Date: Thu, 20 Jul 1995 16:23:58 EST From: Freda Whaley 904-944-0550 Subject: One Leap over the Moonies p.09 Message-Id: Part Nine Bundled into an ambulance an hour latter Sam tried to keep his breathing even. The medication they had given him was helping some, but his fear of being locked away in that place was still trying to send him into screaming madness. He kept his eyes on Al and tried not to think about where they were headed. Al looked at his friend and the oxygen tube in his nose and the IV line. He kept up a gentle prater to try and get Sam's mind off of his destination. "You should have seen Tina last night Sam. She had on this little black number that could drive anyone wild." Sam gave him a faint smile. "I took her dancing." Sam's eyebrows came up at that one. Seeing that expression Al grinned at him. "Well....she said we weren't getting out enough. But we more then made up for it later." Sam rolled his eyes. He was beginning to relax when they pulled into St. Mathews. He started to shake as they took him inside. He was allowed to get off the gurney and sit in a wheel chair. His paper work was handed over to the admittance clerk who flipped through, then handed a clip-board with a pile of papers on it to an orderly. Sam was taken to his room. He was pleasantly surprised at the bright and cheery room. No ward with wire cages this time. Just a bed, a desk, and an easy chair. But his eyes settled on the wrist restraints on the bed. "You're not going to put those on me are you?" Sam tried to keep his voice from shaking. Seeing the fear in Sam's eyes the orderly went over to the bed and quickly unfastened them from the bed. "How's that?" He was grinning at Sam. "Now that we got that out of the way let's get you settled." He helped Sam out of the wheel-chair and into bed. He unfastened the oxygen tube from his nose. "The doctor said you wouldn't need this after you got here but to keep the tank in the room just in- case. And when that IV runs out we can take that out too. My name's Bob. If you need anything just ask." Sam sighed. Maybe Al was right. This didn't look like it was going to be that bad after all. "Hi Bob." "Hi. It's Jonny, right?" Sam nodded an affirmative. "I need to take some vitals and then maybe we can talk." He took Sam's blood pressure, temperature, and pulse rate. He made some notes on the chart. Bob pulled up a chair. "Jonny, I've got to answer to my bosses. I'm suppose to put those wrist restraints on you." He was very aware that Sam had moved minutely away from him. At that moment the doctor arrived to get acquainted with his new patient. Looking at a very nervous Sam he said, "I understand you had kind of a bad reaction when you were told you were coming here?" Sam was thinking that nothing was kept secret. He figured it might be a good time for the truth. Part of it anyway. "I...I didn't want to come here. I wanted to go home.""You pulled your IV out. Were you planning on running back to the Moonies again?" Shocked, Sam cried, "No!" and then forcing himself to calm down, "No....I wanted to go home to my dad. I was going to go home and try and make him understand that I don't want anything more to do with that cult." The doctor reached over and patted him on the arm. "Take it easy, the restraints were only if you were agitated. There's no where to run here." Sam closed his eyes in frustration. "Don't look like that. We're all here to help you." "I know that. I...I want to co-operate. I just want to get this over with so I can go home. Is...is my dad here?" "I think he's coming in later today. I'll check for you. I want you to stay in bed for awhile and rest up. Bob will come get you for dinner and then if things are still going this well he can take you down to the day room." He took the chart and left Sam tucked into bed. As soon as they were gone Sam sat up. Through gritted teeth he asked Al, "Okay, I'm co-operating. Now when do I get out of here?" "Take it easy kid." Punching buttons on the hand link Al read, "Ziggy says you have a session with your Psychiatrist tomorrow. It looks like you and Jonny's father have some counseling sessions and then you get to go home. Ziggy say's that when that happens you should leap." "I knew I should have just gone back home. Ziggy blew this one." "I was thinking the same thing. But when I checked with Ziggy she still insisted that you would have ended up here anyway. She said there was a 30% chance that even if you had gone home Mr. Preston would have sent you here." "How long am I going to have to stay here Al?" "That's up to you." Frowning Sam said, "What's that suppose to mean?" "If you keep shaking like that every time someone comes near you they'll never let you out of here. You've got to settle down." He ignored Sam's glare as he continued. "You've got to convince them that there is nothing wrong with you. That it's just your father's worry about you running off to the cult that got you in here. That you're not mentally ill, just stubborn." "Al..." "If the shoe fits...." "Okay, so I convince them I'm sane and I get to leap?" "As soon as you get back home, yes. Now why don't you do what they told you to do and get some rest. Sighing, Sam settled back into bed and was asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.