Dr. Lector looks up from the huge brown oak desk in the book-infested office.

Good morning Dr. Wracker, did you have your cup of coffee?

Yes I did Dr. Lector, and a cigarette

You cannot smoke in here, I don’t smoke, it is unhealthful.

A cup and a smoke keep me going for at least four hours, says Wracks

Very Well says Dr. Lector.  I have a new patient for you today.  He is the one who broke the nose of the director of this facility.  He has popsicle sticks protruding from his nose and is on sabbatical. You will inherit his patients for the eight weeks you are here.

I understand Dr. Lector, says the Wracks.

Remember to not let him get closer than arm’s length to you.  He has a mean back fist that moves extremely fast.  It seems he is a Vietnam veteran who is thrown to the front line in all defenses and he doesn’t want to do it anymore.  He wears a dress and tells his commanding officer that he wants to marry him.  Remember what I told you about inappropriate comments?  He is lightning-quick. The board thinks he is an undifferentiated schizophrenic and they want to know what you think of him.  Keep good notes and put them in the slot at the door of my office at the end of the day. Take some time now to compose yourself.  Your interview begins in fifteen minutes.  He is waiting for you.

Dr. Wracker gets up from the leather upholstered hardwood antique chair and exits out the door.  He doesn’t know why it seems dark in Dr. Lector’s office.  Maybe he likes it that way.  He proceeds down the hall to the main interview room, takes his key from his neck, opens the door, and puts the key back onto his neck.   Inside behind an interview table like the kind they use at police stations is a slight, black man, almost six feet in height with slightly pale skin.  The Wracks upon sitting down across from the patient make a note to evaluate the subject for sickle cell disease, trait, and SC variant.  For some reason, the man seems to vibrate at a high frequency but does not move a muscle, gesture, or smile.   He wears a floral blouse and a long blue dress with knee-high stockings like the kind the girls wear in high school.  He wears high-heeled shoes like Dorothy did in the movie The Wizard of Oz.  He sits with his legs crossed without a smile. 

Dr. Wracker says, Good morning, I am a board-certified physician and here to see you today. May I interview you?   Could you tell me about yourself?

Silence, then a wan smile. 

I hear you are a veteran with several tours in Vietnam.   Is this true?

The patient flashes a wan smile.

Do you have a name I can refer to you, sergeant? 

Yes, call me Ann.

Ann, when did you start wearing a dress, asks Dr. Wracks.

Ann leans forward and Dr. Wracker is ready to bolt for the door.

I am tired of fighting says Ann

All the people in this facility are tired of fighting and the Veterans sends all its good people here to get treated.  Dr. Wracker turns slightly and makes sure his path to the door is unobstructed.   He touches the key slung around his neck.   The soldier with tight kinky hair cut short bends his arms and sets his head upon his hands.  His gold earrings look cute and quaint, and his eyes are clear. But his cheeks have multiple freckles upon them which might indicate substance abuse. The incessant fine tremor might herald amphetamine intoxication as the soldiers in Vietnam often were killed in their sleep, so they would take uppers to stay awake. 

Can I have a cigarette asks Ann.

Yes, you can says the Wracks.   I will put it on the table for you.  Ann slowly reaches for the cigarette and inserts the same in his mouth

Will you light it for me asks Ann.

No, I can’t says Dr. Wracker.   The staff are not allowed to participate in games or physical contact with the patients.   Can I slide it to you?

Yes says Ann.  He takes the Bic clic lighter, turns the striker a couple of times, and then lights his cigarette.  He then blows some smoke directly at Dr. Wracker and pushes the lighter back to him.

I hope you enjoy Marlboro Red says Dr. Wracker.   They are my preferred brand. 

Ann smiles and his dark, dark eyes penetrate through Dr. Wracker.

I think the interview is complete says Dr. Wracker.   Is your medication giving you any bad effects?   I see it is haloperidol 5 milligrams twice daily.

Ann smiles and his teeth are capped with gold.

I am going to leave now, says Dr. Wracker.  I will be here for eight weeks and monitor your medication.  I will be circulating the ward.  If you have any questions, tell the charge nurse and he or she will contact me.  Thank you very much for your time.  Have a good day.  Dr. Wracker rises slowly, inserts the key in the lock, turns it, slides out, and pushes the door close.  He thinks to himself that he is getting good at this.

In his notes to Dr. Lector, the Wracks writes:  patient gaunt but well nourished.  Possible amphetamine intoxication with schizophrenic reaction.   Ectomorphic habitus, at this time undifferentiated symptoms with possible progression to paranoid status.  Doing well on haloperidol with no Parkinsonian reaction, suggested continued maintenance on antipsychotics with assay of blood for BUN and creatinine to indicate possible renal failure and symptomatology. Dr. Wracks takes the chart and his notes and slides them into the slot for Dr. Lector to peruse.   He then moves to the canteen where the inmates concentrate, sit, observe, and absorb, the situation of chronic mental patients.  He sits with his back against the wall, with the door in plain view, and does not smoke eat read, or create motion in any way.  The inmates watch a large color TV with the latest movies and run around, gesticulate, and waste time.  These people are veterans or the very upper class and they get the finest of medical treatment as they truly deserve.  The poor get lithium.

It is late now, and this is long ago and stored in the temporal lobe as engrams soon to be erased.  It is winter now and the rains come, and the clouds move and everything is grey except for the light in the Wracks’ room.   The Wracks sits and remembers his life and watches a large QLED with a Windows PC attached to an HDMI cable.  The clock stations on the wall to his right with an unused desk cluttered with debris and the Wracks asks himself this question: Could this man ever be president of the United States? The day moves on and the night slowly, surely, emphatically closes in.