Salvaging Family (SBI Angst)

7: Wilbur

I watched them take Techno away from the table. I tried to tell them that he was derealized, but they wouldn't hear it. I feel really bad for him. I wonder what they're doing to him in there. The thought makes me sick. Is he okay? Are they hurting him? Are they gonna hurt me? I'm panicking. I look up at a nurse who seems to notice that I need help. I stumble out of my chair as he helped me into a separate room so I could calm down.

"Can you hear me?"

I nodded slightly.

"Okay, take a deep breath with me..."

I follow directions. We do it a few times and I start to feel a little better.

"What's wrong?"

"They took my brother away... are they hurting him?"

"No, not at all. We couldn't leave him in there because he was hurting people. He's in his room now, calming down."

"So he's okay?"

"Yes, he's fine."

"And you're not going to hurt us?"

"No, we're not."

I stayed quiet for a moment after that. I might have blown things a bit out of proportion.

"Do you want to go back out?"

"No. Can I see my brother?"

"I'll go see. Stay here, okay?"

I nodded and watched him leave. I really wanted to trust him, but I was so scared. I didn't believe that he wasn't going to hurt me, which was exactly hey I needed to see Techno. I needed to make sure he was really okay. The nurse rentered the room.

"I'm sorry, he's too unstable-"

"No, I have to see him! Right now!"

"Calm do-"

"LET ME SEE HIM! WHY WON'T YOU LET ME SEE HIM? I NEED HIM!!"

I was sobbing. He was lying to me. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Techno was not okay. I needed to help him. I needed to get out of here. I clawed at my arms and let the blood soak my clothes.

"Wilbur! You need to calm down. Take a deep breath-"

"No! No, no, no!"

I kicked him off of me. He held me down by my wrists so I couldn't keep scratching. I could hear my father again.

"Worthless!"
"Be a man."
"Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about."
"Don't tell anybody about this."
"You're my son, you'll do what I say."

His voice was pounding on my head.

Worthless, worthless, worthless...

"Breathe Wilbur, breathe."

I screamed. I wonder if Techno can hear me. I wonder if he could recognize me just based on my screams. Did he know I was hurting? Probably not. He's probably dissociated again. I don't blame him. I wish I could just escape like that. I really needed to get away. Things were spinning rapidly again. I couldn't breathe. More nurses were trying to help me, but I kept pushing them away. Finally, they injected me with something that made me feel very, very sleepy...

•••

I woke up in my assigned room. Right, I was still in the hospital. God, did I need to get out. I still wanted to speak to Techno, so I got up and left the room. A nurse greeted me in the hallway, but I ignored her. I needed Techno. Thankfully, I found him in the activity room pushing around puzzle pieces. I knew he wasn't really trying to put it together because if he was, it would have already been done. He was very clever.

When he heard me approaching, he looked up and immediately looked relieved.

"There's you are. What happened to you?"

"Not important."

We lowered our voices.

"I've worked on the plan to get out."

"Good. Let's hear it."

"I've noticed that when someone is especially distressed lots of nurses get together to help them. They're too distracted to focus on all the other patients. So I think that if we could somehow get someone to have a big meltdown, we could, theoretically, get out."

"That sounds good. But how do we get that to happ-"

I snapped my mouth shut as a nurse walked by.

"I found the piece I need!" Techno exclaimed. The nurse smiled and walked past. We stayed silent and messed with the puzzle until he was out of earshot.

"So?"

"I'm thinking that we make a friend. Get someone who would be able to fake it very well. Do you have any idea who we could use?"

"There's a girl that I sat next to when we first got here. She seemed nice. I bet she'd help us."

"What was her name?"

"I don't remember, but I'd know her if I saw her." I scanned the room, before landing on the aforementioned girl.

"Bingo."

I stood up and walked towards her, leaving Techno  to pretend to do his puzzle.

"Hi! Remember me?"

"Yeah! What's your name again?" She cheered.

"Wilbur, yours?"

"I'm Abby."

"Cool... so Abby... could you help me with something?"

"Depends. What is it?" She seemed more serious now.

"My brother and I have a plan to get out of here. Will you be willing to pretend to, y'know, freak out?"

"What's in it for me?"

"Well, what do you want?"

She squinted, then whispered something into my ear.

"Got it?"

"Yeah, I can do that."

"Good. Be ready at 5 tomorrow."

"Alright. Thanks for the advice!"

"Of course, man. Anytime."

I walked back to Techno, triumphant.