CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Warm and fuzzy.
Jude awoke to something banging against his head, as he woke up a bit more, he realised it was his brain. He wasn’t sure what had happened but whatever he was laid on was nice and comfy. He must have made it to bed then, and his head thumping like this must mean he’d had a lot to drink the previous night, which explained the memory lapse. He tried to reach up a hand to rub his head but found he couldn’t move his arm. Carefully opening his eyes he blinked in the light, everything was white…and padded. He looked around some more, more padding. He still couldn’t move his arms and looked down. His was in a strong jacket, which was wrapping his arms around him. He struggled but his arms didn’t budge within the jacket. His legs were free and he managed to sit up and look around properly. Then it dawned on him, he was in a strait jacket in a padded cell. What had happened? How did he get here? Why didn’t he feel too worried about this development? His brain felt all warm and fuzzy. He was struggling to put past events together to figure out how he’d got here. It was like thinking through treacle. He was getting flashbacks of green monsters, red dragons, flashing swords, pointed ears, swirling capes, spiders, beards. What had been going on? Why was he here? Then he had a more distant memory of coming to see a Doctor and being told monsters didn’t exist. Had he been here in this cell since then, had it all been his imagination. He had an image of a beautiful red dragon and felt sad. He laid back down again on the padded floor, his head hurt and he had a lump in his throat, but he wasn’t sure why.
Jude had no sense of time and didn’t know how long he’d lain there before a bouncer sized male nurse came and opened his door.
“How are you today, Jude?” he asked jovially. “You seem a bit more with it. Any more monster stories for me today?”
“How long have I been here?”
“Oh a few days now,” he said untying the strait jacket. Jude noticed he was in hospital pyjamas; he rubbed his arms and unconsciously felt for something tied around his neck, but there was nothing there.
“You’re not going to be any trouble now are you Jude?” his nurse asked. “Dr Anderson just wants to see you for a little chat, see how you’re doing.”
Jude felt a little dizzy as he went with the nurse who held his arm. Jude found himself being led through vaguely familiar green corridors to an office. The nurse took him inside and sat him in a chair while he himself stood in the corner behind him with his arms crossed. The room was also vaguely familiar, if spinning slightly.
Jude heard the door open and close and someone come into the room.
“Hey Jude,” a hearty voice said.
Jude wanted to inwardly cringe, but he couldn’t be bothered. Looking up he saw a grey figure he’d met before and was sure he hadn’t liked.
“How are we today, Jude? You look better, a lot calmer today, which is very good. I hope we’ve seen the last of the fighting, and raving about monsters ha, ha. Well done, Jude. I hope you’ll continue to make progress hmm?”
“Hmm.”
“You’re Mum’s here to see you. That’ll be nice won’t it Jude? She hasn’t been able to see you before because you’ve been so unsettled and quite frankly mad, ha, ha. But I can see you’ve turned a corner now and put that nonsense behind you. You’ll be good boy for your Mum now won’t you; I can tell you she’s been really worried about you. You’re very lucky to have such an understanding Mother; she just didn’t believe me when I told her you’d helped another patient escape. She was so upset, she...”
Jude felt a window of clarity in his head. “Ruby.”
“That’s right, well remembered young man. Ruby was her name. Poor girl, not at all well. It’s really not safe for her in the outside world; she has no idea who she is, how to look after herself and how things are in the outside world. Luckily we caught up with her fairly quickly before she came to any harm and found you too, raving away about monsters again. I didn’t think your problem was that serious when I first talked to you Jude, but unfortunately I was wrong, it does happen sometimes you know, ha, ha.”
“I want my Mum.”
“Of course you do, right this way, Jude. Now you’ll be a good boy won’t you, Jude, no more monster stories to scare your poor mum.” Doctor Anderson clapped Jude heartily on the back. “I’m sure we’ll soon have you back home and back to yourself, don’t you worry. Trust me I’m a doctor, ha, ha.”
Jude felt suddenly sick as he was led by the nurse out of the office and along more corridors to a visitor’s room.
The nurse led him into the room and sat him in a chair, returning to his favoured position in a corner behind him. Jude’s mum had been stood anxiously looking out of the window when Jude first walked in, but she rushed over to him.
“Jude, love, how are you?” she asked anxiously. “Are you alright? Doctor Anderson wouldn’t let me see you at first he said you were mad.” She had tears in her eyes now.
“Mum,” said Jude looking up at her, his brain still felt like cotton wool and he couldn’t think properly. “I’m so sorry.” It was the only thing he could think of to say.
“Don’t worry, love,” she sat in front of him taking his hands. “You’ll be better soon, Doctor Anderson is very hopeful for you. Hopefully you shouldn’t be here too long.”
“Mum, I want to come home.”
“I know you do, dear, but you’re not very well, and you need to get better first. You will try really hard to get better won’t you?”
“I want to come home.”
“I know you do, and I know you will try hard to get well soon, you shouldn’t be here too long. Doctor Anderson said it should only be a couple of months which is really good apparently for this sort of condition.”
“No, I’m not staying here that long.” Jude’s woolly brain was suddenly filled with as much horror as it could manage.
“It’s for your own good, dear. I’m not happy about you being in here either; I’ll miss you terribly. But you need to get better.”
“Please don’t leave me here, Mum.” Jude pleaded.
“I’m sorry Jude, I love you and I just want the best for you.”
“No,” he said a hint of panic in his voice. “I’m not staying here.”
He stood up, but before he’d taken one step anywhere he felt a solid hand on his shoulder from behind.
“Now, now Jude, calm down.”
“Get off me.” Jude tried to shake the hand off him, but it stayed firm. The nurse reached behind him and pressed a buzzer on the wall, an alarm sounded outside the room. He tried to struggle against the hand; his Mum took some steps backwards.
“Jude, please,” she said. “They’re just trying to help you.”
Through the fog in his brain Jude just knew he needed to escape, he felt sure he had somewhere to go and something to do; he just couldn’t put his finger on what. Another bouncer rushed through the door. Jude twisted sharply away from the hand and got free, but before he could move two steps both nurses had descended on him knocking him to the floor. Jude struggled, but the two nurses were no match for him, he saw the new one had a syringe in his hand, Jude struggled harder, he did not want that stuck in him. But it was no good, Jude felt a sharp prick in his arm and then a warm fuzziness surrounded him, he relaxed as he felt himself float away on a soft cloud. The nurses picked him up and took him out of the room his feet trailing like a rag doll.
“I love you, Jude, please get better soon,” he heard his mum say tearfully, but he was enjoying the floating sensation too much to care.
“Dear me, Jude,” he heard Doctor Anderson say heartily as he was dragged past him. “We’ll have to do better than this won’t we now, dear me.”
Jude was unceremoniously plonked in a comfy chair in a large sitting room with several other people in hospital pyjamas with large, white clad nurses arranged around the walls, all with their arms crossed and legs spread. Jude looked around him, that green on the walls really was a very calming colour. Something red caught his eye next to him, he slowly turn
ed his head. Sat next to him was a girl with red hair and green eyes; she had a dreamy expression on her face and was also staring around the room blankly. She seemed vaguely familiar; he turned to her and said with a drunken smile on his face. “You’re pretty.” She turned to him, gave him a blank, dreamy smile and returned to gazing into space. Jude continued to stare blankly at her, there was nothing he’d rather be doing than sit and let the warm, fuzziness wash over him.