to help you, John.'
"Leave me alone!" Turning as he shouted at the figure, he came to find himself shouting at the blank white wall. The figure could be seen out of the corner of his eye, once again mocking his attempts to confront it. His head spun from the effort and he cursed the medication that caused his nauseating dizziness.
As he turned towards the figure once again, he found himself looking at one of the young students in the window. Relief washed over him as the woman, a look of gentle concern furrowing her brow as she continued to study him.
She was attractive, although any thought of sex had long left John's mind. He could tell that she wasn't one of the nurses, who wore the standard scrubs, or a doctor, who would be adorned in a pristine white lab coat. Instead she wore street clothes, a pair of dark gray pants and a conservative white sweater gracing her slender figure. A name tag dangled from her neck, Lilly.
Roberta, one of the staffed nurses approached the young woman. He couldn't hear what the two were talking about, nor did he care. So long as they were there, he would be safe from her. He once again relaxed into his chair as the two continued to converse.
The door to his bare room opened and Roberta, accompanied the monotone voice of his Doctor echoing through the halls.
"Alright John, its time for your medication." The nurse, an middle aged redheaded woman, presented two white paper cups to the man, one filled with water while the other contained a rainbow cocktail of pills. Mechanically he forced his hand to grasp the cup of medication then proceeded to knock the pills back and wash them down with the provided water. After finishing his task, he opened his mouth to the woman, waggling his tongue to show that he had indeed ingested his proscribed meal.
A rap on the door brought the pair's attention to the young woman in the doorway. Her name tag read Lilly.
"Mam, do you mind if I speak with the patient?"
"Go right ahead honey, but be careful what you wish for. This young man will talk your ear off once he gets started, isn't that right Johny?"
John's blank stare did nothing to diminish the smile on his care-giver's face. Her warmth continued to peak through the crack of the door as it softly glided shut.
"Hello John, my name is Lillian Mathus. I'm a student of Dr. Collins and I wanted to ask you a few questions." She extended a hand in greeting but John ignored the gesture and continue to stare blankly as the woman introduced herself. She reluctantly allowed her hand to fall to her side as she realized that he would not recognize her gesture.
"I understand that Dr. Collins has begun a music therapy program for you, are you enjoying your sessions?" Lilly continued undaunted by his muteness. "I really enjoy listening to music when I'm feeling down, after all they say that music is the language of emotion."
The two sat in silence as the minutes passed by. Eventually, another rap came upon the door as Dr. Collins, proceeded by his paunch stomach, entered.
Dr. Collins looked all of a distinguished physician. His gray specked hair combed over his aged and wrinkled forehead. A pair of spectacles rested on the brim of his nose, his eyes piercing through them in order to view his patient.
"Hello John, how are we feeling today." the physician inquired. His questions were met with the same blank expression the dominated John's face throughout his time with the young medical student.
"I see you've met our lovely miss Lilly, have you two been enjoying each other's company?"
"Yes, very much so." Lilly answered for them both, a genuine smile flashing across her face. " We were just talking about his therapy sessions, and I was about to mention the program we had discussed."
"Oh, well, alright then. Lilly please inform John of your proposal."
"John, we know that you have been feeling really lonely these last few weeks, and so we decided to induct you into the animal therapy program. Tomorrow, I am going to introduce you to a new friend that is going to keep you company for a little while. Does that sound like it might interest you?" Lilly explained.
John, a small change in his expression remained mute, he eyes slowly examined the woman's face, though she knew not what he searched for.
"That settles it then, John. Tomorrow will bring a new day for you, you'll see. Lilly, we have a few other patients to attend to yet." Dr. Collins held the door open for the young woman.
"Don't go." the faintest of whispers came, roughly, from Johns throat.
"We talked about this John, it will be alright. We have cameras watching you and if you need anything, you are never alone."
The pair exited the room, a look a anxiety tinting Lilly's forced smile.
The door had barely shut before the figure appeared in the corner of his eye. A feeling a panic consumed John, only to be replaced by a need to shut his eyes. The medication was taking effect. He stood and walked over to his bed, laying down only to feel the presence at his back. Sleep came to him with frightening ease, but all the while he could feel the presence at his back.
'You are alone'
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John sat in his chair while listening to the explanation of the tests he was about to undertake. He didn't care, so long as it meant that Lilly would stay with him.
The test consisted of a series of personality questions, numbering in the hundreds. By the time that the test had been completed, John almost considered the student's presence more of a hassle than a blessing but, then again, once he thought on what was waiting for him, he reconsidered the notion.
"Finally done?" Lilly inquired in her cheerful tone. John remained silent, feeling betrayed by the woman's description of the program he would be entered into.
"I'd like you to meet your new friend." the student continued, offering what seemed to be a Bluetooth headset to the young man. He took the small device and placed it into his ear; a familiar voice whispered across the channel.
"John?"
A tear slid down johns face, shock and awe mingled with disbelief.
"Eva?"
Reality quickly took control of John's emotions as he ripped the device from his ear.
"This isn't possible! What are you playing at?" he shouted at the perplexed doctors. "She's dead!"
"John, what spoke to you was a program designed to communicate with you in a way that will help you to recover from your trauma. No, the woman on the other end of that device is not who you think she is, but she can help you now to recover. Now, please calm down." Dr. Collins assured the man as he bent to recover the device.
"Eva may be dead, but maybe she is the only one who can talk you out of the state you are in. The program chose her voice for a reason, it is up to you to decide what happens next."
John, still reeling from the shock, stood for a moment and stared at the device in the doctor's hand.
"Eva..."
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