11


The lineup to see the psychiatrist ran the length of the Lodge's gallery, down the stairs, across the field, past the entrance to the Bunker, and around the Lodge three times.


The 3--I psychiatrist had just arrived with a truckload of meds ordered off the internet, and half the 3--I members (as well as all the ex-Hope House-students) needed something.


The students were seen first.


It was true that Maggie Driscoll had lain in bed all day and all night when on her Risperdal (which was the only medication that worked on her), but at least she hadn't been scared something would happen to her. Maggie took her four milligrams and went to bed, happy. It seemed like a bright future for her. What was the point in doing anything else if she was going to live either in constant fear of punishment, like at Hope House, or in constant fear of the man in her head coming out of her head and murdering her, like before Hope House and at Hope House?


Hope House and its punishments hadn't taken away the voices. It had only forced her to keep quiet about them to avoid being punished.


It was no way to live. Maggie went to bed happy.


"Come on, Dee, let's play hide and seek!"


It was that seven-year-old boy, the one with so much life in him. He as in the girls' dorm, pulling a little girl out of bed, leading her out the door.


Maggie began to sob.


A life in bed was better than a life at Hope House, but she still wished she had the energy to get up and do something.


"Maggie Driscoll?"


Maggie looked up. It was the 3--I doctor. With a bottle of pills and a bottle of water.


"I just prescribed you a stimulant. I believe that the reason why they didn't give you one before was because they were afraid it would make your anger issue worse. But you told me your anger was at the little man in your head. Now that he's gone with the Risperdal, I feel it is safe and in your best interest to give you a stimulant. Here."


Maggie took one and drank the water the doctor gave her.


Then she lay back in bed, miserable, not expecting it to work.


The doctor read her mind. "It will work," he said. "I promise."