Psychiatry #4 (Fiction)

She lies still.

Her eyes gaping open.

Not a word leaves her mouth.

She turns towards the pool of crimson red and feels no remorse.

Someone’s holding onto her arm, another pinning her legs down to the mattress.

“We’re going to have to strip search you.”

She begins tremoring.

Her lips quiver, but still, she doesn’t budge.

A malodorous stench escapes as they tear her underwear away – this time, she’s wincing, struggling to resist the force over her.

They snip her top, exposing her clammy back and buttock, whatever dignity left she hoped to preserve – completely stripped away.

Still, not a word leaves her mouth.

A tear rolls down her cheek as her body begins to seize violently.

Not a soul loosens their grip on her, determined to find the culprit.

A metal bar is passed down the line and a shadow runs it up and down her body multiple times.

Nothing.

The force of five pair of hands flip her onto her front as they wave their wand, frantically this time, desperate to locate the one thing that could restore peace.

Nothing.

Her eyes still gaping open.

She finally plasters a smile on her face – her version of a satisfactory response amongst the ordeal she caused.

They attack her breasts, convinced that there is no other location she could have hidden the razor blade.

“Kim, what did you use to cut yourself? Are you sure it was a razor blade?”

They have no idea. She moans in pain as they intrude on her being, but her thoughts are secure, sacred, she realizes.

They would have no clue what to do with all the red herrings she’ placed.

Alas, sighs echo throughout the room. The sound of defeat, and victory for her.

“You know it’s only going to be harder from here, Kim?” they threaten her.

Her smile maintains.

The blood continues to pool onto the floor, as it runs in streams down her arms.

They continue their frantic search, desperate to restore uniformity to their day.

Finally, a win for her.

Nothing else matters in this moment.

For the first time in a long while, she has regained control, autonomy, power.

The right to do as she wishes.

The right to do as she pleases.

Borderline (2025).