The automatic doors pushed away, leaving room for me to walk through. I was immediately swarmed by nurses and patients running around. It looked like I expected, even though I'd never been in a hospital before. White tiles, white walls, white coats. I walked up to the desk and impatiently waited for her to get off the phone. She looked at me and held up a finger, signaling for me to wait. Like I would do anything else. She set down the phone and smiled easily at me, "I'm sorry for that. What can I help you with?"

" I have an appointment with Dr. Ceister? Could you tell me where they are? " I tapped my fingers unconsciously on the counter. When I saw her looking at my moving hand in annoyance I stopped. She pointed to the left and I noticed the fake nails, so long that they looked like talons. I suppressed the shudder as she spoke. "She's down the left hallway, in her office, room 231." I gave a nod as thanks and walked away from the taloned woman.

I knocked on the door and was surprised when it pushed open when I knocked.

I opened it fully and walked in. I looked at the woman in surprise. She was older than me, with long blonde hair and the typical lab coat, but what surprised me was the headphones...and her dancing along.

I tapped my knuckles on the desk, startling her. She took out the headphones and smiled, revealing a set of very white teeth.

"How professional of me. I'm so sorry, do you need something?" I was kind of getting tired of being asked that.

I smiled, albeit forced, "I called earlier. Colin Jameson. I'm here for some insight about a patient and to see the records." She leaned back in the chair, " I remember, you're from the newspaper. Maddox Pian, wasn't it? You said you might come in next week. " I mentally cursed. I had told her that, but I just needed to know. The sooner I did, the sooner I would be done, and the sooner my mind wouldn't be haunted by his face.

I nodded, "My boss wanted me to come earlier." She nodded understandingly. Wait, how could she know? Weren't doctors their own bosses?

She pointed to the chair and I sat down uneasily. She whirled over to the keyboard and started typing. A second later she looked up, "What do you want to know?"

I learned that he was admitted after a 911 call from Morning Star Church, and had to be resuscitated upon arrival. He'd died as soon as they set to work in the ER. Major blood loss, gunshot wounds, severe malnutrition, massive amounts of various drugs in his systems-

"Do you always write during things like this? I thought interviewers just took notes. Not full pages." I looked up in confusion before the meaning set in. I shut the notebook, "Better to start writing now, rather than later. And did he have any serious injuries to his abdomen?" She looked at the screen again, reading quietly for a moment. She nodded, but it was so small I almost didn't catch it. I opened the notebook again, "He did?" She nodded, a bigger gesture this time.

" Mr. Jameson, this is a private health record and I am only aiding you because Mr. Pian's psychologist gave permission for his records to be shown. Yes, he had severe injuries to his abdomen. While in recovery, we noticed he had been under multiple procedures before. Records showed he'd had no previous operations. I am not aware of what happened before he came to this hospital, but I knew it wasn't good. He's had severe changes to his physiology. Including organ...swaps. "

She watched as I wrote furiously, trying not to miss a single word. I wasn't allowed to record anything like I usually did, but this would do. "I'm sorry, doctor, did you say 'swaps'?" She nodded, a small feature like before and her expression was cast in sadness. Everyone pitied him.

"I won't reveal too much detail on that unless it's absolutely necessary." She waited for my response. " Oh, it's not necessary" I replied.

"While in my care, he received other treatments for his mental health." I cocked an eyebrow, " Other treatment? " She frowned, "Yes, when he was well enough. He was put into the electroshock program." My mouth dropped open. Electroshock? I didn't know anything about it other than it basically caused a seizure and it was highly controversial. I coughed, trying to hide my shock, "What exactly is electroshock?"

"I'll use the non-medical jargon for you. It's usually for severe depression or cases of mania. Dr. Kennedy was assigned to Mr. Pain and was the one who suggested it. It causes a brief seizure which can change levels of production for certain hormones. Think of it as turning your computer off when it's having trouble and when it comes back on it works a bit better," She paused to sigh, I could tell she hadn't agreed to it, "We let him run a few trials. I didn't observe them. Dr. Kennedy did. I was given a progress report." She opened a drawer and pulled out a small box of DVDs.

" What are these? " I asked.

She looked at them solemnly, "The recordings. After they stopped his trial session, I was given these. I never watched them. You can, if it'll help." I was intrigued. I nodded. She stood, carrying the small basket, "We'll have to go to my colleague's viewing room. My screen is scheduled to be repaired this week. I won't be able to watch them. I have another patient. "

She opened the door for me, to a short conference-looking table, some chairs, and a flat-screen TV. She inserted the disc and turned the screen on. She handed the remote to me, "I hope, that in some way, this will help that young man. If you see him, tell him... nevermind. Tell him that I'm sorry." I nodded , but was confused. Sorry for what? And why was there so much mystery and sadness around this man?

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, and then I pressed play.

It was poor quality, a yellow tint to the picture. The room was empty of people, with medical equipment only. A group of 3 nurses walked in and started messing with the chair that was in the middle of the room. It went on for about 10 minutes, until Dr. Kennedy walked into the room, it was clearly her from the beaky nose, sharp bun, and impeccable posture. Two men in white walked in with a smaller figure in between them. Maddox. He looked about the same, but skinnier and in a hospital gown. He shuffled around and sat down on the chair, almost defeatedly. I fast forwarded because I watched 5 more minutes of prep work. The preparation continued for a while, even for being fast-forwarded. I played it at regular speed when I saw him start seizing. I hunched over in my seat, watching intently. Maddox went still for a moment. The heart rate monitor kept beeping. They checked his vitals and then they shocked him again. It was okay for about 30 seconds until he stopped shaking and he began screaming. It was almost an unintelligible scream but if you listened close enough, he was saying 'please'.

I stopped the video after another minute. I thought they would have stopped. But they didn't.

I pulled another case from the box. The video started in the same way as I fast forwarded. It was worse this video. He started sobbing as soon as he sat down. Loud, hoarse sobs. The screams were the same. I tore through every single video, each worse than the last. At the beginning of my video watching, he came in obediently. By the last video, he was drug in, kicking, screaming, and crying. I turned the TV off. Why would they do that? That couldn't have been standard procedure. Or was it?

I sat back in my chair. Wow. What I'd seen, was almost torture. And Maddox had obviously suffered so much, for so long. I had come around prodding into his life, probably causing more pain. Almost unconsciously, I pulled out my phone. I didn't even realize I called the number.

"Hello?" It was a child's voice. Before I could respond I heard squabbling and then a familiar voice spoke. "Who is this?"

" Hey, Alexis, it's Colin Jameson... the reporter guy. "

"Reporter guy?"

"Reporter guy. I nee-"

"What do you want?"

"I need to talk to Maddox." There was silence. I waited for what seemed like forever until- "Okay. Lemme get him." I waited for another eternity, hearing her run up stairs.

I was actually surprised she didn't hang up on me.

"Okay! Here he is! Maddox! You have a call!" I winced at the shouting. I heard him talk in the background- wait, how did I know it was him? How did I recognize his voice? " Alexis, I'm not talking to someone on the phone. How do I know it's not one of them?"

"It's reporter guy."

"Colin?" I could hear the confusion in his voice. I looked over at the dark screen, remembering the footage. "Hello?" It was strange to hear him speak, after what I'd watched. I shook my head, "Hi. It's Col-"

"I know. What do you want, Jameson?"

"I was wondering if I could meet with you earlier than I said. Would that be okay?"

" I-I don't know. I'm not really comfortable with-"

"Do it Maddox!" I heard Alexis screech. I could almost see him frowning at her. "Col- Jameson. Where? And when? And why?"

I didn't really know the answer to any of those questions, but some part of me did, because I started talking, "Briar Park by the library. Tomorrow afternoon. It's important. I can't tell you too much right now."

There was silence on the other end.

"Okay...yeah. I can do that. Yeah." I heard Alexis squeal in the background excitedly, "Maddox got a date!"

I hung up as he started to argue with her. What had I just done? I had no idea. Why had I done that? I had no idea. What I did know was that I was not going to screw this up. I wouldn't even ask any questions about the past. It couldn't hurt to give this kid a nice day out. If he warmed up, I wouldn't even have to ask for the story. I looked down at the phone screen as if checking that it was real. It was real. All too real. I sighed and turned to look over at the small box of DVDs. I allowed myself a small victory smile.

I was at least a small step closer to the bottom of this mystery.