Cupping the man's cheek, she rubbed a finger over his work, pulling gently at the bloody pieces. None of them moved from place, other than the slight shift along his muscle.
"You did this on your own? It's... good." Words which mirrored some from the man's past-- possibly one of the few compliments his mother ever gave him. His first creations: a small doll family spun from his thread. A miniature showcase of his abilities, leading to a surprised parent as a result.
Allowing her voice to return to normal, she retracted her hand and patted around her coat, searching for something she had hidden away in her pocket.
"As promised, here's something good for a good patient such as yourself." Beaming, she offered the man a burgundy sphere, lumpy in texture and soft to the touch. "Go ahead and eat it whenever you find yourself going insane. It tastes wonderful, despite its flavorless exterior."
After her explanation of the drug-like treat, she stood herself upright and wiped the smeared blood off on the outside of her coat. Although white in nature, faint stains of other's blood could be seen in the fabric, and his only added to the tactless design.
"The more cooperative you are with my treatment, the sooner we can cure you. The sooner we can cure you, the faster you're out. So let's get along well, yes, yes?"
Nicodemus' eyes grew warm and starry as his 'mother' encouraged him, but when the familiar voice disappeared, he blinked out of the daze. The weary patient took his reward but seem uninterested in it as he slowly stood on his feet and stepped towards her. "Where has she gone...?" He asked the doctor in confusion, his high-pitched voice spiking with concern. "Where is my mother...!?"
With another disapproving sigh, the doctor glanced up at the darkness consuming the ceiling of his cell, then back to the confused boy in front of her. "Oh, no, Nico. You're so sick, did you not notice? She said she'd be back for you tomorrow, remember? For you and your sister. What happened to her? Why isn't she with you?"
"My sister?" He said, a small smile tugging at his frown. "Lia is in my room! She's safe, just as I promised!" Walking up to Lucia, he reached out and took hold of one her arms, pulling her back the way they'd come through his cell, as though he could simply lead the doctor back to his house. The large pill he'd been given fell to the floor softly as he forgot about it in his fingers. "Let me show her! Let me show my mother, she'll be so pleased! Lia has her own chamber in my bedroom, with the most beautiful curtains and tapestries and jeweled pillows. I even found her a life-sized doll to play with when I'm away."
The cell stretched and shaped into the very place where the man thought to lead her. Not by his own will, but through the allowance of the doctor. She didn't mind being pulled through the vastness, and even began to hum as she attempted to slow him down.
"Don't rush; she'll be so, so happy to see what you've done. You've promised, after all. Yes, yes, you take very good care of her, bones and all."
He hadn't needed to push or pull on his front door, as it opened the moment they stood in front of it. The rooms stretched and morphed from their usual, but for a deranged patient, Lucia figured he wouldn't know the difference.
"With all her heart." Nicodemus confirmed, smiling widely as he returned home. While he led the doctor through the rooms, he stood taller. The age regression fell away, and Nico was once again refined, reserved, and confident. Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed that Lucia wasn't so intimidating when he wasn't trembling on his knees. He flashed her a suave smile, slipping his hand down her arm and clasping her fingers with his.
"Such a beautiful guest. Lia will be delighted." Facing forward again, he pressed open a large, redwood door. Jewels that were embossed in the wood glinted as the door swung open and revealed an extravagant bedroom. Delicate folds of muted satins draped over their heads, from one point on the ceiling to another. Great tassels hung by windows that shined with the simulated sunlight. The wallpaper was a deep burgundy gilded with swirling gold designs, the carpet matching. A thick canopy hid Nico's bed.
"This way." He said in his silky voice. Walking through the first chamber, they passed a high bookshelf, upon which sat dozens of tiny, intricate dolls he'd sewn. The next room was even more luxurious. Framed with crystal beading and hanging jewels, a massive tapestry covered the entire ceiling. Every inch of it, through illustrations, told the story of a young boy and his sister, prince and princess by the looks of their crowns sewn in shining gold thread. The stitched siblings tumbled about on adventures from one side of the piece to the other, always hand-in-hand. A large dollhouse sat in a corner of the room, and fine jewelry lay neatly displayed on a dresser.
Leading the doctor to the edge of the bed in the center of the space (also hidden by a canopy), Nicodemus let go of her hand and brought a finger to his lips in a hushing gesture. "Speak gently, always." Reaching up with his long arms, he slowly pulled the curtains away.
Sunlight fell softly on the tiny body, swaddled neatly in embroidered blankets. She was so small amongst the many pillows that protected her, but especially swamped by the life-size doll that lay on the other side of the bed, whose extravagant dress spread like a comforter. Lia was nothing but bones now, but they were clean and dusted and cherished, and Nicodemus looked down at her as proudly as he ever had.
What Lucia couldn't write down as they walked through the room of memories was instead etched into her mind. Observations of what to replicate and what to next change for their next encounter. Yet, her focus was drawn to what Nicodemus shared with her, the innermost treasures held next to the heart.
Leaning over the bedframe, the doctor swept loose strands of scarlet behind an ear. Yellow irises missed nothing as they examined the memory, going as far as to gaze at the body from multiple angles.
"Lovely, clean and tidy bones." Lucia quietly remarked, her voice hushed.
It all had meaning to her. Everything in his room. Clues she could weaponize; scenes to manipulate.
Straightening back up, she took a step back, waiting for a moment to whisper to Nico. After gesturing him to lean down and lend an ear did she speak, hiding her malicious intent under the guise of a valuable suggestion.
"Lia seems to love the coziness." She smiled, her eyes drifting to the wallpaper and it's imaginative storytelling.
Again, she played pretend with him, and his mother's voice returned.
"She's still young, Nico. Your sister needs a lot right now. Just like you used to need." Words stolen and imitated without fault. The next lines, however, were quite new. "Every growing girl needs skin. You can sew that for her. I need you to share and give her some."
At the return of his mother's voice, Nico looked over at the woman with stars in his eyes- until she'd finished her suggestion. Blinking a few times, he looked down at his hands. "My own...? Why not use someone else's? I know I could find a child with the perfect size, just right for her." He smiled back up at her, "When I return? I shall make her a fine body."
"So smart." The doctor patted his cheek in approval, keeping the distance between them close. "Sharing doesn't have to be from you. Other people need to learn to share, and you can teach them that when you get back. When you're all better." After giving his cheek a few rubs with her thumb, she gave him another pat before lowering her hand.
"Let's give her some quiet." With her voice returning to normal once more, she led the man by the arm outside the heavily decorated room, out to the hazy memory of what was once his home among the villages.
The home faded away as a parting mist. Alone again was the patient, the doctor, and the cold cement below the two. Still seeping from the floor was the poor soul's lost blood, bubbling as the woman eyed the exit.
"You've already made progress and it's only the first day. I'm very proud of you." She beamed, releasing his arm and swiftly taking a few steps away-- should he try and reach out for her. "I'll be back later after reviewing my notes. You have a pleasant evening, Nicodemus."
As they left his element and returned to the doctor's room, Nicodemus' refinement ebbed away and his anxiety returned.
"You're leaving me...? What am I to do here on my own until you come back?" With wide eyes he walked towards her, blood trickling through the raw stitches in his face.
"Hmm, yes, one could get bored in their cell. Why don't you practice what you've learned." The closer he approached her, the further she moved away from him. Metal began to rattle and clashed along the cement, writhing like two snakes as they hissed at its target.
Without prompting, the two lunged for the man's arms, their pointed ends piercing his hands as the chains wrapped all around his arms up to his shoulders. From there they split the skin as well as muscle before falling to the ground, hissing, and crawling away.
"If you can't fix yourself at first, don't worry. I'll always come back to help you." Settling the clipboard comfortably in both arms, she took her exit and strolled down the hall, humming to herself in the key of her patients' screams.
Crying out in alarm, Nico attempted to throw the slithering bonds off of him without the slightest success. As they wormed up his body and lacerated everything that held him together, he fell onto his hands and knees, shrieking for mercy and his mother.
* * * *
"Is it too late to say hello?" Forloe called down the hall to the doctor from his desk, peeling bloodied gloves off of his hands and tossing them in a bin. "I got caught up, I met Doctor V on lunch and he's impossible to break conversation with." He said, exasperated. "How'd the initial greetings go with 561- Agnello, was it?"
"Agnello, yes." Lucia grinned, pausing her tune. "It may be... might be too late now. Perhaps once you're getting ready to leave for the day would be a better time. I administered his first dose, so he might be out for a bit."
As she approached his desk, she set the clipboard down with her notes. "Shall I have a word with Doctor V?" Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out everything she'd stolen off his desk and set it down with utmost care. "I would very much like my assistant present every now and again."
"'Every now and again'? I'm always here. And don't bother," He said, waving his hand in dismissal of the thought as he took his tools and nonchalantly placed them in his desk drawer, keeping an annoyed mumble to himself. "He'd just start talking to you next. How he gets his own work done is beyond me. I didn't miss any of my shift, just my lunch." Reaching up, he pulled the tie out of his hair and put it up again, tighter and neater. "I'm about to head to the east wing mortuary and finish some models. Need anything before I go?"
Pondering over his offer, she tilt her head side to side. "If you could maybe and possibly retrieve some hooks borrowed by one of the other doctor's a few sun's ago, the particular sizes should be noted on the blackboard." A slight sigh escaped her lips, but her face still subtly glowed, reflecting her cheery mood. "Other than that, I do plan to work with patient Agnello again later today, so if you could find some time in your extremely oh-so busy schedule to accompany me, you could get a glimpse at how this particular soul is faring. He's quite terribly and horribly deranged."
As if being "deranged" was something positive, she smiled to herself and walked over to her own desk, opening a drawer and grabbing a spare change of clothes. She held them tightly to her chest, relishing in the memory of Nico's initial insanity.
