Tick Tock Part Four - The Mouse Fell Down

The Calming Room

One week later saw Nines pulling up outside the hospital. He refused to acknowledge it as a sanatorium or an asylum, or even a psychiatric hospital. It was a hospital for the sick. Not a place to hide those with various psychological ailments. Leaving Gavin there had been difficult, but after speaking with Dr Marr, it was clearly the best course of action. Gavin, of course, had disagreed. The betrayal in his scathing green eyes had been obvious. It was no surprise that he hadn't gone voluntarily. Elijah had signed him over for his own wellbeing. Having been imprisoned and conditioned for over a year, it was clear he needed professional help.

Unfortunately, Gavin was being less than cooperative. He trusted no one. Nines couldn't blame him for that. He'd been trapped with an android wearing Jack Dawson's face for over a year. An android he'd been intimate with. The android may have even pretended to be his partner. Gavin knew Jack Dawson was dead, but after a few months of torture, it's entirely possible he'd latched onto the android for comfort. That didn't even take the Hickory Killer himself into account. There was no telling how long he'd spent in Gavin's company, or what he'd done. The only one who could answer those questions was Gavin, and so far he'd refused to talk about it.

Being so untrusting of the world around him, it was no surprise that he was refusing medication. Various tests had revealed trace amounts of scopolamine in his system, suggesting he'd been regularly exposed to its effects. That certainly explained some of how they'd managed to persuade him to take part in their sick little games, alongside the very real threats to Kitty's life. To combat the effects and undo the conditioning, he'd been prescribed a range of anti-psychotics. He was also taking vitamins to improve his physical condition from malnutrition.

Although Nines wasn't sure he'd ever know exactly what had occurred, scans of Gavin's body showed extreme mental and physical deterioration. It was likely he'd been starved or refused to eat at some point. His muscles showed signs of wasting that were consistent with long-term malnourishment. He was twitchy, restless, and distrustful. Gavin had always been somewhat cautious and doubtful, but those traits now ruled his perception of the world. He'd even shown signs of distrusting him once they'd left Elijah's house. Whenever he'd reached out, Gavin had flinched, unable to meet his eyes. He'd closed in on himself, falling silent and mostly answering with hums and grunts, once again a cornered animal, small and afraid of the world.

Nines had called Dr Marr on the way to the hospital to discuss his condition. She had kindly suggested that she meet them there to assess his condition as his personal therapist. After meeting Gavin and consulting with the hospital doctors, they'd all agreed that the best course of action was for Gavin to enter a properly equipped facility for rehabilitation. Alone. Nines had been reluctant to allow it. He'd only just found Gavin, and they expected him to let him go that very night, but Dr Marr was right. Gavin was prone to developing a sense of dependency, and that was unhealthy. He needed to recover and become strong on his own, especially if he was to return to work.

Despite his own feelings, Nines knew Dr Marr and the others were right. Making Gavin dependent on him wouldn't be healthy, and time apart was the best remedy for that. Unfortunately, things hadn't gone according to plan. Gavin had refused medication to the point of being wrestled into submission and forced to take them. Such rough treatment had led to further distrust, making him lash out to protect himself against what he presumed to be a physical threat. Since he was physically lashing out, they'd had little choice but to isolate him in a safe environment, making him feel even more vulnerable. Such details had been kept from Nines at first, but with Gavin's physical condition deteriorating, Dr Marr had thought it best to bring him in, hoping that a visit from Nines would put him back on track.

That brought Nines to his current position of walking into the hospital. Dr Marr was already waiting, ready to guide him through to Gavin's cell. They didn't call it a cell, of course, but that's what it was. A small room with padding on every surface, no windows, and a locked door. Besides the padding, there was very little difference between the padded cell and a prison cell, only a prison cell had a toilet and a cot. The padded room was simply that. The reasoning for that was that anything hard could be used by the patient to hurt themselves or others. That was likely true of many, but Nines didn't believe the self-harm part applied to Gavin.