DREAM WAKE

"You're going to have to brace yourself, madam -- your husband's a schizophrenic."

"Schizo - what?" She tasted it on her lips. It was very foreign to her. She sat up straighter, scared to hear what he was going to say.

Beads of sweat popped up on her forehead and she absentmindedly tapped her fingers against the wooden frame of the chair she was sitting on.

She focused on the the hum of the air conditioner, capturing and enhancing it till it became a recurrent loop in her mind.

"A schizophrenic is someone

who can take up different personalities and looses touch with his environment, communicating with only people he can see. That's the layman's term." There was a pause, in which he looked at her directly and then continued speaking. "The scientific term is a bit more technical. It is one of several brain diseases whose symptoms may include loss of personality, agitation, catatonia, confusion, psychosis, unusual behavior, and social withdrawal. When you brought him in earlier, I was able to diagnose same symptoms I mentioned."

"Oh my God, this is terrible!" There were unshed tears in her eyes. Agitation was clear in her voice and she began wringing her fingers together. "Doctor, will he be okay? I mean, is there a cure and is he dangerous?"

"Not really, I mean most schizophrenics can be curtailed with drugs and become harmless with constant care." He looked at her, compassion lacing his eyes.

"That's fine then so ---"

"I'm afraid it's not. You see when you brought him in yesterday, he kept murmuring unintelligible words, but I was able to make out one word." This was the part he hated -- being the bearer of bad news.

He shook his left leg nervously, wondering how she was going to take it.

Osagiede waited with bated breath as the doctor leaned forward, hands laced together on his desk. "He mentioned the word -- kill."

"What's all this hogwash about killing, doctor?" Huge furrows appeared on her forehead and her voice rose in panic as her heart beat accelerated.

"I'm sorry, but your husband probably fancies himself as an executioner!"

"A what?" Her voice squeaked with fear.

"An executioner is ---"