'Steady, steady Mr. Hall. Be still, it won't hurt', said Dr. Haywell, my orthopaedic doctor. He was removing my plaster. He was trying to console me the way he had when he had plastered my arm. The only difference is that I was more worried and afraid about my arm during the plastering process and now the tension was a little less.
'Thank you, doc', I said as he successfully freed me of my tribulation.
'Oh, that's my duty Mr. Hall and now you are completely free to use your hand. For the fees you may have a chat with my secretary Lucy'
'Yeah, sure sir'
Bidding Dr. Haywell a goodbye, I went out of his chamber, met Lucy and after paying off the fees to her, I came out of the Central Dispensary building. Then I boarded the bus to get back home.
I got seated at the seat against the second last window. The journey was going to be long. It was a 16 miles journey. I was feeling glad at the feeling of getting my hand free again after three months but there also was a fear which had made a place somewhere at some corner of my heart. A lot of things had happened in these three months, not with me but with Larry. I had shifted in to Larry's last month to take better care of him. His mental condition had worsened emphatically. According to him, his nightmares were getting more and more real and terrifying. I could see him hallucinating a lot. Last month, I saw him talking to himself when I suddenly entered his room to give him soup. When I asked him who was he talking with, he said that it was his friend. He had also developed a habit of sleepwalking. A couple of weeks back, he had tried to hit me with a vase in his sleep when I was working on my laptop. It missed and when the vase fell on the Lino flooring, its breaking sound made Larry to come back to his senses. He looked stupefied. He had moved into depression furthermore in these months. He had lost his smile. I don't remember when I last saw him laugh.
Ahh! I can recall! -- It was at the party at Fred's, the night when he had visited the ominous mansion.
I leaned more towards the window and my vision got fixed on a small child who was holding the hands of his mother and eating a chocolate. That somehow got me to smile as it made me remember of my mother who was back there at Kyland. I would always hold her hands like that whenever she took me to the local supermarket. I used to clasp her hands more tightly on crowdy streets.
I miss you mom
Coming back to Larry, the previous night was really tormenting. Some time around midnight, I heard some noise coming from Larry's room. I ran to his room and saw Larry lying there on the ground. He was looking horrific and violent. He was breaking stuffs of his room one by one. When I reached out to him and tried to stop him, he shoved me away and that was not at all gentle. I fell down which was nothing less than a crash. I stood up and tried to have control over him but now he tried to harm me. He was growling like a wolf. He punched me on my face and then kicked me hard on my tummy. I jerked back, then retracing my steps, I got hold of Larry by his long hair. He looked ferocious. It seemed as if he was possessed by someone. He snarled at my face and screamed in my ears, grasping my neck. As a counter, I gave him a hefty blow on his face, which made him collapse on the ground.
I had not experienced any nightmares since that night. But the nightmares of Larry were giving me butterflies in the stomach. They were becoming worse day by day. Every time he slept, he would wake up agonizingly after his dream filled with anguish. In every dream he would die a painful death. His agonies were making me frightened now. Now, the mental stress had started to take a toll on Larry's body too. He had gone considerably thin in the last three months though his appetite had not decreased a bit. He remained sick most of the time and had been taking a lot of medicines, only in vain. One day I saw him whining at himself and crying--
'Why are you feeding off me?'
--these were his painful words. I doubted if he was having bouts of schizophrenia. Fred, Bob and I had visited Dr. Eastwood about ten days back and had explained him about the situation.
He pondered a bit and said, 'See.... I can't say exactly if he is suffering from schizophrenia. He may be or may be not. We need to have some more insight into this matter. Sometimes it is seen that patients suffering from depression exhibit the habit of talking to themselves or behaving in some peculiar, unusual way. So I guess we need to observe him a little bit more but.... what I fear is.... He maybe is suffering from REM parasomnia and maladaptive daydreaming'
'What the hell are those?', I asked.
'Maladaptive day dreaming is a type of day dreaming which is closely associated with depression while parasomnia is a sleep disorder in which the patient is observed doing some weird activities in his sleep only'
'So you're saying that Larry's gone mad?', Fred asked.
'Not exactly. These are some neurological disorders which can be cured or subsided using drugs but in his case, it is worsening with time, which is unusual and alarming at the same time'
The chat with Dr. Eastwood had elevated our antsiness. Now, my eyes were counting the milestones which were passing one by one every five or six minutes as the bus was heading towards Lambert Park, a few yards from my residence.
'Where are you going, sir?', asked the man sitting beside me. I shifted my gaze at that man whom I had ignored till then. He was a Catholic priest, as I could make out from his attire. He looked old, was thin and must be in his early sixties. He had the Holy Bible in his hands and was looking at me with a smile on his face.
'Umm... Lambert Park, Father. My home's some meters away from there. What about you?'
'I am heading to the Saint Lawrence Cathedral which must be a few miles away from your place. By the way, my name's Richard Griffin. You may call me Father Richard. What's your name by the way mister?... If you don't mind me asking that'
'It's Liam Hall'
'What happened Mr. Hall? You seem quite worried'
'Nothing it is, Father'
'I can read through minds of people ya know. This gift has been with me since my early childhood. I could read through the mind of my mother to know if she was annoyed at my mischiefs at times....'. Both of us tittered.
'.... Is it somehow related to your friend?'
The laugh on my face turned into stupefaction. I glared at his face closely in bewilderment.
'As I said, I have the gift of reading minds of people, though not clearly, but I can have some guessing regarding it. I have been seated here for a considerable amount of time and somehow you got my attention by not giving me any attention. You have been constantly looking perturbed since then'
'Either you are a genius or a stalker!'
'Don't be afraid, Mr. Hall. You may authenticate me through the church. Here, take my card'. He handed over his identification card to me. I dialed the number printed on it which led me to The Cornerstone Church. I verified his details and returned him back his card.
'Am sorry Father. May the Lord forgive me for my sin. I doubted you!'
'Oh don't worry Liam, I have become habituated by now', he said with a smile. He became silent for some time and then said, 'By the way you didn't answer my question'
'You are absolutely correct, Father. My friend Larry has been suffering from depression for the last three months along with some neurological problems. He is experiencing nightmares which seem quite real. I am absolutely worried about him'
'Everything will get fine soon, Liam. Who knows if the Almighty has planned some good fortune for him in the future! The period of pain soon fades away as the God pins a new hope, a new beginning onto your life. Anyways, I shall blow a candle today at the Cathedral for his well-being', he said resting his cold hand on my shoulder.
'Ah, I guess my stoppage's here', he said. 'It was nice meeting you Liam'.
'Me too, Father'
I saw him walk down the aisle and reach the door. Before the door seals opened, he looked back and waved at me. Then he disembarked the bus and I could see him disappear slowly as the bus ran forward.
What a man!
His calmness and tenderness had made me overwhelmed with optimism. His words had pacified my anguish. I was feeling cheerful now.
As my stop came after some minutes, I got off the bus and started walking back to my house filled with a new positivity.