AllFreeNovel
Share Us
and in thy labor wherein thou laborest under the sun...
Walk in the ways of thine heart,
and in the sight of thine eyes:
but know thou, that for all these things
God will bring thee into judgment.
"God will bring me into judgment," said Eduard out loud, "and I will say: "For a time in my life I stood looking at the wind, I forgot to sow, I did not live joyfully, I did not even drink the wine offered me. But one day, I judged myself ready, and I went back to work. I told men about my visions of paradise, as did Bosch, Van Gogh, Wagner, Beethoven, Einstein, and other madmen before me." Fine, let him say that I left hospital in order to avoid seeing a young girl dying; she will be there in heaven, and she will intercede for me."
"What are you saying?" said the man in charge of the library.
"I want to leave Villete," said Eduard, in a slightly louder voice than normal. "I've got things to do."
The librarian rang a bell, and a few moments later two nurses appeared.
"I want to leave," said Eduard again, agitated. "I'm fine, just let me talk to Dr. Igor."
But the two men already had hold of him, one on each arm. Eduard tried to free himself from the arms of the nurses, though he knew it was useless.
"You're having a bit of a crisis; now just keep calm," said one of them. "We'll take care of it."
Eduard started to struggle.
"Let me talk to Dr. Igor. I've got a lot to tell him, I'm sure he'll understand."
The men were already dragging him toward the ward.
"Let me go!" he was yelling. "Just let me talk for a minute."
The way to the ward was through the living room, and all the other inmates were gathered there. Eduard was struggling, and things were starting to look ugly.
"Let him go! He's crazy!"
Some laughed, others beat with their hands on chairs and tables.
"This is a mental hospital. No one here is obliged to behave the way you do."
One of the nurses whispered to the other: "We'd better give them a fright, otherwise the situation will get completely out of control."
"There's only one way."
"Dr. Igor won't like it."
"He'll like it even less if this gang of maniacs starts smashing up his beloved hospital."
Veronika woke up with a start, in a cold sweat. There was a terrible noise outside, and she needed silence to go on sleeping. But the racket continued.
Feeling slightly dizzy, she got out of bed and went into the living room, just in time to see Eduard being dragged off, while other nurses were rushing in, wielding syringes.
"What are you doing?" she screamed.
"Veronika!"
The schizophrenic had spoken to her. He had said her name. With a mixture of surprise and shame, she tried to approach, but one of the nurses stopped her.
"What are you doing? I'm not here because I'm crazy. You can't treat me like this."
