O-Bec

“Nurse Billups!  Paging Nurse Billups!” The intercom disrupted a rather placid evening shift at St. Michael’s Psychiatric Hospital. Employed here for over twenty years, I had been head nurse at the emergency admissions unit for the past five years. 

As I walked with purpose to the intake desk, I wondered what this call was all about.  It didn’t take long for me to see the skinny wide-eyed man sitting at the desk.  

“Nurse Billups?” The police officer stepped forward as I sat at the desk.

“Yes.”

“We found him in one of the dumpsters near the Raphael Hotel.” The officer removed his notebook from his vest pocket and read it.  The Raphael Hotel was known for vagrants since the parking lot was a massive area of unlit parking area near a copse of trees on the north end.  Camps could be set up undetected and camouflaged by the popular trees that had been there before the town had even been established.  Hobos trying to escape the Great Depression had used it since it was just a stone-throw from the railroad tracks. 

“Thank you officer.” I began writing on a new intake form with the date and time.

“You have a good evening ma’am.” He nodded and left with his partner leaving me with the new intake.

“Name?” I asked not even looking into his crystal blue eyes that followed my every move.

“O-Bec.” He answered.

“First name?” I sensed that he was off his medication for sure.

“It is my name.” He affirmed.

“O-Bec? What kind of name is that?” There was no way I could hide my irritation since I was just twenty minutes from the end of my shift that would end with this lunatic with one name.

“Perhaps I should explain.” He smiled sweetly.

“Perhaps.” I grunted.

“I am not from this planet.” He shook his head.  I marked the “unmedicated” block on the form.

“Kinda figured.” I smirked.

“Nurse Billups, are you alright?” Dana asked as he returned to his computer from his lunchbreak. 

“I have a new intake.” I yanked my thumb toward O-Bec.

“Where are you from?” Dana asked him.

“Cal-set-tron.” He said, pausing after each syllable.   

“Where is Cal-set-tron?” I asked.

“In the Bor-lan-drite Galaxy.” He answered again pausing after each syllable.

“Dana, get Nurse Paget.” I said over my shoulder.  Dana nodded.  Nurse Paget as the psyche nurse down the hall, “Tell her I need some antipsychotic medications as soon as she can get here.” 

“Yes Nurse Billups.” He dashed off.

“So, O-Bec, how did you arrive on this planet?” My grin was dripping with sarcasm.

“By my spaceship of course.” He returned the smile, but his smile seemed more sincere.

“Of course.” I looked at the clock in the waiting area.  I only had fifteen more minutes left on my shift which up until this moment had been quite uneventful.

“I was getting out when those men caught me and brought me here.” He shrugged.  Nurse Paget entered the intake area.

“Beth, what’s the big idea?” She was wiping sleep out of her eyes.

“Candice, meet O-Bec.” I raised the palm of my hand.

“What?” She was in no mood for any of this.

“O-Bec is from…er…ah” I checked what I had written, but he answered for me. 

“Cal-Set-Tron.” Again pausing after each syllable.

“Yeah and where the hell is that?” She sneered.

“It’s in the  Bor-lan-drite Galaxy.” He answered.

“He may need a shot.” She shook her head. 

“That’s what I figured.” I mumbled from the side of my mouth.

“I have come with a message.” He folded his arms across his meager chest and thrust his oversized head forward.

“And what pray-tell would that message be?” I asked him, trying not to roll my eyes.

“A meteor is headed this way at the speed of light that will destroy this planet.” He nodded. “There is hope.  Lifeforms here are very much like the lifeforms on Calsettron, only you are much more primitive in your cognitive resources.”

“Are you calling us stupid?” Dr. Paget rocked on her heels.

“Oh no, no, you can’t help it.” He waved his hands in front of him, “Through the evolutionary process, one day, your people will attain the cognitive abilities we have now, but by that time we will be far, far ahead of you by then.” 

Open jaw, I stared at him for a moment before glancing back at Candice. Putting her hands on her hips, she said, “We are going to prepare a room for you Mr. O-Bec after I administer a shot.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary, I assure you.” O-Bec shook his head.

“And why not?” Nurse Paget filled the syringe with a strong sedative. 

“First, I am deathly afraid of needles and second your medication will have no effect on me since I do not have a circulatory system to distribute the medicine.” He assured us.

“I’ll take my chances.” Nurse Paget held up the syringe.  Upon seeing the needle, O-Bes’s jaw began to tremble just a second or two before he passed out on the floor. “The medication will have no effect, my ass.”  She plunged the needle into his thin arm.  

As soon as she drew the needle out of his arm, she had two orderlies put him on a gurney and wheel him to the next available room.  When they brought him into room 608, the other occupant, a patient named Sylvester Olmeck was playing solitaire.  Olmeck had been referred to the hospital by law enforcement who arrested him running naked through the streets shouting inaudible shrieks.  

“So who’s the stiff?” He asked without looking up from his cards. 

“Some guy who claims he’s from another planet.” The dark haired orderly answered as they helped O-Bec into the empty bed.  I helped them make sure he got there safely.  I stood in the door filling out the rest of the intake form, listening to their conversation.  

“Great, another lunatic from another planet.” He shook his head as he laid down the next card on the card table. 

“Where am I?” O-Bec began to come to.

“Room 608.” Sylvester mumbled.

“How did I get here?” O-Bec sat up and dangled his feet over the edge of his bed.

“Same way we all get here.” Sylvester looked up at him, “We stick out.  We act differently from the rest of the people and they come for us.  They’re coming to take you away, ha-ha, hee-hee, ho-ho.”

“Is that some sort of ditty?” O-Bec rubbed his head.

“Yeah, it’s the St. Mike’s anthem.” Sylvester chuckled. 

“Very funny.” I shook my head placing a copy of the form in the chart at the foot of the new patient’s bed before turning on my heel and leaving. 

My next shift, Dana greeted me with the news that O-Bec had come up missing.

“We called the police, but they have not been able to find him.” Dana shrugged.

“Oh Great Scott.” I hissed. 

“They’ve been searching all day.  Nothing.” He shook his head.

“Sir, please come down from the roof immediately.” The intercom sounded.

“I think they have found him.” I walked down the elevator that would take me to the top floor where there was roof access.  When I opened the heavy door, I saw him sitting there which was not the disturbing part.  The fact that he was in a sitting position seven or eight feet above the roof was the unsettling part.  

“O-Bec, what are you doing?” I walked over to where he sat hovering over me and the hospital roof.

“I am relaxing.” He answered in a smooth unruffled voice.  His eyes were closed and he was in a lotus position.

“You can’t sit there like that.” I pointed my finger at him.

“Why not?” He nodded.

“Gravity?” 

“Oh Nurse Billups, gravity has no effect on me.” His smile was patronizing as he continued to float unperturbed. I could hear sirens wailing as they approached the hospital. 

“It doesn’t matter.  Come down here this instant.” I insisted, adding, “I am in charge here and I demand you  come down.” 

“Very well.” He shrugged and slowly began to descend until both feet were on the roof next to mine.

“How?” I pointed unable to finish my question.

“As I told you, gravity has no effect on me.” 

The police who had responded did not seem to buy his explanation, but he was already a patient here, there was little they could do than to write a report.

“Are you gonna put down that he was floating in the air?” The uniformed policeman asked the plainclothes detective.

“Are you kiddin’?  If I put that in my report, I will become a patient here.” He shook his head, “I’m goin’ with he was on the roof threatening to jump.” 

“Yeah, I’d go with that.” The policeman agreed. 

“You certainly get all excited about nothing.” O-Bec observed.

“Well, unlike you, gravity rules this place.” He looked over the edge at the twelve story drop onto the caged cement recreation area below, “How did you get through those locked doors…no, lemme guess, constraints don’t apply to you either.”

“You must admit, your locks and restraints are rather crude and primitive.” He shook his head as we walked toward the door that led to the stairs. 

I always suspected Sylvester was covering for him, because if he tattled on O-Bec, as he would tell it, they would put him in a padded room for sure.  Doctor Graves spoke of unusual sessions with him from time to time.  

While at a staff meeting, he revealed, “This patient has psychokinetic abilities that I have never experienced in any other patients.” 

“Can you give us an example?” I asked with my hands folded on the table.

“I recall being in a private room counseling him when he walked through the brick walls.” He folded his hands under his chin.  Dr. Graves had always been a bit of a lost-professor type as far as I was concerned, but when he looked up, his expression was that of a steadfast man speaking with total conviction about some phenomena he had witnessed. “He just doesn’t seem to conform to what I have come to know as chronic mental illness.  Taking the face value of what he says seems to coincide with a chronic mental illness until you see the reality of what he is able to do. I can’t explain it.  This seems to be beyond what we have defined as chronic mental illness.” 

He sat for a moment, unsure of what to say next and then finally replied, “I find him to be a very likable chap otherwise.” 

If O-Bec had returned to whatever he came from, I would have never gotten to know him, but it happened at sunset as he sat hovering over the roof which seemed to be a place he preferred.  When I came up to get him as I usually did, he seemed sad.

“Nurse Billups, do you know the reason I came here?” He said with a sigh.

I shook my head.

“The people of Calsettron found me to be an odd sort.” He confessed.

“What did they expect?” I asked as the sun set in a blaze of orange and red.

“Most of my fellow Calsettronites saw me as too ugly and weak.” He bowed his head, “I could see when my mother unit looked at me.  My father unit whispered to her about the defects in my DNA. He asked her why I could not keep up with the others.  Why it seemed I was not like the rest.  The truth is, I escaped in hopes of finding a place where I could be accepted by the others.  I did research on this place and found it promising.”

“What is your conclusion?” I asked knowing that St. Michaels was a world away from paradise.

“You are a good person. You have been kind to me.” He closed his eyes.

“I have?” I was surprised by his assessment of me. 

“Certainly.  Not once have you looked at me as if there was something wrong with the way I looked.” His smile was crooked, but I could feel his words were sincere.

“C’mon, the sun will be down soon and I have to go check on the patients.” I urged him, hoping he would not see the tears forming at the edges of my eyes.

“A few more minutes.  I love when the sun is exchanged with your moon.” He nodded. 

“Only a few more minutes or I will have to send Artumus out to fetch you.” I began to walk back as he grimaced at the thought of Artumus having to drag him back inside. 

My mind reflected on what he said about being an odd sort.  The truth is my life on this planet was much the same as his on his planet.  I was considered the odd one, because I did not have a boyfriend in school and I did not drink or smoke like everyone else.  I was never thought to be part of the crowd and when I went away to college, no one batted an eye.  That’s where odd people like me were supposed to go.  I did not have a spaceship to jump into, because if I had, that’s exactly what I would have done.  When I came home from the library one night, there was a boy in my roommate’s bed. I slept in the broom closet after crying myself to sleep.  

“Nurse Billups.” Dana called out to me from the intake desk.

“What is it, Dana?” I asked.

“Sylvester told me that O-Bec is talking about going home.” He peered over his glasses at me.

“What do you mean?” I asked. 

“He says last night they were talking and O-Bec said he was homesick.” Dana read it from the log.

“What did Sylvester say?” 

“He asked O-Bec to take him as a passenger.” Dana rolled his eyes.

“Artumus.” I found the burly orderly in the breakroom, “Would you go check on O-Bec?” 

“Sure, Nurse Billups.” He nodded, “He told the staff he was planning to go home.”

“Yeah, please go check on him. He’s on the roof like he is every night.” 

He nodded and left, but he came back a few minutes later with some disturbing news, “Nurse Billups, he ain’t on the roof and he ain’t in his room.  As a matter of fact Sylvester ain’t there either.”

“Make an all-call to have the staff start looking for them.” I instructed, but my heart already began to ache, because I knew.

Neither of them were found by the time my shift was over.  I heard sirens and reports of a flash of a bright light near the hotel. 

I stayed on for the next shift, ending it with a vigil on the roof as the sun rose, sitting there with my feet dangling over the edge and thinking about O-Bec’s brief visitation that had changed the lives of those he came in contact with. 

On my way out of the building, I stopped by a newsstand and picked up a newspaper.  In a tiny corner of the front page, almost as an afterthought, there was an article about an unexplained explosion of a comet headed directly for earth that may have caused cataclysmic damage if it had reached us.