Deafening Hysteria

*Story Involves Bugs*

“Honey, I told you, you can’t eat those” I said sweetly, trying to persuade one of my patients who has a fascination with finding bugs, and trying to eat them. I reached out to grab it from him, but he took it as an invitation to squeeze the thing until it popped. I sighed in defeat, looking over at my coworker who was trying his best not to laugh.

My patient turned around, then walked away. “Why didn’t you help me” I fake whined to Jake, my coworker. “Oh, you’re telling me watching him squish that bug didn’t make you just the happiest person?” He mocked while bumping into me. “Jokes aside though, I heard some of the patients talking about how there are more bugs than usual in here. So, this might be a common occurrence” he giggled.

I cringed at the thought of bugs wiggling around on the floor. “You’re joking right?” I asked through a fake laugh. Jake shrugged, almost as if saying ‘who knows’ then turned his back to me. I sighed again, looking around the desk to see what needs to be taken care of. I work in a mental facility; I do love working here but it can be a lot to handle sometimes.

One of the patients, Emmett, needs his antipsychotic medication. I grabbed a few pieces of paper for the pharmacy then began my small journey. I checked on some of the patients who decided the floor was the comfiest place for them. Everyone seemed to be doing good, so it was an uneventful trip to the pharmacy.

I passed by several rooms, some patients wandering around aimlessly. One screamed a few feet away from me so I ran over. There was a pile of ants walking all over each other. Weird... They weren’t walking in a line so I couldn’t see where they came from. I wasn’t far from the front desk so I walked back. Jake looked at me with a confused look on his face, I just rolled my eyes and grabbed the bug spray which made him laugh.

“I told you” He joked before going back to his paperwork. I sighed, then made my way back to the terrified patient’s room. “It’s okay hon” I said while walking up to the pile of ants. I sprayed the ants then watched where they ran to. They disappeared into the wall; I didn’t even see a crack there... Nonetheless, I sprayed where they vanished to then went about my business.

Once I got the medication I made my way to Emmet’s room. His room was right next to Paul’s, the bug fanatic. I looked over at Jake who smirked at me then shoved his nose back in the monitor. I sighed, continuing to Emmet’s room.

“Hello love, you have to take your medication” I whispered gently to him. Sudden noises put him into a frenzy, so you have to be mindful with him. He took the medication without incident so I began walking out of his room when I heard yelling coming from Paul’s room.

I hesitated before walking up to his room, it could be anything. I once walked into his room only to see he smeared his own feces on everything. Nothing could have prepared me for why he was screaming. As I went to walk in, a few different kinds of bugs skittered out of the room, nearly causing me to scream. I knew that I had to get into that room. I took a deep breath, then opened the door.

Bugs of all kinds swarmed out of the room; Paul’s screaming got louder as the bugs raced out. They were hitting me in the face, landing in my hair, I felt some start to crawl up my shirt causing me to shriek. I could hear Jake running over to me, when I looked up at him his eyes were wide from this hellish sight.

The sound was deafening between the drumming of bugs, and the screaming of patients including Paul. Jake pulled the fire alarm, hoping to get some form of help. I could see Jake trying to tell me something but I couldn’t hear him. I couldn’t focus, all I could feel was the hard bodied insects hitting me, bumping into me, crawling on me.

I tried to ignore my own pleas to help the patients behind me. The alarm was causing some of them to run in circles, quite literally. I grabbed one of the women who was slowly getting swallowed by bugs, Jake was doing the same. He saw me grabbing a patient so he took her from me as I went to look for more. I followed the screams, though it was hard to hear over the alarm and the swarm.

I found another person; I went to find Jake when the wall broke, literally. I watched in horror as thousands of bugs flew right at me. I was frozen in place as I got completely pelted in bugs. I flailed my arms, trying to get them off but that only caused more to pile on. The more I tried to breathe, the more bugs poured into my nose, my throat, I could even feel like trying to get into my ears.

I couldn’t see anything; the sound was completely deafening as my hearing started to ring. It sounded like a helicopter was roaring in the middle of the hall. I felt someone grab my arm causing me to panic, falling backwards. In a matter of seconds, I was wearing a blanket of insects. I screamed, throwing my body around but it was cut short by bugs pouring into my mouth.

I couldn’t breathe, before long I couldn’t think. I no longer felt their sticky little legs on my skin, no longer felt their bites through my clothes. The sounds around me started to quiet, maybe... Maybe this was all a dream to begin with, now all I had to do now was wake up.