Therapy

[WP] You are a child psychologist assigned to study and care for a young child with superpowers who has brutally murdered people. You have been told to act with care and with compassion, trying to rehabilitate them if possible

*****

He took a heavy pull from the cigarette, letting its twisting black tail of smoke swirl into a wispy trail. Murmurs from men wearing white lab coats echoed in the background, but the man simply smoked liberally and without apparent notice, staring deeply into the picture perfect white wall before him. It's only in simple circumstances that complicated thoughts can be produced.

"Arthur," The voice came from behind him, light with its obvious attempt at being calming. "Are you ready?"

Arthur smoked on for a moment, tilting his head up slightly and pursing his lips to let the smoke flow out more streamlined. His graying stubble and shortcut hair gave him the refined look of a man willing to go into the twilight years unafraid, his eyes had that sparkling brightness that reflected the fluorescent lights more than most. "Is the kid ready?"

The lab-coated man shifted on his feet, the bags under his eyes seeming to hang even further than before. Arthur was in stark contrast to him, wearing a stylish brown suit and sprawled out on the chair like he was in a cigar lounge.

"I think so."

Arthur shook his and leaned up on the chair, resting his elbows on his knees and massaging his head with the cigarette hand. "I understand your background, so don't take this for all the bluntness that it holds, but you have to work off of the child, not the experiment."

The man's mouth quivered in that twitchy, nervous manner before he talked. Like his tongue hadn't got the message on what to say yet. "I-I understand."

"I'm sure you do, now please, go talk to Dr. Mandel and tell her that I'm not going into that room unless the kid is ready. Regardless of what instruments are already fired up."

"A-Alright," The man shuffled lightly, obviously concerned about the task and not yet leaving to accomplish it.

Arthur sighed. "Alright," He stood up and put out his cigarette on the plastic chair. "I'll go talk to her. Just go and find me some mints in the meantime."

"Mints?"

Arthur began walking off down the hallway towards the main lab. "Yes, mints. Children hate the smell of cigarettes."

The facility smelled exactly like it looked, cold and government funded. Arthur walked through it like he'd known its pathways for as long as they'd existed, even though he'd been called in only last week. With every lazily, waltzing step eyes darted towards him from passing white-coats, though he ignored them. He knew his task, he didn't need stares to remind him.

"Dr. Mandel," He announced upon entering the buzzing, beeping room that monitored the child's every breath. "How's the kid?"

"We need you in there now Arthur, we're wasting time."

Arthur grabbed a rolling office chair and sat down with a theatric huff, casting a glance at the doctor that he was sure she could interpret. "Are we now?"

"Stop with the games." She wasn't even looking at him, a habit Arthur thought was very uninviting. "Just do your job."

He put up his hands in a feigned surrender. "I am..." The lab had gone noticeably more quite since he arrived. There seemed to be an expected battle between the two of them that everyone was eager to overhear. "But--"

"This is ridiculous." She threw up her hands and turned to him in one fluid, interrupting motion. "I know that you have certain ideas about me and this lab, I want them squashed right now."

"Okay. Let's squash."

"You think we want to kill the child don't you?"

Arthur took a deep breath and rubbed his chin, "I do."

"We're not monsters Arthur." Her voice had more emotion in it then he'd expected. Her eyebrows had bent over her eyes and showed him a depth that he thought most white-coaters had lost long ago. "I don't want to kill a child. I have kids myself, but please understand that this certain kid has killed a lot of people. A lot."

Her voice was becoming more strained and labored as she carried on. "I don't want to kill anyone. I just want this to be done, we all do... So when you walk into my facility, having never seen the blood we've had to wipe from the walls, blood from people we'd worked with for a long time, I don't want to deal with an authority that is not earned. Not until you wash those red walls with us."

Arthur bit lightly on his thumbnail, looking down at the polish of his brown shoes. The room was sucked of air as it awaited his reply. All of the eyes upon him spoke of having washed red walls, and he felt a second heavy weight being added to his already labored shoulders. "If you want the job done," His voice was strong, but not uncaring. "Then I enter that room when the kid is ready. Not when you are."

***

"Hello there," The room had finger-painted pictures and photos of random cities scattered across it. A door to an enclosed yard and another to a bathroom stood behind him. "Can I sit down?"

The kid was in pajamas, his favorite outfit for everyday play. "I don't give a shit."

Arthur nodded, lazily sitting in the desk chair as the kid continued to play with action figures on the ground. He sat there silently for a long time, the kid toying around and Arthur simply observing from his seat, legs crossed and face unassuming.

"Aren't you going to ask me questions?"

Arthur shook his head, "No. No I don't think that I am." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his pack of cigarettes and a lighter. "In fact, I'm actually going to have a smoke if that's okay with you."

"Cigarettes?" The kid looked up with a very confused face. "...Sure?"

Arthur again nodded in his typical lighthearted way and proceeded light one. The kid returned to play and they both resumed their strange silence, this time accompanied by an ether of smoke.

"Do you want one?"

"A cigarette? Like, to smoke?"

"That's right."

"I'm not allowed that kind of stuff."

"That wasn't my question."

The kid smirked and grabbed one out of his hand, rolling it around in his palm with obvious disbelief.

"Do you know how to light it?"

"No."

"Come here," Arthur leaned forward and showed the kid how to breath in as he lit it for him. He flicked the lighter on and watched as it turned the end of the white stick into a red ember, a new trail of smoke joining the cloud already formed. Immediately the kid broke out into a coughing fit, but Arthur didn't laugh or make a snide remark.

"Don't worry," He flicked off his lighter, leaning back in his seat again. "That's perfectly normal."

"Why do people do this?" He said amongst his wheezing.

"Well, usually people start them when they're young and headstrong. So they'd rather fight through the coughing fits than admit defeat."

The kid looked at the burning stick in his hand with curious eyes, furrowing his brow lightly. "So why'd you give me one?" He said returned his gaze to the strange suited man in his room.

Arthur rested his head on his hand that was propped up on the arm of the chair, letting his cheek get slightly squished by his fingers. "Can I be honest with you kid?"

He nodded his head.

"I just think that you needed it."

The kid thought on the words for a moment, then shook his head and looked back at him. "Why do I need it?"

"Well, I've only had to deal with these white-coaters for one week now, and I've already gone through three whole packs. I couldn't imagine being here for a year and never having one."

The room was silent for a long moment, like Arthur had broken some sacred code by mentioning the scientist, and the punishment was monastic silence, but all at once and without warning the kid broke out into roaring laughter, of which Arthur soon followed suit.

***

Arthur carefully stepped through the white door, locking the intense array of locks behind him as he was instructed.

"I don't understand." It was Dr. Mandel, arms crossed waiting on him. "What was all of that? I thought you'd told Howie about how kids hate cigarette smoke, and now you give him one?"

"I see Howie told you about that," Arthur finished the locks and they both walked back to the main lab. "That... Was a great first step."

"Well seeing as you didn't coat the walls I have to agree."

"You were right doctor, I don't think I fully appreciated the severity of the situation when I came in. I apologize."

"...Um, that's alright. I went a little far."

"How would you feel doctor, if when you had a rage fit as a child, it resulted in heads exploding?"

She focused her eyes at the ground as they walked, "What's your point?"

"Every kid has them doctor, it's not his fault that he was cursed. When you live by your nature and your nature results in something tragic... Well, that's quite a twisted path to growth isn't it?"

"I suppose so."

"I suppose so too." They arrived into the lab and again were met with an orchestra of wanting eyes. "I gave him that cigarette, doctor, simply because I thought he'd enjoy the rebelliousness of it. Nothing more than that."

"That's it?"

"Kids aren't complicated, they're simply emotional. Good for them that adults are also emotional, we just have been taught to hide it better."

"So what's the course of action after that? More cigarettes?"

Arthur smiled slightly, "Why not?" He put up his hands in the air. "Compassion doesn't start with numbers doctor. Compassion starts when you put down the clipboard and let yourself be human with someone else."

He put a finger in the air, "And love? Love starts when you listen, and quite frankly that kid is just as scared of those red walls as you all are... Empathizing with that human idea makes loving easy."

Arthur took a deep breath, smiling as he looked around the room and saw eyes that finally told a different story. A story of hope, as they all watched the kid on the monitor with disbelief. The kid was sitting down in the same spot as before, except this time he was smiling to himself, even giggling lightly.

"Seems everyone is finally listening now."

*****

THE END