Dome → Isaac Lahey

5.9 : breach

A tap on Carmen's shoulder startled her and she jumped a bit in her seat just outside the hospital room, her eyes flying open. She looks up to see the doctor giving her an apologetic smile, holding a clipboard in his hands.

Just beyond the door to her right, Isaac was being scanned for any mental illnesses he was suspected of having.

"Is he done?" Carmen rubs her eyes tiredly.

"No, actually, he just started. You fall asleep very quickly," The doctor stated, a light chuckle leaving his lips. Carmen gives an awkward smile back and the doctor continues, "I actually wanted to talk to you about what's been going on, though. He told me his side of things, but I would like to get it from an outside point of view."

"O-Okay," Carmen sat up in her seat, clearing her throat. "What do you want to know?"

"About when did all of this start?" He asked, taking the liberty to sit next to her.

"Uh, around two weeks ago I think." She answered quickly, gulping nervously.

"And what are some changes you've noticed in his behavior?"

"He's been having a lot of mood swings. Sometimes he's his regular self and other times he's violent and snappy," Carmen begins, her eyes dropping down to her lap as she fiddled with her fingers. She decided to leave out the part about him almost killing her that same morning. "He goes blank sometimes, completely unresponsive. He's been waking up in the middle of the night and talking to himself, but he claims he's been seeing this person talking to him.. Telling him to do things."

"What things?" The doctor's eyebrows furrowed as his hand moves fervently to write down the information, "And did he describe what this person looked like?"

"Just.. Bad things." Carmen answered vaguely, deciding not to mention the attempted murders. "But he never told me what the person looked like, no."

"Well," The doctor stood, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, "From what you two have told me, it sounds like it might be a case of bipolar depression. Though, if all of this just came from nowhere in two weeks, I'm not sure. It would take gradual time to develop."

"So is there anything else it could be?" Carmen asked, still fiddling nervously with her fingers.

"I guess we'll just have to wait until the results come in, won't we?" The doctor patted her gently on the back with her clipboard. He noticed the uneasiness in her expression and he gave her a sad smile, "Everything will be fine, Miss Taylor."

With that, the doctor walked back down the hallway to tend to other matters he was called to.

Carmen allowed her eyes to drift closed for the second time that morning, the thought of Isaac still lingering at the back of her head.

▲▼

"Isaac?" Carmen called sweetly, knocking on the door to his hospital room. An hour after talking to the doctor, she had been told that Isaac completed his tests and was moved to another room, 196. When she gently swung the door open, she indeed met eyes with her boyfriend, lolling his head back onto his pillow.

She smiled and walked over to him, pulling a chair up next to the bed and running a hand through his hair.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Carmen asked, earning a small grin from him.

"It was tiring." Isaac yawned, stretching out on the bed. "I'm ready to go home."

"I know, baby." Carmen frowned, lacing his fingers with his. "They want to keep you here though, make sure you feel okay after the test and give you your results."