Chapter 12: Babysitting

Some of the uncomfortable scientists then led us to a couple of chairs by the window and offered for me to sit down. Mary was trying her best to stop crying, and Erin, by the sound of it was breathing hard into a paper bag. Molly didn't sit until I did and I couldn't let go of her hand as she sat down beside me. I tried to control my breathing as my eyes continued to fill with tears, and Molly patted my hand, awkwardly. "It's okay, Kane. You can relax now. No one's going to torture you, we're here to help."

Her voice helped soothe me but I was still scared out of my mind. "Does it have to be a needle? Can't they just slice me with a machete? At least then I would get a scar that people would think was cool. And it wouldn't be a needle! Oh god, I'm talking like Erin!" Erin gasped as he stopped breathing into the bag. 'You're catching on! I would be proud if I didn't know we were about to be jabbed with a spike of ultimate suffering.' Erin said, shakily. John then shivered in disgust. 'Just a few more minutes until they gaslight you into having a long, sharp, piece of dirty metal inside you. Going in... Slowly-'

I cut John off and grabbed my head as I leaned back. "Stop it! Shut up! Stop talking guys! You aren't helping!" Erin scoffed. 'You're not helping yourself either. Just look at how creeped out Molly is.' I let go of my head to look at her next to me with an uncomfortable expression on her face. I sighed and sat up. "I'm sorry, am I freaking you out?" Molly waited to make sure I was talking to her before answering. "No... Pardon me, I've just never spent time with a schizophrenic before... Um, why don't you tell me about how you're feeling right now?"

I shrugged and wiped some more tears from my face. "PTSD mostly." Molly nodded. "Of course, but I meant more like... What are you hearing right now?" I hesitated. "You mean the voices?" She nodded slowly and I sighed. "Well, the first thing you should know about them is that there are four of them." Molly seemed to be more interested after I said that. "Tell me about them." I thought for a moment before answering.

"So first, there's Mary. She's a very sweet voice, but she is also the ultimate powerhouse of my emotions. Everything she feels, I feel. I personally don't care about much and was emotionally made of stone before she came along, but god forbid she sees a kitten and I'm all of a sudden in need of a raincoat." Molly's interest only increased but I could tell that she thought the voices were just a part of my imagination. "Really? So the voices have some aspect of control over you?"

I shook my head. "All but one. John doesn't seem to control me other than giving an extra opinion now and then. He did really freak out just a minute ago though. There's also Penelope. She can live in my head rent-free all she wants. She rarely speaks but when she does she says the stuff that I didn't know I wanted to hear. She's pretty much in control of my subconscious."

Molly nodded again and tilted her head which I thought was adorable. "And the fourth?" Erin stopped me before I could open my mouth. 'Oo! When you introduce me tell her that I enjoy long walks on the beach, a good read on a train, and I will give her the BEST anal she has ever had.' I sighed and closed my eyes. "And then, there's Erin. He is a menace to society and will tell me to do things that are so far over the line that it's on a different planet." Erin gasped. 'Hey! I prefer the term productive!'

Molly raised an eyebrow. "What does he ask you to do? And what is he in control of?" I looked away from her, uncomfortably. "I'd rather not say what he tells me to do and he is in control of my impulses." Molly laughed a little. "Well, that explains a lot." The sound of her laughter made me melt and I just wanted to hold her close to me.

Mary acknowledged how amazing she was and sighed, admirably. 'She's so sweet for trying to comfort you even though she doesn't believe that any of us are real.' Erin jumped in, smugly. 'Now is an excellent opportunity to mention what a sensitive man you are. Grab her hand and place it on your chest while you do it too like in the movies.'

Erin had me in the first half and that's where I decided to stay. I leaned back in my chair and acted embarrassed as I wiped some more tears away. "I'm sorry, you must think of me as less of a man because I allowed myself to cry in front of you." Molly raised an eyebrow. "It actually shows that you aren't insecure with your masculinity. Crying is human." I fist pumped in my head and John started to see my plan. 'Ah, I see what you're doing. You knew she would say that, didn't you?'

I smirked and continued our conversation. "You are a very progressive woman. Although, I can't help but wonder if Slim Jim cries in front of you despite that." She gave me a suspicious look. "You mean James? What are you getting at?" I shrugged a little as I answered carefully. "I don't know, I just can't exactly picture him... Comfortable with expressing emotions. I mean, I've only spent one day with him, so I wouldn't know exactly what kind of guy he is and I could be totally wrong. But, I'm curious since he just doesn't seem like the type."

Molly hesitated for a moment which only confirmed my accusation. "My relationship is none of your business." She answered with a face of stone. I leaned closer to her and held my smirk. "Haven't you heard? We're girlfriends now. Girlfriends tell each other everything." She gave me another weird look. "You can make anything flirty, can't you?" I nodded. "Yes I can, and I have a feeling that the reason you haven't punched my face in yet is because that fun-size you're dating doesn't give you enough attention. As well as that you secretly love that I treat you like a woman instead of a partner like he does."

She then smacked me across the face hard, and I kept my head turned in the direction she slapped me as I processed what happened. 'Oh wow! You are SO jacking off after this!!' Erin shouted. The sting of my cheek spread through my face as I turned back to her with surprise on my face. "You just slapped the crying boy you're babysitting. How do you feel about yourself?" She smirked. "Very good."

I returned her smirk and everyone in my head celebrated. 'You couldn't break the sexual tension between you two with a sledgehammer!' Erin said. Everyone else clapped which was weird since voices don't have hands. I then looked away from Molly in confusion. "How are you guys clapping?" Mary spoke next, proudly. 'We can do anything in your head. It's like we have metaphysical bodies.' John's voice was disgusted as he mumbled. 'Mary and I were clapping our 'hands', Erin, however, was clapping your longitudinal fissure...' I gasped. "Erin! What the fuck?!"