THE ENEMY WITHIN

THE ENEMY WITHIN - Chapter 2

Nurses passed with trays of pills. A teenage guy in the same blue jumpsuit swept the floor. Max wondered what drugs would keep his demons at bay.

"This is you," Nurse Baker said, breaking out her master key and opening room 105.

Once inside, Max tried to stand, but his legs betrayed him and he crumpled into the wall. Nurse Baker moved to help him. Garner shook his head. "You've been through quite an ordeal. Disorientation is normal."

"Normal," Max repeated with a laugh as he found his footing. He went to the window and tried to open it. After a few attempts he realized it was key-locked.

"Tomorrow, we'll get a schedule for you and help you settle in."

"I'm not staying," Max said as he fell on the bed. He had to admit, the mattress was more comfortable than the one he had at Donald's house.

Doctor Garner crossed the room and took a seat in the wooden chair. "I think we need to begin with a reality check." He paused as if waiting for Max to say something. "You attempted to take your own life. Whatever your justification may have been, I can't let you out until I feel you're no longer a threat to yourself. This is the Hanover Institute. It's a facility for teenagers to recover from drug addiction and other issues ... and you will be staying for some time." Garner rose and walked back to the doorway. "This may not matter, but I'm looking forward to getting to know you, Max." Doctor Garner turned the wheelchair around and pushed it out.

Nurse Baker smiled. "You're in luck, tonight's Make your own Burritos," she said, and then followed Doctor Garner.

A small desk stood on the far side of the room that looked like it had been there since the 50's. Three blue jumpsuits hung in the open closet. Underneath them was a pair of white sneakers that he'd noticed all the other patients wearing.

Then he saw the camera on the ceiling. Someone was always watching. Let them, he thought as he closed his eyes. He slept through Burrito night.

*

The eggs were watery and the toast was burnt. But after being fed with an I.V. line, food tasted pretty good that morning. Max sat in Hanover's cafeteria at an empty table and took in his surroundings.

At the neighboring table two girls sat with a guy he'd seen throwing the Frisbee. They whispered and pointed in his direction. Max looked away; he wasn't looking for friends in the land of broken toys. Then again, the suicidal homeless kid might not be welcome in too many social circles either.

The carousel image lingered at the edge of his mind. He'd never been there, never seen it before, but it called to him like a beacon in the darkness. He put the thought aside as Nurse Baker approached.

Her narrow eyes focused on Max like a sparrow targeting her worm. "If you're about done, may I steal you away for a bit?" she said.

"I have other plans," he said.

"I'm sure you do, but perhaps you could make an accommodation for me. If you please?" She motioned for him to follow.

A couple orderlies watched their exchange from the doorway. Wherever Nurse Baker intended on taking him, they would make sure he arrived. He took a last bite of eggs and pushed the tray aside. "Just this once."

*

Pebbles along the pathway crunched under their feet. The air was still beneath the pale gray sky. "So what are you into? What do you like to do?"

Max almost laughed. "Do you really care?"

"This may surprise you, but yes. I'm wondering what you're missing out on while you're here." She opened the door to an administration building.

Max followed past the library to an empty classroom. The walls were covered with inspirational posters. Surprisingly, they didn't have one with a cat clinging to a ledge, Hang in there.

There were six test packets on a desk and a stack of blue books. He stared at them thinking how odd it was that he was being tested after trying to off himself. "What's this?"

"A test. Take as much time as you need. I'll be in the library whenever you're ready." Nurse Baker started for the door then looked back. "Don't be upset if you don't know all the answers, we just need to have a sense where you are."

"Look, if you really want to help, just let me out. That's how you can save me" Max said. "Anything else, you're making it worse."

Nurse Baker's face softened. "Aw, sweetie, not a chance in hell. Now, I believe History is the first subject, but you can do them in whatever order you like," she said before closing the door.

It was probably not the first time she heard a plea like that. Without even realizing it at first, his fingers went to the base of his neck and felt the surface. How long did he have until the next vision - three hours? Maybe four?

He tried to take his mind off the inevitable. With nothing else to do, Max went over to the desk and sat down. Someone had carved 'Lyle wasn't here' into the surface. He wondered if Lyle was still not here.

There wasn't any point in answering their questions. As soon as he found a way out, he'd take it. Although ... he was curious what they asked. Most of his time at school he'd faded into the background - no one liked the kid who knew all the answers.

Max picked up the history exam. By noon he'd finished three subjects and worked through Calculus when Nurse Baker peeked in with a ham & cheese sandwich.

"You can take a break," she said, putting it beside him.

"Mmhmm," Max mumbled while he kept writing. He paused long enough to take a bite, wishing there was a little mustard, then went back to it. Answers swam before his eyes faster than he could get down on the page. There was a beauty in mathematical equations - an undeniable truth. No matter how complex, there was always a solution, unlike life, which consisted of little more than choices between lesser evils.

The sprinklers caught his attention. Water splashed against the nearby windowpane. Max glanced outside and noticed the wrought-iron gate nearby. This building was the one closest to it. He got up and studied the view. There wasn't any sign of orderlies patrolling the grounds. Taking another bite of the sandwich, he looked back at his unfinished exam. Well intentioned as Nurse Baker or Doctor Garner might be, they couldn't possibly understand what they were dealing with. Time to go.

Unlike in his room, this window slid open with the slightest effort. He slipped through the open frame and dropped to the wet ground. Then Max bolted across the great lawn. The new sneakers felt stiff. He wished he had his old Converse, which had practically molded to his feet. A turn of the next sprinkler head drenched Max as he raced by, but he barely noticed as he raced to the row of hedges ahead. Like an Olympic hurdler, he cleared the bushes without losing a stride. Fifty more yards and he'd be over the gate.

A maple with low-hanging branches stood before the barred wall. He'd scramble up the tree and drop down on the far side. Hopefully the soft ground would cushion his fall. He might twist an ankle, but he'd survived worse. A low branch loomed nearer, beckoning him to freedom as he leapt.

He never made it. A wall of muscle hit Max like a freight train. He was crushed into the dirt. One orderly held him down while another injected a sedative. "Just be cool, it's almost over," one of them said.

"No," Max said as the drug took effect and hefelt himself sinking away. "It won't ever end."