"You have to keep your visit brief," the nurse attendant said as they walked through the empty hallways. This wing of the hospital was for the patients that didn't have time out in a day room to mingle. They sat alone, in rooms to themselves, some constrained.
Like Julian.
"How is he?" Nathan asked, fearing the answer.
"Julian has been in a catatonic state since we brought him in. The doctor that had been seeing him prior to this whole fiasco was flown in. According to her, that's an improvement. From what I hear, he was prone to fits of violence."
"I see." Nathan couldn't imagine what sort of pain Julian had to be going through.
Julian had been forced to kill Rick to defend him, and then cried over him as Nathan had lost consciousness and almost bled out in the living room. After Nathan had worked so hard to be friends with Julian, he was now a vegetable.
How was that better?
"Here we are. Though we don't always constrain him nowadays, he has been put into a straitjacket so that he cannot harm you or himself if he recognizes you and comes out of his catatonic state. Please try to keep your distance, as he is currently secured to the wall, but has some range of mobility."
"All right."
The woman unlocked the door, and Nathan looked up to Allen. With anything concerning the tenants of LC Penitentiary, he was always rigid.
"You can stay out here," Nathan said, and Allen let out a heavy sigh of relief.
"Good. That kid creeps the shit out of me. I'll be in the hallway." Allen parked himself against the wall, and pinned his eyes to the floor.
When Nathan was allowed in, the first thing he saw was a woman with chin-length brown hair sitting and showing Julian pictures. The woman looked kind, with soft features and a genuine look of interest as she tried to prompt him to respond. The woman was very young though, likely not even thirty yet.
"You must be Nathan." The woman stood and offered her hand.
"Yes." Nathan shook it, and the woman smiled warmly.
"It's really a pleasure to meet you. I heard that you were friends with Julian while he was... in the care of the LC Project. I was against it, but I was a newer doctor, so the review panel for him as well as his parents had more sway in it. My name is Elizabeth, but you can call me Liz. I have been Julian's personal doctor since he was sent to the hospital after... everything he went through."
The woman was careful with her words and Nathan liked that about her. There didn't seem to be any animosity toward Julian or what he'd done. Once more, she sounded upset that he'd been pulled from their care.
"I am friends with Julian. He's actually really nice when you get to know him." Nathan glanced down to Julian's lowered, dark eyes and then crouched down, a few feet away from him. "Hey, Julian."
YOU ARE READING
LCP : Last Chance Penitentiary
General FictionIf you're looking for an adventure in the morally grey, and a crash course of the human condition, this is the story for you! What is good and evil? Where is that line drawn, and who decides that? Packed with humor, danger, feels, and awkward relati...