The Patient's Painkiller is a Psycholologist

Chapter 2

Careful steps, testing waters. Peter slowly approached the table, stopping as soon as he noticed the man's breath hitch, his eyes searching him.

"May I sit?" He asked for permission first, unsure how to convey that he meant no harm.

He remained there, unmoving as Mr Wilson's eyes took in information, landing on his hands that held the files then finally his eyes. He held the gaze before ultimately nodding and looking down instead, his breathing abnormal.

"Thank you" Peter thanked as he softly placed the file neatly on the table before lifting his chair in order not to scrape it across the floor.

Once sat, he looked up at the man once again, noting that, beneath the straitjacket, Mr Wilson seemed to be quite muscly. His jaw looked strong and firm beneath the red mask and... Peter squinted slightly, noticing that the mask seemed to be a red shirt with holes just big enough to look through.

"You don't have to worry" Peter began, wanting to soothe the man the best he could "I won't hurt you or even lay a hand on you if you don't want to" he tilted his head "I'm simply here to talk today"

Finally, Mr Wilson looked up at him, head still hanged low as his eyes seemed to pierce through him.
Peter remained calm, smiling encouragingly before Mr Wilson's attention turned to the file on the table.

"I must say, I regret not shaving myself today" Peter chuckled, bringing his hand up to scratch his jaw, eyebrow twitching when Mr Wilson flinched away at the slight movement "I wasn't expecting to take in a new patient, you see..." he, slowly, placed both his hands on the table where the man could see "was stuck doing scout work" he huffed with a small eye roll before smiling once again.

Mr Wilson seemed to only blink inresponse but at least his attention was on Peter and his head wasn't down.

"I was given this not too long ago" Peter turned his attention to the file and so did Mr Wilson "I only had a quick read through but...if you want to take a look as well, I don't mind" he placed a hand ontop of the plastic of the folder, thumb rubbing it for a moment.

Looking up to get Mr Wilson's reaction, Peter saw that the man was already looking at him, expression unreadable from under the mask.

"I can't exactly remove the straitjacket..." Peter leaned back "you have just transfered here and people seem still shaken with...well..." he looked away, unsure it was a good idea to mention what he had done-

Except... Peter didn't know what Mr Wilson had done.
All he knew was that someone had gotten hurt badly and... he was the cause. He was the one who hurt her.

Glancing up, Peter's eyes widened just for a moment as he took in how the man hunched on himself, head hanging low in guilt and...shame.

"I can, however, turn the paged for you" Peter continued "and if you wish to correct anything just let me know" he smiled slightly "Oh- there are some private pages though, I hope that's alright" he added, opening the file and flipping through pages.

Quickly he organised the pages, pausing a moment to look up at his patient because Mr Wilson hadn't said anything as of yet.
Mr Wilson had been watching him, watching his hands and the pages flipped with blank side up, looking up once Peter paused. He blinked, once then twice before nodding a single time.

"Does the mask make it hard for you to speak?" Peter asked, placing the few papers before him so he could read.

Mr Wilson shook his head, once.

Leaning back once again, Peter began to ponder to himself, making mental notes that Mr Wilson either didn't want to speak or had trouble doing so as in the reports he read earlier it had stated he replied to question and had conversations and such.

A nod and Peter flipped the page, allowing the man to continue reading.
It was a long moment of silence, the sound of flipping pages and Peter's own thoughts as he watched the reaction of the man before him.

Mr Wilson's shoulders were tense, much more than before, and he seemed to look at Peter with expectancy. He was alert, hyperaware of Peter's actions once again.

"I'll put these away now" Peter said, once again making his actions slow and obvious in order not to scare the man any further. He didn't know what had made the him to be shaken once again but one step at a time...

"I actually have lots of questions" Peter said at last, not having to watch the man to k Ow he had flinched once again "but as I said earlier, I'm here to talk. Not interrogate or force you to talk, Mr Wilson" he looked up at last, placing the folder neatly on the corner of the small table as it was before.

"You'll be staying with us for a while..." Peter said, turning his attention to the room instead now. It was bland, bleached and boring. Deadly quiet too, he hated it and briefly wondered if Mr Wilson would too

"My next visit I will be required to take notes, Mr Wilson" he turned back to him "and I'll most likely be much more nosy" he chuckled, hoping to take a more friendly tone "but since I'll be taking notes anyway, why don't you think about things you might want?" He suggested, feeling his own hands twitch for a moment of a second with excitement when Mr Wilson tilted his head instead of simply staring or nodding.
Mr Winston is interested in what he said, in what he is saying. He is paying attention and is responsive. He tilted his head, a good sign of trust...

Or...perhaps he is simply just confused.

"What I mean is... this room- if you can even call it that, I mean look at this" he mumbled mainly to himself, always having been fustrated with the way this clinic treats long term patients "It's...well... quite empty, no? So what if you...well..."

Pausing, Peter took a breath, arranging words in his head and trying not to make a fool out of himself. He had always sucked at conversations, ones that didn't have anything to do with his job.
He could speak to his patients, yes...but anything outside of his working field was complicated to him, he'd often overanalyse things to his own demise and would grow nervous when talking about himself- ence why it's easier to talk with patients because they talk about themselves, they don't often care about the one who they're talking to because they want to be heard and Peter is the one to give them that chance, to listen.

Adding things into this room wasn't part of the job... not unless absolutely necessary.
For instance: the patient may ask for a toothbrush or new underwear, perhaps warm socks ect... but unpractical things might be off the chart.

"I'd there is anything you want or need..." Peter tried once again, calm and collected "You just let me know, alright?" He smiled and Mr Wilson blinked once again from behind the mask, leaving Peter to wonder by himself what was he really thinking.

Once Peter bid his goodbyes for the day, allowing the awaiting doctor and guard to enter after he left in order to check on Mr Wilson, he headed home to re-read the materials in the folder as well take notes of things he had noticed during his and Mr Wilson's interaction.
As he passed by a shop on his way back, he paused at the window of a toy shop where it had a big sale sign for the "Hello Kitty Collection". He blinked a few times as his eyes took in the one plush of Hello Kitty in a wresling mask and suit, a winning belt on her waist made of felt.

That night, Peter slept with his fan on, his large spider stuffed toy being hugged tightly as usual all the while the wrestler Hello Kitty sat neatly on his desk.