The Final Test

Word count: 744
"This facility definitely feels new wave, you know, state of the art," the new girl said to me as we walked along the corridor to the "recently admitted" ward.

"Well, the proprietors wish to keep the public areas as devoid of stimuli as possible. The patients already have enough...distraction already, if you know what I mean."

"But they are in such a fragile state," the newbie replied.

Boy, is this one is in for a rude awakening! I chuckled.

"What's so funny?" She gave me a wide-eyed, school-girl look.

"Nothing. Here we are patient No. 14743. He hasn't been keeping his meds down, so we're going to have to stay and babysit this one for a while. I'll help you administer his medication, then you can stay and make sure he doesn't spit them up or vomit them out. He cannot leave your sight for ten minutes. No going to the bathroom. If he needs another cup of water, the answer is no. Are we clear?"

The young girl stood resolutely. "Yes, ma'am. I'm ready."

I've had to admit, she's got gumption. Let's see what happens. I thought, if she passes this test, the rest of the job will be a breeze!

So we entered the room, and Larry was staring at the wall.

"Looks like he's catatonic today. This should be an easy assignment for you."

We headed over to his bed and I called to him, "Larry, I have a new pretty girl with me to give you your medicine. Now, don't be rude. Turn around so she can see you."

Larry's wasn't listening to me, so we went around the bed.

"Hi Larry," Miss Perky put on her warmest smile as we came face to face with Mr. Harmless (ha, ha).

No response so I got his medicine and water.

"Are you going to take it on your own, or am I going to have to feed it to you today?"

Apparently, Larry didn't like the idea of me feeding him, so he held out his hand.

"That's good, Larry!" The new girl seemed excited. I thought she was going to throw him a bone. God, the new ones made me laugh.

So after we gave him the meds, I told my trainee, "The hard part is over. He's taken the meds. Now all you have to do is sit here and watch him. Don't let him out of your sight."

There is no TV in Larry's room, but the newbie decided she'd read to him while she was there. I tried to tell her that it wouldn't matter, but she said, "It will pass the time and maybe some of it will get through to him." Whatever, I decided.

So, she had her magazine and I had my next patient to take care of.

"I'll be back in ten minutes."

Well, maybe old Bud will let me watch the security camera with him, I thought. Sometimes he would let me come in and watch. Bud liked breaking the rules from time to time. Besides, patient No. 14744 wasn't going anywhere.

Bud sneaked me in the camera room and pulled up Larry's room. Nothing was really going on. "Looks like she's reading to a baby," Bud snorted.

"Yeah, well she may as well be. He's being extremely kind to her. Maybe he likes the pretty ones. Lord knows he's given me hell on more than one occasion!"

Then, there was a flash in front of the camera. Larry was off the bed, and the screen went blank.

"He pulled the camera out of the wall." Bud was out the door before I could blink.

When we got to the room, I could see Larry pacing back and forth in front of the door through the window.

"Larry, what have you done? Where is your nurse?"

He looked up at us and I thought his head might start spinning like that girl in "The Exorcist."

"She's over there." He sounded more like an animal than a human. I swore he growled at us.

Our eyes followed his motion. The new girl lay frozen on the floor, her eyes looking at a horror we will never see.

"She said she wanted to get to know me. Stupid bitch! No one's getting inside of my head."

That's when I felt a sharp pain in my back. I guess this was a test I wasn't going to pass either.