Short Story: Fragility Part 5

This is part of a serial, find the previous parts here.

A rustling noise came from the closet and something resembling a moan. Officer Hamilton walked over and tried to open the door. “Where’s the key?” Hamilton said in a deep voice.

“I–” Chris was having trouble processing what was going on. “I think Pat keeps it on top of the door frame.”

Hamilton reached up, retrieved the key, and unlocked the door. A shrill scream followed by uncontrollable sobbing erupted from the closet when it opened.

Chris suddenly felt lightheaded as the room began to spin. His knees gave out. The room went black and the next thing Chris knew he was sitting at a metal table in a cold metal chair, inside a small room. He was dressed in a thin, worn blue t-shirt with matching pants. He looked up to see two women sitting across from him at a table.

“These are serious allegations, Chris. I need to know if you will be able to face these charges in court,” the woman on the right was asking him.
He looked at her blankly, uncertain who she was or what she was saying.

Another woman sitting next to the first leaned over and said, “I’ve told you that I don’t believe that he is of sound mind. He’s been catatonic for over a month now. We started him on a new medication a few weeks ago, but it doesn’t seem to be working.”

“What?” Chris managed through a dry, sticky mouth.

Both women turned to him in surprise. The woman to the right asked, “Chris, do you know who we are?”

He stared at her, not responding. Finally she said, “I’m your attorney, Martha Adams, and this is Dr. Stevens. We’re here to try to help you. Do you know where you are?”

He looked around the small room they were in and shook his head no.

“You’re being accused of attempted murder, Chris,” Martha said to him. “A woman was found in your apartment, seriously injured.”

He rubbed his face with his hands, then pressed his fingertips against his temples. “I–This doesn’t make sense–Pat, did they find Pat?”

The women exchanged a look. Dr. Stevens said in a calm and reassuring voice, “We’ll get to that.”

“But I need to know. There was a man. He attacked me. He took Pat. And her furniture.” He sat up in his seat and leaned forward. “I need to know if she’s okay.”

Dr. Stevens sighed and leaned in toward Chris. “There is no Pat. There never was. She doesn’t exist. Do you understand? She’s not real.”

Chris chuckled and his chuckle turned into uproarious laughter as his eyes began to water. As he calmed down, he said, “Okay, seriously now. She must be okay or you wouldn’t be joking around. When can I see her? This is her idea of a joke isn’t it? You must work with her or something.”

“Chris, let’s just take this one step at a time. It seems you may be here for quite some time, so we’ll take this slowly.”

It dawned on Chris that he didn’t know where he was. “A long time? Where exactly are we?”

Even as he asked the question, the walls of the confined room seemed to melt away and he realized they were in a much larger room with people milling around.
A woman a couple of feet to his left was facing a wall and saying, “You’ve been a good little bird haven’t you. We’ll have to give you a treat.” The woman reached up and petted the wall.

A man across the room was yelling incoherently at someone, but Chris wasn’t sure who, since everyone seemed to be steering clear of him. Yet another man was methodically rocking back and forth, as he sat on the floor.

Chris stood and pushed back from the table. “I don’t belong in here.” Dr. Stevens hurried around the table tried to ease him back into the chair. He backed away from her and nearly tripped over a woman. Her gaze was transfixed on an imaginary TV show, the black screen seemed to delight her.

The man rocking back and forth let out a high-pitched screech. “I don’t belong in here!” he mimicked.

Chris grabbed the sides of his head and pulled at his hair. “I don’t belong in here!”