*** Author's Note ***
Steady your mind for this extra long chapter- worth two whole chapters. This can count as a bonus chapter, right?
Anyways, stay tuned! Enjoy!
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A woman wearing a pink uniform and a nurse's cap led Xavier, Eulene and Sarah through a corridor, bathing in the sunlight that seeped in through the iron grills on the side. Soon, they reached the end, where stood a door.
The nurse knocked on the wooden barrier twice.
"Come in." An amiable male voice came from the inside.
The nurse twisted the knob and opened the door, before gesturing the trio to enter.
The room was neat- minimalistic with nothing but a desk, a few chairs and sofas and a shelf as furniture. There were a few certificates framed on the light green coloured walls. Natural sunlight brightened up the room.
Xavier, who had yet to let go of Sarah's hand, used his free hand to take off his hat and greet the man who sat at the desk- beside the desk to be precise.
The man looked no older than 32, with jet black hair and hazel eyes. He wore an all-black suit, like every qualified doctors wore. He was handsome. Anyone who knew of his story would make one wonder how beautiful the lady might be to fish someone like him into this small town. He had a smile on his face- an amiable one- one that would cause anyone to trust him.
Bottom line- if the perfect psychiatrist had an incarnation- this man, Doctor Joseph Hearts would be that person.
The psychiatrist stood up and slightly bowed in response to Xavier's gesture. "Greetings. I have already received your letter that day. If you don't mind me asking, are you a physician?"
Before Xavier could reply, Eulene said, "was."
Xavier gave Eulene a customary glance before turning back to the psychiatrist. "What gave me away?" He donned his hat back on.
"Don't get the wrong idea," Doctor Hearts said. "It's just that not everyone wants to pay their respect to a psychiatrist. We may have gone past the age of witch-hunting and 'alienism', but we are still not the most respected of professionals out there." He sighed. "Only the ones who are grateful to us or the truly educated bothers to show us their regards. You being a physician was just a wild guess on my part, or maybe the fact that we both are healthcare professionals prompted me." He then turned to the emotionless teenager standing beside Xavier. "Is she…"
Xavier nodded, before leading Sarah to sit at the visitor's chair at the desk. He then backed a bit away, giving the counsellor and the counselee some space, but not that far away to leave Sarah feel alone before a stranger.
Doctor Hearts sat back on his chair. As the chair was beside the desk, instead of being on the other side, he was really close to the patient without any obstacles in between.
"I am Joseph Hearts," the psychiatrist arched his back towards her, closing the distance even further. "You can call me Joseph. But I don't mind if a beautiful young lady such as you call me Hearts." He winked. "What is your name?"
Sarah blushed a bit. "Sarah."
"Sarah? Definitely a name befitting a princess such as yourself." Doctor Hearts's gaze darted to Sarah's dress. "That's a cute dress. Is pink your favourite colour?"
Sarah shook her head. "It's blue."
"Really?" The smile on the psychiatrist's face widened. "Which one?"
"Sky blue."
"What a coincidence!" Doctor Hearts inserted his hand underneath his tuxedo and brought out a sky blue coloured handkerchief. "It's my favourite colour as well!"
Xavier smirked. With his superhuman vision, he had notice handkerchiefs of 17 different colours hidden underneath the psychiatrist's suit.
Doctor Hearts was a qualified psychiatrist indeed- overly so. In a matter of few minutes, he was able to strike up a conversation with the traumatised girl. He effortlessly breeched through the mental barrier Sarah had set up and brought a smile upon her face.
When the psychiatrist ensured that Sarah was comfortable, he began to move towards what happened that night. He had already gotten the details from the letter. And after successfully convincing the girl that the best way to get rid of a trauma was to fight it- to share it with others, he asked what had happened that night. And the truth- or at least what she witnessed that fateful night- finally came out.
According to her testimony, she suddenly fell asleep at home. When she woke up, she found herself in an unknown area barely lit up by a bonfire not far away. Aside from that, there was a large container she could not recognise filled with water on her other side.
Once Sarah finished recounting that part, beads of sweat began to show up on her fair skin. She began to stutter and take heavy breaths.
Doctor Hearts frowned. "It's fine. You don't have to force yourself."
Sarah shook her head. "It's okay."
Sarah decided to break the unassailable wall herself. She continued to narrate what happened that night- about the other entity that was with her.
That being- it was anything but a human. Even with the fire lighting up the surroundings, she could not discern its face or even its colour. All she could remember was its pitch blackness, which was shades darker than the night itself, and its figure.
According to her, the being was tall- way too tall to be a human. 'As tall as a two-storeyed building' was what she said. And its four limbs were lanky- thin and tall, with its hand falling beneath its knees. It's torso was not any different. The being was akin to a man who looked like a stick, but not a man.
That night, the creature- the 'monster'- soundlessly walked to her- step by step. Sarah clearly remembered shouting her throat out- crying for help, but her ears perceived no sounds. That being bowing down and bringing its face close to hers was the last thing she remembered before fainting. She admitted that she was thankful that her eyes were blurred by tears- for which she did not have to see the face of that creature.
Sarah, after recounting everything, began to take deep breaths. The number of beads of sweat on her body amplified, drenching the pink dress she had on.
"Well done!" The psychiatrist praised with a bright smile. He rang the bell placed on the desk. Not soon after, a nurse entered the room. It was the same lady who escorted them here.
"Help her wash," Doctor Hearts ordered the nurse before giving Eulene a glance.
Eulene nodded and followed Sarah and the nurse out the room. Now, only Xavier and Joseph- the two healthcare experts remained.
"I believe it's time you tell me the truth," the smile on Joseph's face disappeared. "You remember the doctor's oath, don't you?"
"I apologise," Xavier took off his hat and slightly bowed. "She did not run away from home, but was abducted."
Joseph sighed, gesturing Xavier to sit on the visitor's chair. "I understand your troubles. Nobody wants to tangle up in such cases."
"Thank you for your understanding." Xavier put his hat back on and sat on the chair that was still warm from Sarah's session.
"Are you with the Detectivete?" Joseph asked.
Xavier shook his head.
"A private detective?"
"Sort of," Xavier replied.
"Though I am not an expert," Joseph said, "I have some experience working with the Detectivete. Through her testimonies, I was able to find one major characteristic of the culprit."
"His height?" Xavier asked.
"As expected from a physician turned private detective." Joseph smiled. "From what I inferred, Sarah was down on the ground during the event, which made the already tall culprit look even taller. If I learned one thing from psychiatry, it's that you can't trust memories."
"I deduced the same."
"And seeing that she is not afraid of you, someone who is 6 feet tall, I think the culprit is quite a bit taller than you."
Xavier nodded and turned to the framed certificates on the wall. "Pardon me, but what made you decide to leave Benjamin Conners Psychiatric Clinic? From what I have observed today, you are qualified enough to research on the field. And I don't think there's any other organisation that can provide the same facilities as BCP Clinic."
"You know what we psychiatrists were once called, right?" Joseph sighed. "There are still people who call us by that name."
"Alienists,' Xavier replied.
"Yes." Joseph nodded. "There was a time when people believed that people with mental illness- no matter how minor it was- were alienated from the human society. Hence, the professionals who dealt with them were termed alienists." Joseph let out a chuckle that emanated irony. "At least they were already past the age of witch hunting."
Xavier made no comments.
"Then the Great War came," Joseph continued, "along with booming artillery and blistering machine guns. More soldiers returned home with traumas than ever- which included people with great power and wealth. Even the officers who remained in camp, family members who awaited their loved ones' return- who did not have to witness the horror of the battlefields faced immense stress. In many cases, the stress crossed a line and pierced into the realm of illness.
"And that's when people started to realise- believe that illness of the mind was nothing but ordinary illness. These problems did not make the patients any less human than others. And the one who came out to strike the iron while it was still hot was-"
"Benjamin Conners," Xavier interrupted.
"Yes, he was a hero." Joseph's hazel eyes glowed. "He was an accomplished 'alienist' before the war, but after the war- nobody dared to call him so. With his research, and the efficiency at which he cured mental illnesses, especially the veterans- let alone a 'psychiatrist', people began to call him 'magician', 'messiah' and whatnot. The government not only deemed him a hero, it established an up-to-date psychiatric hospital honouring him and made him the first director."
Xavier nodded. He remembered it as if it was yesterday.
"Ironic, isn't it?" Joseph asked. "The thing that pushes civilisation to advance the most is the very thing that destroys it- war."
Again, Xavier made no comments.
"Anyways, it's regrettable to say that the BCP Clinic now is nothing but a shadow of its past self." Joseph sighed. "After the last director- the apprentice of Benjamin Conners himself- left office, the Clinic became a mess- filled with corruption and nepotism. There are no more researchers who want to cure the world from mental illnesses anymore… but only businessmen." He sighed again.
Xavier heaved out a sigh and closed his eyes. He looked up, his vision piercing through the ceiling to the sky. Forgive me, he said in his mind.
"As for my research," Joseph's words brought back Xavier's attention. "I am just unlucky, someone who's born too early. The field I am interested in the most is cerebropsychiatry. And technologically, we are far too behind to make any advancement in the field."
"Cerebropsychiatry?" Something glittered in Xavier's silver eyes. Nothing interested him more than fresh knowledge.
"Yes." Joseph nodded. "I believe that mental conditions don't take roots only in the psyche, but the brain too. Even if not all of the conditions have connections, many certainly do. Hence, I think many mental illnesses that are deemed incurable can be cured through cerebral surgeries. Even though it's impossible now, I am sure it will become a possibility in the future," he claimed with utmost determination.
"Well," Xavier stood up and reached out his hand toward Joseph, "the most, and the best we can do is to make it easier for the future generations."
Joseph stood up as well and met Xavier's hand with his, and the two doctors- one of the physique and the other of the psyche- ended the conversation with a firm handshake.