Jack In The Box

“Jackson, that’s enough!” I shrieked, but it was too late. Mad-Dave’s face was bloody and his eyes were rolled back, a tooth fallen to the floor.

Cody, the Man-child didn’t seem to be bothered by this. He just casually threw us a look as if we’d just disturbed Mister Panda and his television time together.

I seized Jackson’s arm and tried to pull him away but his eyes spelled murder. It was like he was possessed. Jackson was too muscled and strong; he didn’t even budge when I pulled him. I needed to thread slowly out of this situation, one wrong move and I’d probably end up looking like Dave.

“Jackson.” I called out him. “You need to calm down. Dave is a bully; he’s just messing with you.”

Jackson turned his furious eyes at me. “Nobody fucking talks about my mother like that!” He yelled at Dave.

It was funny how one nasty word about his mother had driven him into a fit of rage when he was the one who’d killed her in cold blood. Maybe Jackson had some serious Mommy issues.

“I will kill him!” He said through gritted teeth.

Just then Marvin, the ward boy was passing by who saw the mess. “Call Dr. Shaw urgently!” I told him and turned to face Jackson. “If you tried to harm him anymore than you already have, they will put you in a strait-jacket and force you into the isolation room. Do you want that?”

Other patients were terrified to even think about being put into strait-jacket and the isolation room, but in Jackson’s case, he didn’t seem bothered.

“Didn’t you want a twenty-four hours out of the institution, do you think you’ll get it with this behavior?”

That seemed to have done it because his breathing that had been erratic a moment ago began to calm down. I placed a hand on his shoulder, and couldn’t help but notice how the hard muscles flexed beneath my fingers.

A minute later, Dave was placed on a stretcher. He opened one eye and passed me a grin, his teeth stained with blood that ran down his chin. The stretcher rolled away as Dave faked a moan.

Then, it just clicked into place.

It was all Dave’s plan just to get Jackson into trouble. He knew about Jackson’s violent nature and his bad temper and he’d taken advantage of it.

How crazy was Mad-Dave on the scale of one to ten?

I’d say a hundred.

Some nurses and two security guards arrived, followed by Aaron who seemed furious. The nurses restrained Jackson like a prisoner and put the mask back on his face. Jackson just stared impassively, his features not betraying any emotion. And just like I’d guessed, he was placed in a strait-jacket that even stopped him from moving.

“Aaron, it’s not his fault.” I said. “David instigated the fight. He said some really vile things about Jackson.” I explained. “I saw it myself!”

Aaron. He already had enough work pressure from Dr. Liu

keep him shackled like an animal. Oh wait; wild animals are still treated better.” I

even capable of?” He asked. “He is nothing like

understand, Aaron, it’s

feeling drowsy the other day. You need to understand that you never demand or force Jackson to take his medications. Next time, just leave

own way at handing Jackson if that’s okay. If we try to remove his restraints, maybe he won’t

the ‘Are

you to do it.” That said he sauntered

****

let me visit him. After much convincing and a large slice of homemade chocolate cake later, she handed me the keys. Nurse Laila had a sweet tooth, if she worked in

It was like the room was devoid of any life; the walls were painted a dull off-white with scribbles all over it. If you looked closely, you would notice the disturbing imagery. There was no window and only a bed adjacent to the wall. Jackson was lying on the bed, facing the other

open, he said. “If you brought food, take it

just brought you cake.” I said and placed

his brown eyes inspecting me curiously. “Stop trying to act nice!” He said, clearly

of yours is going to get you anywhere? The way you’ve been treating the previous nurses, scaring them away, forcing them to consume your medication. I

basking in the awkward silence. He finally said. “You didn’t need to defend me back there, Nurse Riley. I think I can fight my own battles besides, I don’t see a reason why you’re trying to act like a damn psychoanalyst. I think that’s a job best suited for Paul-fucking-Bennet so do us both

He was different today, the same bitter and angry version of him that the nurses were always talking about. It wasn’t something new

I love to, this is my job. And if you

As if he’d plugged his ears with ear muffs, he said. “When I’m out of this room and this jacket, you better

clear indication towards

to serve you dinner, so you

had chills all of my body when he’d said that, but I didn’t want to give him

****

loner and the only friend I had was Maddy who was stuck at the hospital. For two full days I tried to keep my mind off

knew he

he was

knew he had

there was still something about him that

documentaries and did some research about Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy. By the end of it, I started to feel a bit ill due to the horrific details entailing the murders. I tried to tell myself it was all for research purposes, to see if Jackson had

began buzzing. I reached for

first question I had in

are they calling me at such