Breaking Stories in the West

It wasn't too long ago when I worked in the Psychiatric Ward at the Thunder Bay Regional Hospital. 2005, it would have been. A guy in his twenties was admitted in there, and I was asked to be one of his support workers until he 'got better'. I don't know what 'got better' meant, but I still didn't say no. I did in fact say 'yes'.
The people that were thanked me. I welcomed them.
Now the Psychiatric Ward in the hospital was a part of the rest of the facility. There was no dark tunnel to get in, and no blinding light of day where you got out. It was a normal room, with a hallway going south to north, and one connected perpendicular that led to some of the private visiting rooms. The guy I was with was in the last room on the north end of the hallway. There were ten rooms per side. Each room opened and closed like a glass window opening onto a balcony. Inside was a shelf, lamp, and bed. There was a bathroom that had a door to close for privacy. Almost every room was occupied with people in different states of mental awareness. I wonder how comfortable they were, as I got the impression that this ward was a regular place for most of them to visit.
It was my purpose to support this guy, therefore the nurses had me locked in among the people staying there. There was ten inches of glass that seperated us from the nurses that relaxed and ate pizza from large size boxes. It was coffee break every fifteen minutes, and one of the private rooms was always left vacated for any doctor that wanted to play out rape fantasies with their fellow nurses. Most of the screaming that took place in the Psychiatric Ward were actually coming from the nurses themselves.
I wasn't jealous. In fact I preferred staying with the residents. It was easier talking to a man with schizophrenia than dealing with a nurse who just came from the Visiting Room. So there I was; with the guy I was supporting, and also engaging in different conversations with all of the people who sat inside waiting to be allowed to leave. I met an older woman with long brown hair. She spent her days yelling at the nurses from her room. A nurse would give her some kind of tired attention, which saw the woman offering the nurse locks of her own hair as gifts of thanks. I laughed at this.
When I was able to ask the woman why she was in here, she answered, "Oh, just went around the bend again I suppose." Bullshit, I thought. You're simply too poor to get a haircut. You come here to rip out your own hair in a socially acceptable manner.
The woman would go on to say that she had been molested her entire life, and has intimacy problems with all of her boyfriends. After I showed empathy, she asked me if I wanted to be her boyfriend. I politely told her that I was in fact gay, and I had been dating a guy for over a year now. She laughed at me, called me a silly little faggot, and ripped out some of hair and handed it to me. I gently took her hair, and put it in my pocket.
"Thankyou very much."
"Your welcome. Lets talk again some time." This was clearly the response of an insane person.
"Absolutely. I'll be here every day until my friend over there decides to go home."
I turned around and went back to where the guy was. He was laying down on the grey concrete floor. He was laughing, kicking his legs at the ceiling, and rolling his head from side to side. Oh no. What did this mean?
I asked the nurse if she could help me determine what the problem might be. As we both stood looking down at this guy, the nurse immediately reached for her walkie talkie and called in four security guards.
"Are four guards really necessary?" I asked looking the nurse directly in the eyes.
She didn't even answer me. She moved directly passed me, back into the nurses office, and grabbed a syringe. Everything happened so fast. Before I knew it there were four robotic security guards beside me, and the nurse was closing in with a giant needle in her hand. I considered the possibility that they were after me, and were planning a suprise attack to stop me from voicing my opinion or concern of this guy. I was almost thankful when the guards picked the guy up off the floor and brought him to the bed. Phew, it wasn't me after all. The guy was then put into a four point restraint on the bed. This is when your arms and feet are buckled into the corner of each bedpost in order to keep you from getting up. The guy was still laughing, which made the guards laugh as well.
I heard one of them call the guy a 'fucking nutcase'.
The nurse then stuck this needle into the guy's upper left arm, which knocked the guy out in ten seconds.
The nurse then turned to me. "You're welcome", she said.
"...okay..."
Everyone left, and I was alone staring at this guy through a glass door. He was knocked out cold. Who knows how long the stuff would last. If it could knock a guy out in ten seconds, then it was probably some pretty powerful stuff. I called my supervisor and told him of what just happened. My supervisor expressed his concern, and thanked me for my patience. I had to write up a report to hand in at the office within twenty four hours. I wasn't sure if I would be relieved from this place within twenty four hours. I hung up the phone.
Ring.
Ring.
I answered the phone on the third ring, and it was my supervisor asking me to work a double.
"An overnight? Would I be able to sleep here, or do I have to stay up all night?"
"It's going to have to be an awake overnight, sorry to say. Pete called in sick an hour ago, which leaves only you to do it."
"No problem", was all I could say. I was boiling inside though. I was going to be awake for such a long time. Staying up for over twenty four hours straight would send me into my own state of psychosis. I guess I was in the right place.

Given to the Chosen

My head is full of thoughts.

Her/His/Life/Death/Love/Hat

I saw death when I was alive
Living and breathing, I bore witness
To death and suffocation
Killed and stoned
I saw death and she was beautiful
Because the answers were unnecessary
The questions all stopped
He stood over her and began to cry
He was the life that her death lived inside
My eyes burned into her pupils that stared
The connection was gone, lost, never more
He wept until the rain came and washed over
I saw this all and I felt an orgasm coming
I saw all of this and I felt an orgasm going
There had to be an exit

Haha
There is an exit
It was there all along
Can you see it?
It's right over
There