REM

Sammy

Running down the east end hall of the psych ward, I followed the panicked screams from the woman who loved her son to the point she would die if it helped him get better. And by get better, that meant him gaining control over his gift.

By the time I had reached the end of the hall, the emergency exit doors were both swung open. I feared the worst as the screams continued, but my feet didn't stop moving.

Outside, I found the woman being dragged by an invisible force towards a large industrial garbage bin, while her son sat by the door, curled up in a ball.

"Sammy!" I barked, trying to break his hold on his mother.

In my peripheral I could see her body fall limp to the ground by a wooden gate. His hold on her was broken, but hopefully she wasn't too.

The young boy stayed in his seated position with his chin resting on his knees, his arms wrapped around his legs. I quickly jogged over to his mother who was white as a ghost, her hair all over the place.

"Mrs. Prosak, are you injured?" I asked.

"No," she replied, shaking her head slightly as I helped her to her feet.

She wrapped her arm around me as I mirrored the action to begin our slow walk back inside the building. Another doctor now stood at the door with a nurse, a needle kit in her hands.

I shook my head, calling them off from the sedation treatment they had in mind for Sammy. If they sedated him I wouldn't be able to discuss what happened with him. The only way I could help him control his outbursts was to deal with them immediately after by asking questions and taking notes. No more of this sedation bullshit everyone keeps pushing.

As they took Mrs. Prosak back inside for an examination, I stood by the emergency exit doors and looked down at the young boy. I knew he didn't mean to hurt his mother, or drag her roughly halfway across the building, but I needed him to say something more than an apology meant for her.

"Sammy..."

He sat there for a moment, then slowly looked up at me. "You know I didn't mean to, right?"

"Of course," I nodded. "You never do. And you know that's why we must have these talks, right?"

He nodded quickly, but remained on the ground.

"Tell me what triggered it this time."

Looking away from me, he seemed reluctant to open up as usual.

"Sammy. You know I hate sedating you after these episodes. Please talk so that I can help you. And help your mother. You don't want her to get hurt again do you?"

He quickly shook his head and then looked at me.

"Well then, help me prevent these outbursts from happening again."

"You can't. They won't stop."

"And how do you know that?" My eyes narrowed.

"You couldn't help the werewolf man either. I see it."

Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I tried to keep focus on my patient. He was just a young boy. One who was scared and didn't know anything about his gift. It was frustrating to say the least, but I needed to give him more time.

"He's not real, Sammy. We've been over this."

"But he is," he protested. "I see him. And you always fail to help him."

"How can I fail to help someone who doesn't exist?"

"But he does," he insisted, his tone of voice still calm.

"I don't know who you're talking about, Sammy. I'm sorry." I paused for a moment as the lights of the building hummed. "We need to focus on helping you first. You are more important than some werewolf man that isn't even real."

"Why don't you believe me?" His eyes begged for my understanding.

"Because every time you describe him, I don't recall anyone like that. I've been doing this for almost ten years now and I have never treated someone who matches that description."

"That doesn't mean he doesn't exist though."

"And what do you mean by that, Sammy?"

"What if you haven't met him yet?"

"What are you trying to say, Sammy?"

He opened his mouth, then paused, clearly thinking of how to explain things differently this time. "What if I can see the future?"

"That would be... quite astonishing."

"Would you believe me?" I stared back at him as he tried to convince me.

"Perhaps," I answered, looking up at the stars. "Sometimes the answers to things aren't so easy to explain."

"See, you do understand me."

I let out a short laugh. "Not quite, Sammy. There is still a long road ahead for us."

"How do you know? Can you see the future?"

"No, I can't. But if we keep talking about my future instead of what is happening in the present, you'll never leave this place and your mother might start to hate me."

"She won't," he assured me. "She likes it here, and so do I."

"And how would you know?" I smirked.

"She told me she does. She's happy that you are trying to help me, even if progress is slow." The young boy smiled and got to his feet.

"Sammy, this isn't supposed to be a long-term arrangement. You aren't on vacation here. This isn't meant to be fun, it's meant to be productive."

"I can still have fun."

"Does dragging your mother around the hallways count as fun?"

He hung his head in shame and mumbled, "Well, no..."

"Well then? Fun should be you leaving this place and living a life outside of a compound. You should go to fairs and eat cotton candy, play with other children, ride your bike, go on road-trips, go camping. The list of things to enjoy is long."

"And what about you?" he asked, looking back up at me.

"What about me, Sammy?"

"You should have fun too."

"I do," I assured him. "My job is something I enjoy."

"But you're not happy."

"You don't think I'm happy?"

"No..."

"Sammy, I am more than happy with my accomplishments in life. Sure, your progress is taking a lot longer than most, but I am happy to be working with you in hopes that you can one day leave this place. I will be super happy when you finally do, however, that doesn't mean I am unhappy while you are here."

He smiled.

"Let's go back inside before bugs start biting us."

Sammy walked through the doors and I closed them behind us, making sure they closed completely before punching in the lock code.

"And Sammy."

Turning around, he faced me. "Yeah?"

"If there comes a day when I do treat a werewolf man with one eye, I hope you are long gone."

"Why?"

"Because I will never hear the end of it about you being right."

Smiling, he added, "And you will know I can see the future."

"Yeah, that too... Off you go." I pointed down the hall and he immediately skipped away toward his room.