Mida King: Escaping Confines

21

Everett

Dinner didn't go as well as I would have liked. We talked about five mouthfuls of spinach salad into Mida before she set her head down on the table and fell asleep. I guess the magic charm of the window had worn off.

I practically carried her back my room. I hooked one hand to the bed and she buried her face in the pillow and fell asleep. Soft knock sounded on my door. I hated to leave her here with a free arm to get up to mischief, but it didn't look like she was going to move any time soon. Was she conning us all? Playing a pitiful character until we gave her leway to strike?

I left her there and went to the door. Doc stood hands clasped in front of him and serious faced. "Can I talk to you a minute, Boss, about Mida?"

"I know she doesnt fucking eat, Doc, we'll try something different tomorrow."

"It's not about that, Boss. I've been keeping notes on her. I've never had a patient with depression before. So I wasn't confident at first."

Oh shit. "But you are now."

"Confident enough to give her an antidepressant with your permission to see if it helps."

"What if it helps so much she plays us and hurts someone."

"It's a risk for Omerta information. If she responds positively, we can increase her security."

"How soon can you start her on that stuff?"

"Immediately."

******

Doc went to get supplies and Mida's first antidepressant dose from his office. I got ready for bed but kept checking up on Mida. I couldn't trust her alone. I also kept thinking she was dead everytime I looked over at her from the bathroom. I went over to shake her twice while I was brushing my teeth. My shirt is so baggy on her I can't see her chest moving.

My shirt. Damn, we were going to have to take her shopping or something.

It didn't look like she'd be leaving us anytime soon. The funny thing was, I didn't want her to.

*******

We kept Mida on the antidepressants for a week when Doc said he could tell they were making a difference.

He was smiling. "I think she's making good progress, Boss."

"She's exactly the same. Except that we're finding less about Omerta, which is the opposite of what I thought the goal was with this."

I was close to being angry with Doc Scott but he's never been wrong about a patient. I had no reason to doubt him, but he left out some critical things about putting Mida on the medicine. He told me AFTER he gave her the first dose that it would be important for us to put as little stress on her as possible. What did he think we were doing now? But apparently this meant no more interviews or questioning about Omerta for at least a week while he observed her for side effects.

"Antidepressants can have dangerous side effects, Boss. Like mood swings, suicidal thoughts.."

"Suicide??? I thought you were trying to fix her!"

"Of course I am, Boss. This kind of medicine can be tricky. But I don't think we need to worry about all right now. I have seen a difference this week, but she'll need to stay on this medication for months for real improvement."

"Months. You do realize she's a client not a pet."

"I'm not the one that let's her sleep on the bed." He said jokingly. Very funny.

"Speaking of which, Boss. Do you need any more sleeping pills?"

I didn't. I had slept more in the past week that I had in years. Mida could have broken out of her handcuffs and walked out the front door and I'd be none the wiser.

But a week had gone by and I was ready to get back to questioning Mida. She had more knowledge about Omerta in her little finger than I did in my enter database.

She spent most of her time in the library at the window. And that's where I found her at the beginning of what would be a very long week. Maybe Doc was right, her eyes did look brighter. The skin under eyes was less dark.

"Do you know why I'm here, Mida?"

"Yes."

"Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

That's my girl.

********

For the next week Mida cooperated better than I dreamed. She went through picture after picture naming the people around her, her purpose there, and the shenanigans that took place. She gathered quite the audience. Everyone was captivated by her voice and even more interested in the adventures Omerta had sent her on.

Some of the boys that didn't stay at home with their families, or those who didnt have families, had come back to headquarters this week, they were confused by Mida's presence but accepted her none the less. Many of them started to listen to her stories and day after day a bigger crowd got together. I thought she'd get shy. I was ready to kick everyone out, but Miss Thing had made a reappearance.

After one story about Mida swindling a Spanish ambassador, one of the boys asked her if she could help with his Spanish language class. She was enthusiastic to help. Turns out she knows the Spanish, french, and german languages, as well as several American and English accents. Soon she was helping anyone that would come visit her in the library with their language homework or anyone that felt like learning a few terms in a different language.

She started shinning. She was in her element. Still, every once in a while she'd have a day where she would take naps all day, before and after questions; but as long as she was answering I didn't care. Everyone just let her be. That couch became Mida's couch. A blanket was left there in case she got cold. Even when she wasn't sitting there the boys kept it reserved. Doc was ecstatic that after the first week she started consistently eating almost two full meals a day.

It felt like she was becoming family.

New York had become frigid, as always it was relentlessly cold and Mida loved watching it snow. I'd gotten so used to it as a kid, but the way she looked at it made it feel magical again.