… Yeah, I noticed the Roma-Romania coincidence, too. Is it important, d’you think?
[ ... ]
Oh. So if Roma is Amor spelt backwards, how about Romania: mania in Rome? He’s a maniac who thinks he’s in Ancient Rome?
[ ... ]
Sorry. Yes, I know it’s serious. It’s just when you start on all this ponderous psychological bullshit ...
[ ... ]
Yeah it’s your job. It’s not mine, though. So far you haven’t been a whole lot of help, I must say. Your advice seems to veer 180° from day to day.
[ ... ]
No, I don’t want another analyst. I’m just beginning to break you in – I sure as hell don’t have time to train a new one.
[ ... ]
Just joking. Haven’t you ever heard of jokes? Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious?
[ ... ]
Yes I am in an odd mood. You would be too if you’d just been listening to the stuff I have.
[ ... ]
Well, I remembered that I took a course in hypnotism when I was studying for my degree.
[ ... ]
Yes, I know it’s dangerous. I know it should only be used by trained professionals. Blah blah blah. I heard all that when I was doing the course. Anyway, the main people who use it nowadays are stage magicians who use it to turn people into chickens. That’s not exactly a sage use of their mighty powers.
[ ... ]
To be honest, I thought I couldn’t really do much more harm than I was doing already – visiting him and drawing his blood every few days; contributing to his delusions.
[ ... ]
No, I’m not sure that I was right. You may well be correct. I may have done more harm than good. It was curiosity more than anything else, I suppose. I wanted to see if I could get it to work. It was just a general interest thing when I did study it, and we only got to practice on each other.
[ ... ]
Oh, the guys tried to get the girls in their power to make them into sex-slaves, or whatever goes on in their pitiful little heads, but we just laughed at them really. There was one quite funny incident when one of the other girls gave this guy a post-hypnotic command to pull down his pants in the middle of a crowded pub and announce that he was a big fat dick.
[ ... ]
Yes, it did, actually. I wasn’t there, but some of my friends were, and they said it was hilarious. I think after that they revised the list of elective courses so none of the nursing students could take that one anymore. I’m sure the only reason it had survived so long was that no-one had really noticed it was there.
[ ... ]
I suppose I am. I have to say, it was a little frightening. I mean, it’s all very well to know in the abstract what’s going on in his mind, but it’s another thing to actually get a glimpse inside …
[ ... ]
Well, I didn’t think there was much point in doing it unless I controlled the conditions a bit. I had to choose my moment, when no-one else was likely to come in and surprise us, and of course I recorded the whole session.
[ ... ]
Oh, sound only. I was a bit worried that if there were images from the session that someone might get hold of them.
[ ... ]
Fair enough, but pictures always seem more damning, somehow.
[ ... ]
Of course I knew I was doing something illegal. Talking about him like this to you is illegal, if you want to be pedantic about it. You knew that, right? I want to help him, that’s the point. You want to help me, which is why you’re listening to all this gobbledegook even though you know that strictly speaking you shouldn’t.
[ ... ]
Would you like to listen to the tape? That might be easier.
[ ... ]
Yeah, I can just plug it in and download it to you directly.
[ ... ]
Oh. I suppose that’s true. Now that you know that it exists, though, I guess technically that you’re obliged to report it to someone in any case.
[ ... ]
Perhaps you should listen to it yourself. After all, how can you know what’s really going on with him or me if you ignore this evidence?
[ ... ]
No, I’m not trying to be funny now. I’m more worried than anything else, to tell you the truth. “First do no harm,” as they kept on quoting to us in all those uni courses.
[ ... ]
Yes, nurses too. We treat patients as well, you know.
[ ... ]
I may very well have done harm. I don’t think so, though. Or if I have the harm is more to me than it is to him. I just wasn’t taking this thing seriously; it wasn’t actually real to me until I put him under.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.