2 The Patient

Nurse Anne made her way through Sector A, trying her best to find the supposed patient named Blitz. She wondered why Dr. Jacobi did not give her additional information regarding Blitz, on what he looked like other than the tag on his clothes. She walked slowly through the hallways, noticing various rooms based on the doors and windows next to each other.

And the patients in those rooms.

Some were busy with themselves: kicking and screaming on their beds or banging their fists or heads on the walls. Others just gazed at Anne through the windows of their rooms, eyeing her like fresh meat. Like a predator towards their prey. She felt odd noticing that although the doors seemed close, there was no sight of a guard. She also felt the need to find Blitz, the last thing she needs is a prestiged doctor scolding her for not retrieving his patient on her first day in Blightworth.

"Hmm...." said a growling patient. "Another one in Blightworth."

The sound of that patient made Anne feel shivers up her body. The other patients looked more threatening. Thankfully, there seemed to be a quiet patient sitting on the bed in his room. He had a massive build to him, with a buzzcut on his head. Arms that seem to be twice the size of a boxer or strong man. His gaze was all the wall, ignoring all of the other patients screaming and hitting the walls. She tapped the window slightly as he turned to her.

"Um...excuse me? Do you know where I can find Blitz?"

The big man pointed toward the wall. Anne looked at him in confusion, until she noticed the room next to his, and the patient inside that room.

Which did not look like a man.

It was a boy, someone who looked like he was 10, or maybe older that that, but he was still far from a young man in his 20s. The boy was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. He was cooped up in the corner of his room, his head looking down while his arms wrapped around his knees. Anne looked at the child through the window of his room. The boy had messy blond hair, and there seemed to be a burned mark on his left arm. Her sight of him was interrupted by a voice.

"Can I help you Miss?" said a man dressed in olive green. The man stood tall and his cold presence made Anne’s face turn from curiosity to fear. She felt a disturbance from the guard’s cold sharp eyes.

"Um yes..", Anne said looking toward him. "Dr. Jacobi asked me to retrieve Blitz. This is Blitz right?". She pointed toward the child in the room.

"Yes, that's him. The doctor wants to conduct his treatment?", the guard asked as she nodded. "Alright then."

As the guard opened the door, Anne slowly made her way inside of Blitz's room. It was damp, the paint on the wall seemed to be ripped off, and his bed seemed to be untouched. A blanket that seemed to be given for his bed just stayed the same shape it was. It seemed to be never used.

Anne kneeled down at the child in the corner. "Blitz?"

Hearing her voice Blitz took up his gaze toward her. His big blue eyes were piercing and glaring at her, and the nurse did not know if this was fear or anger. Blitz’s uniform was white, similar to the other patients. It also had the same formation as the patients’ uniforms, the only real significant difference was the size. Blitz’s uniform was like the size of an ant compared to the other male patients here.

"Blitz? I'm Nurse Anne. I'm new here. I'm not going to hurt you. I was told to get you. Could you please follow me?"

Blitz slowly nodded before getting up by himself. Nurse Anne saw his tag, it was the same tag Jacobi told her. While she led him out of his room, he began holding her hand. The nurse was startled at this, but let him do so.

Why is a child here in the hospital? Anne wondered to herself as she made her way to the lab a few rooms away from Blitz's room. Anne looked at the inside of the room through the wide window. In the room was Jacobi preparing some notes, Accompanying him was a male nurse, all while tinkering with what seemed like a chair, decorated with odd machinery and devices.

"Ah nurse Anne! You've brought Blitz. Please come in'', Jacobi said with a tone heard from even out of the lab. Anne suppressed her questions about Blitz and went into the room with the boy. The male nurse proceeded to guide Blitz towards the chair. "I trust Blitz wasn't too much of trouble for you?"

"Um...no sir." Anne muttered.

"Good to know."

Anne looked at Jacobi before looking at Blitz, who was being strapped to the chair by the male nurse. "What are you doing?", she asked but it sounded demanding. The chair seemed very out of place. It had a strap which went around Blitz's head, three straps that held each of his arms, and two for his legs. Around the chair there was a glass orb that contained a tiny spark of electricity, and a hole that started to puff out steam.

The male nurse, whose tag had TIMMONS written on it, looked at the female nurse. "Holding Blitz. These straps will prevent him from running off"

"Running off? What do you mean?"

"If I may explain, is that these patients have the tendency to run off as we treat them, nurse", Jacobi said approaching her. "You see, Blightworth is home to many troubled individuals. Many of them misunderstood our treatment for them, and Blitz is no exception". He cleared his throat before he continued. "You may have noticed the number on the patients tags, that is their level of insanity, ranged from 1-10."

Anne looked at Blitz's tag. "His tag is 5, does that mean he's dangerous?"

"Not dangerous enough to harm someone critically, but he is a special case. A case so out of place that he needs special treatment. Electroshock therapy I believe is one of them."

"I've never seen a chair like this,'' said Anne, looking at the chair that was sitting in the room, waiting for an occupant to sit on it.

"That's because it's not from London, nor it is from England itself. I purchased the chair from an odd yet unique and advanced city: Bentham. The city seemed to be powered by steam, as I once recalled giant massive machinery mounted onto a building just to power up the streets. I've been to one of their hospitals, they applied electroshock therapy for their patients. In fact I once met the inventor himself, who was inspired by Edison's electric chair" Jacobi paused.

"As much as I'd like to explain more to you about this Nurse Anne, I must get to the treatment of Blitz as quickly as possible. Excuse me. In the meantime, you may take your leave. Timmons and I will handle it from here". He grabbed his board and pen, ready to take notes as Anne left the room, but stood in the hallways to observe the treatment of the child through the window.

"And how are you today Blitz?",Jacobi asked the child in the chair. Though he didn't raise his voice, the glass was thin enough for Anne to hear the conversation within the lab.

"F-F-family...", he said in tire upon slowly breathing. Even when he was freshly picked from his cell like an apple, his face looked messy. "Where, where...are they?"

"I do not know Blitz, but for all I know, is that you were very troubled in America, and that's why I brought you in. Here at Blightworth. I'm here to help you."

And trust me when I say this, this is for your own good. Those sharp words were embedded into Jacobi’s brain, as he looked on at Blitz strapped into the chair.