Make it Stop

Tessi would do anything to save her little brother, but by saving him, she also condemned him to forever reside within the institute.

 

She sat in a cold, clean office, keeping one arm wrapped around her brother tightly. He shook in his seat, his face contorted into fear. He slapped at himself, digging his nails into his skin as if trying to free something beneath it. Streaks of blood followed his fingers as he opened up old wounds as well as new ones. She pulled him in tighter, trying to protect him with her thin frame.

            “It’s alright Louis.” She grabbed both of his hands, holding them still against her chest. “It’s going to be okay.”

            Louis bit into his lip, struggling to get his hands back. She fought to keep them in her grasp, trying to stop any further damage. She sandwiched his arms between her side and his, grabbing tissues off the desk in front of them. She ran them over his arms and legs, cleaning away the blood only to have more pool into the cuts.

            “They’re inside of me Tessi, I just know it.” He muttered, burying his face against like when he was a child. Louis had always depended on his sister to help him through all his troubles. This had been no different. Two years ago he came to her, telling her he has some sort of insect living inside of him. She had dropped everything to take him into a hospital, where they were told nothing was wrong.

            But Louis insisted, so she spent more and more money on all the best hospitals, all of them telling her the same thing. Louis didn’t have a parasite, but yet he still behaved as if there was something living under his skin. Tessi didn’t want to resort to this, but she had been given no choice. The institute was the only logical step to take. Louis had fought her, but in the end he caved, desperate to rid himself of whatever was ailing him.

            The doctor they had spoken with had been sweet and friendly, doing everything she could to make them comfortable. She had spent an hour speaking with Louis, and another forty five minutes with Tessi before leaving them together in the office to speak with other specialists. Tessi was anxious, hoping they could tell her what had happened to her brother. She wanted them to fix it, to rescue him and make him the happy man he used to be.

            She was thirsty, but didn’t dare release Louis to grab the glass that had been given to her when they arrived. He dug his fingers into his palms and she could feel the warm droplets gather onto the side of her dress. “Please Louis, just calm down, they’re going to help you.”

            “They need to help me now!” he wailed, pulling against Tessi once more, harder this time. She barely managed to keep her hold on him. “I can’t take this anymore.” He started to breathe heavily, letting out angry grunts every few seconds as panic set in. Tessi pulled him closer, forcing his head into her lap as she stroked his hair gently, humming a lullaby to sooth him.

            “Hush little brother, you will be alright. I promise.” She ran her fingers through his dark hair, treating him just like the lost little boy he’d been when their mother died.

            The door behind them swung open and Tessi turned to greet the doctor, never stopping her soft cooing towards her brother. “We think we have a diagnosis for your brother Miss Shankland.” She said softly, settling into her large chair behind the desk.

            “What’s wrong with him?” Tessi released her brother and he shot up, immediately scratching at his arms once more. “Oh Louis, you have to stop that.” She went to stop him, keeping one eye on the doctor as she waited for an answer.

            “Delusional Parasitosis ma’am. He truly believes that he has something living inside him.” The doctor was clinical, emotionless as she gave the description. “We would like to enter him into the institution for observation. He will require a lot of changes in his life to facilitate his recovery and we feel it will be best to go through those changes here. It is a controlled environment, where we can alter things as we see fit.”

            Tessi looked at her brother, discomfort settling into her pretty features. “How long will he be here?” she muttered, keeping her voice steady, but barely.

            “As long as it takes.” The doctor laces her fingers together and lays them on the desk. “But I can assure you that our facilities are the best in the country, he will be well cared for.”

            Tessi grabbed her brother and pulled him tightly to her, no longer worried about stopping his hands. “I suppose there is no other way.” She kept Louis there, against her as she spoke to the doctor.

            The doctor smiled, grabbing a set of papers off her desk. “As his only family, we need your consent to admit him. You’ll need to sign here.” The woman offered a pen to Tessi, and without hesitation she signed the paperwork.

*   *   *

            Dr. Kovach came out of her office with a smile on her face. Dr. Greenlie and Dr. Laidler stood outside waiting for her. “So what’s the boy’s condition?” Greenlie asked softly, looking toward the office door. “I’ve been fascinated by him the second they came in the door.”

            “He thinks he has something crawling under his skin.” Kovach’s smile broadened. “We have nothing like him anywhere else in the building, it’s brilliant.”

            Laidler smiled along with her. “This is perfect, do you think the sister will admit him?”

            Kovach shrugged. “She’s very protective of him, hasn’t stopped holding him since they got here. But I have a feeling I can convince her it’s the only way to fix him.” She led the other doctors toward the head’s office. She knocked on the open door, swinging it open to reveal the institute’s founder hunched over his desk. “You aren’t going to believe this Sir.” She beamed, walking right up to place her hands on his desk.

            “What have you got?” he cocked a brow at her, setting her papers down in front of him. “It better be good.”

            “Delusional Parasitosis.” Greenlie butt in, always eager to show off her diagnostic abilities.

            Kovach turned to her and rose her lips in a half snarl. “They came into my office to see if something could be done for him. He’s been to all the best hospitals, the sister inherited a large sum of money when her husband past and can more than pay the hefty fee.”

            “And we don’t have another patient with the disorder?” The founder questioned, looking between the three doctors.

            “Not a single one.” Kovach leaned back and crossed her arms triumphantly. “He’s so far gone that even proper care would take months, maybe even years to cure him.”

            “Admit him at once, what are you even doing here? You should have already had him in a ward by now.” The founder returned to his work, pointing out the door. “Go on, stop wasting time.”

            The three of them backed out and Kovach walked quickly back to her office. She slipped inside slowly, returning a stoic expression to her face. “We think we have a diagnosis for your brother.” The words rolled easily off her tongue as she walked around to her desk, using the term that the girl would never understand.

            When the sister caved and asked for the paperwork Kovach smiled once more, gathering everything off her desk. She was amazing how easy it was of Tessi to sign away her brother’s life like this, but then again, she didn’t realize that Louis would never be coming home. The institute would be all he knew from here on out, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.