ᴇʟʏsɪᴀɴ ( ᴢᴀʀʀʏ )

𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢

(n.) things better left unsaid; matters to be passed over in silence.

If anyone has read The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides you will know that the character of Janice is inspired by Alicia. If you haven't read the book and you're into psychological thrillers I really recommend it.

T.W Contains themes of a graphic nature

Zayn was early, he knew he wasn't meant to be in till 9:30am but what Harry Styles thought about him mattered, not just for his job here but for anything else he might ever want to do in the field. He set up around his cabin making sure things were exactly how he wanted them till he heard rummaging in Dr. Styles' office, at which point he knocked on the connecting door and let himself in. The man had just finished putting on his white coat when Zayn stepped into the room, " Mr. Malik, glad to see you were early. We will begin our rounds in a moment but let us discuss the first case we are encountering today for a moment. " He produced a manila folder from under his desk before taking a seat behind his desk waiting till Zayn did the same on the other side of the table.

Harry opened the folder to the picture of Janice Sutherland who had been committed to the institute the day before. Anyone following the news the past couple of months was aware of who Janice Sutherland was. She was a celebrated artist that had shot her husband three times in the face and then never said another word. Her silence throughout her trial and eventual sentencing to even her closest relatives landed a sort of quiet mystique to her. The value of her paintings was on a steady increase even as the media continued to portray her as a black widow. Zayn had watched the entire sentencing so he was aware that she was committed to Evergreen's Edge. Looking at her photograph however she didn't look like someone that would be capable of shooting their husband in the face at a point blank range. She looked polished, even after spending the past few months going through a trial she looked polished. The only giveaway might have been the almost raw bags under her eyes.

Harry explained the circumstances to the murder that were in the police reports that weren't necessarily public knowledge, like the fact that she had in fact slit her own wrists after the murder but the paramedics had gotten to her just in time. It was a mystery who had actually called the paramedics cause the 911 operator was sure the call came in from a man, this mystery however wasn't on them to solve.

Harry had a few primary diagnosis he wanted to discuss with Zayn which they did before the two of them made their way to the floor directly below them to go meet Janice for the first time. Zayn had only know Harry Styles for one whole day but even from just then he could tell the way Harry's demeanour shifted as soon as he entered that room right away. It wasn't a complete shift, it was more of a crack in the carefully built, almost physically present walls the man had around himself. Harry never had anyone else in the room with him when he interacted with the people under his care and it felt like he'd forgotten that this time there was someone to notice the change in tone and the slight sagging of shoulders as he introduced himself and walked towards Janice. Just so he could remind Harry of his presence Zayn introduced himself too. If he were to think back on this moment in a much later date he would be thankful that Harry didn't seem to want to put any of the dislodged bricks back into place.

There was a gentle way in which Harry dealt with people under his care. Zayn knew his ideas about the man weren't correct to begin with, he didn't walk around trying to bite people's heads off. He was in no way overly friendly, he was actually very stiff but always professional. He was amicable but curt. With patients however Harry was kind, he spoke to them like he was ready to listen to anything they might want to tell him. It was increasingly clear why he held the status he did in the field.

Regardless, Janice wasn't willing to talk. She sat on the bed provided to her and stared past both Harry and Zayn through the window out onto the gardens with a far away glazed look in her eyes. The two doctors had figured out a primary course of therapy and tests they were going to carry out and they let her know of the same. They let her also know that at any point she could opt out of any of the care provided for her. She showed no signs of having heard anything that was said to her but they still let her know that she would have a session with Lily in a few hours and left her room.

They did complete the rest of their rounds in relative silence. Zayn let Harry look after his old patients mostly by himself, hanging back just in case a new face made them uncomfortable. It was however difficult for evidently either of them to get Janice off of their minds.

What Zayn had thought was the media trying make a story sound better sounded more true now. They claimed the couple were happy in all accounts and there was absolutely no reason for the three bullets Janice ended up lodging in her husband's head. Their friends had used a select few words to describe the relationship, the words dedicated and enamoured coming up a few times to describe how Janice felt about her husband.

They sat discussing what could have happened in her head that led her to act this way, it was clear something in her snapped but their job would be to figure out what it was that led to that. They figured once they knew what it was that led to this they could finally figure out how to get her back from drifting even further away.

More and more that they spoke however Zayn had a sneaking suspicion that no event in the real world had led to this snap. Our brains are delicate and there are a number of things that could go wrong with no physical triggers what so ever. Zayn voiced his opinion and something he said caused Harry's shoulders to stiffen right up. He looked up with a dark nearly angry look in his eyes, " What do you mean?" Zayn continued a little weary this time, " What if all of this was caused by a chemical imbalance or a physical fault with her brain. There really might not be any factors in the outside world that led to this." Harry stared at him for a while before he looked down to his hands that had formed fists on top of the file he had been handling before looking back up and saying, " People don't just snap and kill the people closest to them because of a chemical defect Mr. Malik, there is always a reason." Zayn swallowed hard at Harry's demeanour, cleared his throat and said, " Right, Yes of course." He looked back to the papers in front of him and eventually they went back to discussing possible triggers like they previously were.