The large
male nurse walked as if it was the most normal place in the world. Esther
followed closely, looking sometimes at the windows to sea the weather outside
but also to the side, where she could see some other windows but these gave
views into the room of several of the residents of the psychiatric hospital.
Some of them were apparently silent but when she passed other rooms, it was
easy to hear strange sounds like bumping or slapping or strange mouth noises.
The weather
outside had turned worse in the last few minutes. The sky had been dark all day
but the first drops of rain had finally begun to drop. Esther thought it was
maybe the best weather for such a day, for such a visit. The reached another
gate, where she had to show some ID and a guard checked her for anything that
couldn’t be allowed inside. She didn’t really know what those objects were, but
she didn’t mind at all.
Her purse had
stayed behind, at the first gate. Also her car keys, her house keys, her
cellphone and a knitting kit she carried everywhere because it made her feel a
lot calmer. The only thing she was able to carry inside was a plastic bag with
some chocolate bars inside as well as banana muffins and a bottle of iced tea.
They had wanted to open the bottles to check it was really iced tea, but an
officer had stated she trusted Esther. Apparently she understood what a mother
would feel in such a circumstance.
When they were
done checking her bag again, they walked through another corridor but this one
was short and ended up in a large room that was filled with people. The place
was very warm and she noticed it was because of the amount of people there.
Immediately, she could tell all of them were patients of the hospital. Some of
them were blankly staring at nothing in particular. Others were playing by
themselves or watching the TV, where a man was explaining to the audience how
butterflies mated.
The male nurse
told Esther to wait inside a small room besides the recreation area. It was a
small space with a table and two chairs. She sat down in one of the chairs and
realized the table had two metallic hooks of some kind, small, possibly to tied
down the patients in order for them no to attack or anything. She thought that
was awful and decided not to think about it because the image in her mind was
horrible.
The room also
had a small window and she decided to stand up, leaving the bag on the table,
in order to look out the window and not think about the horrible things that
maybe happened in that room, or for the matter, in that hospital. She already
felt guilty and imagining situations she didn’t know about, was really not
necessary.
Her son entered
the room, followed by the male nurse. She turned around when she heard his
voice saying “Mama”. Esther walked to him and huge him as strong as she could
and he did the same. They hadn’t seen each other in two weeks, since he had
been interned in the hospital by order of a court that had decided that Kevin,
Esther’s son, had to undergo psychiatric evaluation and, if necessary, rehabilitation
in a psychiatric facility. And that was exactly what had happened.
They let go of
each other and sat down in the two chairs. The male nurse stayed there, by the
door, leaning against the wall and pretending he wasn’t hearing anything but it
was obvious he was. He had no option. Nevertheless, he had done exactly that
for so many years already, that he had learned when he had to be listening and
when he could just wander into his brain and imagine what he was going to have
for dinner at home or what kind of car he wanted to have.
Esther told
Kevin his hands were very cold and asked him if he was eating properly. The
boy, around seventeen years old, told her the food there was pretty okay and
that she shouldn’t worry about it. She didn’t really listened to him. She just
turned her bag upside down and showed her son all the treats she had brought
him. Esther smiled to Kevin and he smiled back but it was obvious he was sad or
at least not as happy as she was pretending to be.
They decided to
eat the big banana muffins first and the nurse’s stomach growled because of the
delicious smell. Esther offered him a bite but he just raised his hand and
moved his face, so she didn’t insisted. She asked Kevin if everything was okay
with him, if he felt good there, if there was anything he wanted to tell her
about it all. He took his time to answer, preferring to eat his banana muffin,
which had been his favorite since he was very little.
Kevin said to
her mother that everyone in the hospital was very nice and that the only bad
thing so far was that his room was a bit cold but he slept well with some two
blankets and a thick quilt of top of them. She said she could bring more if he
wanted it but he just said no and went on to finish his muffin. She ate too but
she was more worried about her son. She didn’t know what to ask or how to ask.
But she had to.
She had no choice but ask things. Esther’s next question was about the
medication they were giving him. Kevin told her he took a couple of pills
everyday to control his anxiety issues and that he took others for physical
problems like his blood pressure and such, because it was always very elevated.
She nodded when he said that, as she tried to build in her head what that meant
for him. Was he getting worse or better?
Kevin took the
chocolate bar next and smiled. It was a weird smile, as he didn’t even know how
to do it. And it lasted only a few seconds. He felt the deep scent of the
chocolate and took a bite. It was also filled with oranges, which he loved. He
thanked his mother and kept eating it, until he reached half of the bar. His
mother told him he could have some for later but then he looked at her and, out
of the blue, laughed at her. His eyes appeared to transform and his laugh was
so exaggerated, she felt bad to say what she had said.
The male nurse
looked at Kevin first and then stated that the patients couldn’t keep anything
from the outside in their rooms, no even food. Kevin pointed at the nurse and
nodded, indicating he was telling the truth. He told his mother that she should
have known that, if she had come earlier to visit him. Esther felt hurt by that
but explained to him that they wouldn’t let her in because his treatment had
not being properly initiated so they didn’t want her to spoil it.
Kevin just
nodded and it was obvious he didn’t care one bit about what his mother was
saying. He didn’t believe her and told her that the first week had been
horrible, with all the people there crazier than anyone else in the world and
the doctors pinching and poking and asking and everything going on and on every
single day. He felt tired every night and in the morning it would begin again
and the cycle would repeat, of course, with the horrible therapy that he went
through.
Esther was
horrified because he had transformed before her very eyes. He asked her if she
knew what the therapy was all about. Before she could deny that she knew, he
explained to her that they put him on a chair, with restraints, and made him
answers questions and look at pictures and videos and tried to understand what
hade being going on at the time he had killed the children in playground. They
wanted to know why he had killed three of them.
The nurse got
nearer but didn’t intervene. This time, he was listening carefully. Esther was
on the edge of tears, trying to ask for forgiveness about him being there and
also asking her son not to say anything else about he did.
And then he
punched the table and told her that was him that’s who he really was and that
she had to accept that she had a son who was a murderer and that had enjoyed
it. He was hysteric, not laughing or crying, just yelling to make his point be
seen. Kevin told his mother that even now, he thought back about it all and
even then he enjoyed it. He had taken pleasure out of it and he had no remorse.
He stood up
fast and the nurse was going to grab him but he had no need to do that, as
Kevin went through the door by himself, and on to his room. The nurse told
Esther to go back to the gate and tell the guard there that her visit was over.
But when the nurse went away, she couldn’t stand up. She looked at the food
there on the table and then repeated her son’s words in her brain and she just
couldn’t understand, she couldn’t.
What had ever
happened to her baby boy?
