REM // Van McCann

9. Prove Me Wrong

If I looked like death, Bondy and Larry were too kind to say anything. We had a meeting where Bondy went over the update he had written and I had trouble keeping my eyes open. There were a few times Larry nudged me awake when Bondy's back was to us.

"If everyone can read the update and give me your feedback before lunch, that'd be great. That way I can send it to him this afternoon," Bondy stated, tapping the white board with his pen. "That's all I have to say. If anyone else has something, now is the time." There was a pause as I waited for someone to speak but no one did, so I spoke up.

"I was thinking about the study last night and wrote a disclaimer that participants have to sign. It basically states that we're not trying to diagnose or treat anything. This is for information only and we're not responsible for any damages incurred..." I trailed off. Bondy and Larry were looking at me like I was mad. Perhaps I am.

"Did people ask about it?" Bondy questioned, furrowing his eyebrows.

"No!" I answered quickly. "It's to cover our arse in case something goes wrong."

"What do you think will go wrong?" Everyone's eyes were on me which made me nervous and lose my train of thought.

"I—I dunno. Do yous remember learning about Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams? Summat about dreams being the royal road to the unconscious. What if we uncover summat we're not meant to see?" Bondy was tired of standing so he grabbed a chair, turned it around, and straddled it.

"I see what you're getting at..." Bondy trailed off. "Dreams can bring back terrible memories they want to suppress. It's hard to control your dreams and having someone see them is an invasion of privacy. Did you mention that as well? That they must be okay with someone seeing their dreams but it will be kept confidential?"

"I didn't think of that but that's good to add," I answered honestly, writing it down so I won't forget.

"Are those copies of your disclaimer?" Larry asked, pointing to the papers sticking out of my notebook.

"Yeah," I said, pulling them out. "Would yous like a copy so you can give me feedback?" Bondy and Larry leant forward, grabbing a copy each.

"So we've got two tasks: read the update and read the disclaimer. Is there anything else?" Bondy waited for us to say something but we both shook our heads. "Meeting adjourned. Thanks everyone for your participation."

Bondy got up and put the chair back while Larry and I went back to our desk. I dropped off my stuff and went to the kitchen to make a brew. The last thing I needed was to fall asleep reading the update. I dumped the old water from the electric kettle and filled it up with water, pressing the button to heat it up. While that was heating, I decided to step out for a quick ciggy.

"Gonna head out to smoke," I announced.

I put my jacket on and stepped out, making my way down to the lobby. It was drizzling outside so I found cover and placed a cigarette in my mouth, lighting it. I blew out the smoke and began pacing around to stay awake.

"Can you smoke somewhere else?" I heard someone ask.

I quickly turned around to see who it was as most people never have a problem with me. As soon as I laid eyes on her, of course she'd have a problem with me. It was the same lass who gave me shit the other day. She was sitting on the ledge with her phone pressed to her ear. My first instinct was to not listen to her but this could be a no smoking area for all I know. We stared at each other until someone spoke to her on the line.

"Oh, hi!" she replied frantically, cupping the end of her phone. She turned her body away from me. "My name is Florence Carter and I'm calling to schedule an appointment with Dr. Martinez." She paused, suddenly aware that I was listening so she kept her voice low. "I want to explore other options for birth control because I keep forgetting to take the pills."