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Post by applepoisoneer on Jul 22, 2011 12:30:43 GMT -5
"Your father, he was good with the tools yes? He made a lot of ruckus?" The doctor reached behind his desk and pulled two long black pipes from behind it. Where they'd come from, he didn't say. But they looked industrial and rather new, like they'd been purchased for the occasion. "Did he ever- use them against you?"
"No." Max said rather defensively, clutching the chair like a liferaft. "No, he wouldn't dare!" As he spoke, the doctor began to clang the pipes together. They rang through the office like church bells; again and again until six or seven loud beats had passed. "No, he- I can't remember!" He buried his face into the thin metal chair as the doctor leaned over him with the pipes, beating them again.
Another six beats rang out and Maxwell began to shriek and hold himself around the waist.
'What did he do Maxwell? What did he do with the hammer?" He demanded in an ironically paternal voice. "What did he do with the hammer?"
Through sobbing and sharp inhalation, he managed a few words. " He- Heh... He- nailed me... closet...nailed me... closet..." He clenched his hands, but Dr. Arkham unclenched them with his own. Very faint dots, like large needle-pricks were on either side of his hands.
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Joan Leland
Registered On: Apr 25, 2011 20:27:05 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 144
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Post by Joan Leland on Jul 22, 2011 19:01:57 GMT -5
Joan was just jotting some possible connections between banging and Max's father down when she saw Jeremiah withdraw the pipes and blinked, suddenly a little alarmed. She had to see where he was going with this, be sure that he wouldn't hit the man or something.
Her alarm didn't ease away when the purpose of the pipes was revealed though. She watched as Dr Arkham moved in closer to the cowering man...As the ninth clang sang out she decided enough was enough and abandoned her coffee on the way to the door. She only just heard Max's last words on her way out and glanced back to see the man before she left the room behind the mirror.
She ignored the orderlies outside Jeremiah's and Max's room and rapped sharply on the door before retreating a few steps down the hall, trying to force Jeremiah outside into the hall to talk to her. She waited there for him, failing to hide the anger and all but forgetting that this was her boss. Clearly she was not going to have the conversation in the doorway but as soon as there's a closed door between them and Max she starts to make her objections "You knew. You knew about his father, how much of that was even new to you?" he must have known something or he wouldn't have had the pipes ready.
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Post by applepoisoneer on Jul 22, 2011 20:48:59 GMT -5
There was very little change in his expression, but Dr. Arkham's eyes seethed with rage. He locked the woman in his gaze, like a hunter with his finger on the trigger and gestured for her to go. "Wait outside and I will talk with you there Ms. Leland." This time it was no accident that he'd omitted the doctor's title. As far as he was concerned, she was standing in the way of progress.
Maxwell looked up into the woman's face as though she were something divine sent to rescue him. "Who are you?" He looked to the doctor with the pipes. "Who is she?" The man still trembled and clutched at the now over-turned chair.
"Just leaving, that's who she is." The doctor told him authoritatively but with a certain bedside manner that would make one wonder if he were cold or just distracted. "I think we're finished for today Max, the men outside will walk with you back to your room."
With the door open, the two orderlies stepped inside and very gentley took the man's arms. "What's her name?" The man strung between them pleaded.
With a cynical and almost cruel smirk, assured that the orderlies had ahold of the man, the doctor replied; "It's Joan, coincidentally."
"Joan- Joan!" He wailed, looking to the woman with pleading eyes. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry- Joany! I didn't mean it-" He was dragged from the room by the orderlies who looked rather peeved that their employer had set the man off so. However they knew not to ask questions and moved him past Dr. Leland, whom Maxwell tried desperately to grab for.
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Joan Leland
Registered On: Apr 25, 2011 20:27:05 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 144
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Post by Joan Leland on Jul 23, 2011 16:43:09 GMT -5
Joan fully intended to wait outside and talk there rather than in front of Maxwell but being told to doesn't exactly do much for her own anger. Max gains barely a glance, she doesn't speak to him, her attention is on Jeremiah and Max isn't her patient. She steps in when she thinks she has to but she won't comfort the man.
Her back straightens as Jeremiah reveals her name and it's only the distraction of Max trying to grab at her which stopped her from losing her temper with Dr Arkham. She was quick to step out the way though and watched Max dragged away. She looked annoyed as she remained by the room with Jeremiah, her voice sounded calmer than it had done a moment ago though she was no less angry "Do you think it was really wise to tell him my name?"
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Last Edit: Jul 23, 2011 17:46:25 GMT -5 by applepoisoneer
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Post by applepoisoneer on Jul 23, 2011 17:44:28 GMT -5
"It doesn't matter." He told her quite coldly. "He is not your patient. If he should have to speak with you, for some semi-miraculous reason, he'll learn to address you as Dr. Leland." He stepped over to the chair and turned it rightside up again, after stowing the pipes behind the desk again.
He stepped into the hallway and closed and locked the door behind him. "What exactly did you think you were doing Dr. Leland? You barged in on a potentially progressive session. I know you're not an old-hand at this but you're not some bumbling fresh-faced med-student. I expect far more from you!" The anger in his eyes was constant and gave him a rather stony-loking expression.
He sighed and remembered that he'd left his coffee cup in the office, but didn't go back to retrieve it. "I knew about his father." He explained. "From the moment I first talked with him, I knew his father had something to do with his illness. But it wasn't until I examined his hands that I knew the severity of his involvement. The banging Maxwell hears, an auditory manifestation of trauma. Any high-school psychology student could figure that out."
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Joan Leland
Registered On: Apr 25, 2011 20:27:05 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 144
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Post by Joan Leland on Aug 1, 2011 13:05:25 GMT -5
"Due to his reaction and the record of escapes within this facility I believe my concern is well founded. Simply addressing me incorrectly was not my worry" Joan replies calmly while mentally and with much sarcasm thanking her boss for placing her on the radar of a dangerous criminal who now seems to believe she's the woman he killed. She always made it practice never to tell patients even the smallest of personal details, to have one thrown so carelessly by her boss to a patient who would obviously fixate on it, well lets just say the outer calm doesn't reflect what's going on inside.
She waits for him in the hallway still, stood by the door which she never actually went through. She ignored the suggestion that she'd done wrong, whether he believed so or not she considered herself an old hand around the asylum, she'd handled the dangerously insane for years, she'd even been there to give Harley Quinn the tour on her first day and it took much of her years of experience not to let her own anger show again "I didn't barge in, I knocked and remained outside. The banging was clear, as was a likely connection to his father but torturing him with the banging of the pipes was unneeded. He claimed not to remember but revealed it within seconds once you began, he was lying. In his fragile state with easily manipulated moods due to his apparent grief over the women simply pushing the issue would likely have had the same effect without pushing him even further over the edge" again her tone was perfectly calm but her eyes now stared at him unwavering "In addition his reaction to you during your next session will now likely be one with the memory of the pipes banging in his head, which I would predict will either make him more aggressive or afraid, both of which will likely set back his progress"
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Post by applepoisoneer on Aug 2, 2011 16:17:55 GMT -5
"This was not the first session I've had with Mr. Edison Doctor Leland." Dr. Arkham told her with a bot of aggression. "He would have continued to deny anything to do with his father or mother had I not pushed him. He was conditioned to do so through years of abuse." The doctor silently took in breath, trying to resist the urge to hit her with a hammer.
"The progress being made here is indeed unusual, but once Mr. Edison accepts that fear does not always lead to pain and that confronting this issue won't leave him nailed to a closet wall or door, we can move on... Or at least we will be able to do so if you would kindly remove your foot from my shoulderblades, Doctor Leland."He turned and began to head back toward his office.
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Joan Leland
Registered On: Apr 25, 2011 20:27:05 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 144
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Post by Joan Leland on Aug 15, 2011 13:54:55 GMT -5
Joan continued to stare at Dr. Arkham, there wasn't a hint of approval but she wasn't prone to interrupting people when they were talking, not unless she thought they were doing harm to someone anyway. It wasn't until he turned to leave that she opened her mouth to respond but all that came out was silence before she closed her mouth again and watched him go. She wasn't the sort of woman who had to get the last word and she could certainly tell when Dr. Arkham was angered to the point he became dangerous, if not for her health at least for her job. She would just have to keep an eye on things from afar like usual, she was no use to any of the patients if she got fired.
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