New Year, New You [OTA]

[abrightboy]

Who: Malcolm Bright and YOU
When: The first half of January.
Where: B1, ADI offices, around town.
Summary: Malcolm is aware that he has problems. Time to get rid of them for good! Because mental health works like that, right?!
Warnings: mental health struggles, vomit


There's a TV playing in the cafeteria at ADI when he goes down to get lunch after the new year. He's going to order soup; he already knows this. He's not even paying attention to the TV. He's lost in his own thoughts. But, as he waits in line, he changes his mind. Maybe he won't have soup after all. He's going to have a hamburger! And fries! Time to do like his mother says: stop all this nonsense. It's all in your head, Bright, he tells himself. That admonition is in a lot of people's voices from throughout his life.

He spends most of the afternoon in the men's room on that floor throwing up.

But Rome wasn't built in a day.

Back at B1 a few days later, he's staring at the tidy line of pill bottles on the kitchen counter. He's considering just throwing them away. He has to force himself to be normal; he can see it now.

At the coffee shop down the street, on another day, he orders his usual mocha and a big slice of chocolate cake. He'll try not to throw it up on the street but no promises. It takes time for a body to get used to new habits, is all. And if he's a little jittery, anxious, more unraveled than usual, well it's probably because he quit his meds cold turkey but he'll adapt. It's not to worry. He'll adapt.

Maybe he should stop relying on the restraints to sleep.

Maybe he should start going out to bars to meet people.

Maybe he should break curfew and crash with friends at Bonnie's.



Somebody stop him.

Comments

[abrightboy]

He's silent a moment.

"...What?" And then, like a spell is broken, he starts struggling mightily again. "Let me go! LET ME GO!"

cw: mention/threats of corporal punishment

[graveyounglady]

He's a lot harder to hold onto, and Mercy weighs the merits of cracking his head against something to get him to calm down a bit. She can fix him once she's got him in a bed. Probably. Except that she has learned something since coming here, and concussions are bad. Why does he have to make this difficult?

She squeezes him tight, and says a grateful prayer to the Spring Tide when the doors finally open on the right floor. Walking with a flailing man is harder than standing with one, though. "Would you... be still?!" Mercy does pause just outside the elevator, moving to pin Malcolm's back half there. "This is happening. You can let it happen nicely, or you can pitch a fit like young 'un who ain't seen three full sets of seasons. You're lucky my Mama ain't here. She'd take a switch to your backside quick as you like for all the bellyaching you're doing."

[abrightboy]

"You have no right to detain me," Malcolm insists, still wriggling. "And neither does your mother. Put me down now!"

[graveyounglady]

"I got the right of the Spring Tide and your well-being on my side. You will be cleansed of the ills in your body with medicines you need, and you'll be grateful for the healing." This is frustrating. Can't he understand that she has to do this? She's been a bad acolyte. She's been failing in her duties to the Spring Tide since she arrived here. This is a way to redeem herself.

She gives him a hard shake on her shoulder, then starts stomping down the hallway, bound and determined to get him to a bed in the med bay.

[abrightboy]

He still, biding his time. He waits until they're inside the med bay, where he hopes anybody reasonable works.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" he screams. "MAKE THIS MANIAC RELEASE ME! THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH ME! I DON'T WANT TREATMENT!"

cw: forced medical care

[graveyounglady]

"He's off his medication and fighting any help as given to him. He just needs- STOP THAT! He just needs sleep and some fluids put into him. Something for the pain and shivers and shakes, too. Can someone get me his records?"

The rest of the staff seem confused, but Mercy's been here long enough to develop some level of rapport. Someone else approaches, but it's not to hinder her. Rather, it's to help her try to get Malcolm down on to a bed with another person coming over to assist with restraints.

"We're helping you, Mr. Malcolm. There's something wrong with you that needs fixing. You need to calm down."

cw: forced medical care

[abrightboy]

He starts to almost rationally starting to look around for someone reasonable or a way out, but he sees the restraints and that goes out the window. He pulls against them, screaming.

“No! NO! Not that! NOT THAT!”

cw: forced medical care

[graveyounglady]

Others come over to assist as Malcolm grows more hysterical, hands holding him down, people talking over his head, until there's an IV, one that Mercy aims to put into his arm.

"This'll stop you hurting, Mr. Malcolm. Rest. Just rest."

cw: forced medical care

[abrightboy]

He strains against the hands holding him down, but when he sees the needle, he starts screaming again.

"No! No! NO!" he insists, trying to thrash.

cw: forced medical care

[graveyounglady]

It's four against one at this point, which means the IV is going in, unfortunately. Mercy tries to stroke his hair once it's done.

"Shh... Settle. Settle, sir. It's okay. You'll feel better in just a bit. Just relax. We're gonna fix you."

[abrightboy]

His attempts to struggle only get weaker until, after a moment, he feels numb and everything fades to black.

[graveyounglady]

There's a sigh of relief around the room when Malcolm finally goes under. And then... to work. Checking his vitals, his records for prescriptions, setting up IVs for various things. Mercy does her best to attend, listening to the doctors, and assisting where she can.

By the time he wakes up again, Mercy will have left, but maybe Malcolm will feel physically better... if violated in every other way.