Face of Honor

Tap, tap, tap. The sound filled Max with anxiety. Her tired brown eyes swept the room. The bare white walls, ugly blue and white speckled tiled floor, and large metal door added to the feeling. The only furnishings were a metal table with a shiny silver pitcher and two Styrofoam cups sitting in the center and two chairs. She pulled the thin white robe around her and leaned back against the cool metal. Across from her sat a middle aged white man strumming his ink pen against the table. He fixed his sharp gray eyes on her.

            ‘What is he thinking?’ she wondered as he laid his pen next to a large manila folder. His thin red lips curled into a smile. He’d waited a long time for a case like this, one that would bolster his sagging career. This was his chance to prove his thesis, “The Curability of Insanity.” Yes, she was just what the doctor ordered.

            “Good morning, Miss. Sidwell. I’m Dr. William Kaiser. As a Psychiatrist with the 8^th Regional Court of New York it is my duty to determine your state of mind at the time of the New Day incident. I need you to recount as much as you can of the time leading to and following the explosion.”

            The last thing she remembered was being brought kicking and screaming into the hospital. Two orderlies in white held her down while a hefty nurse injected her with a sedative. “Doctor, I’m not sure what’s going on. How long have I been here?” Max asked.

            He opened the envelope and pulled out stack of papers.   “About 2 ½ weeks.”

            She rubbed her temples. “Why are they keeping me sedated?”

            “It’s for your own safety Maxine, but these sessions will determine whether we need to continue sedating you.”

            “First, I don’t like being called Maxine. Everyone calls me Max. Secondly, I don’t need any drugs.”

            “Well, Max I’ll be the judge of that. You may begin, however, let me warn you, I will not tolerate any of your religious ramblings. Are we clear? If so start by telling me a little about yourself,” he smiled condescendingly.

            She‘d been around people like him before. It took every ounce of self-control she possessed to keep from slapping that phony smile right off his face. Instead she‘d give him what he wanted.

            “I did what all people do. I worked, ate, slept, and loved. There wasn’t anything extraordinary about me. Verbally I believed in many things, but in here,” she said pointing to her heart. “I believed in nothing except the reality of making money. My mother died when I was sixteen and my father died a few years ago. Some would classify me as a loner.”

            “And how would you classify yourself?” Dr. Kaiser asked.

            “I’d classify myself as a Christian, Doctor. You want to know how I ended up here, I’ll tell you.”