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"I'm really proud of you, son. I mean that".
Randall Masterson's dads sudden outburst brought him back rudely back into the world of the living just as he was about to fall asleep. It was the first time his dad had said anything since they left the institute nearly two hours ago. Randall hadn't really known what he was expected to say, and he figured his father had lapsed into his usual method of dealing with him; embarrassed denial, so until now the
journey home and been in complete silence. Awkward for his dad perhaps, but relieving for him. Until now. Randall gave his dad the courtesy of a slight smile. He would say he felt relieved to be out of the institute and going home, but in truth, Randall didn't feel much of anything at all while he was taking all the drugs that made him 'better'. He wasn't going to deny they'd taken the edge of his obsessive tendencies and the anger, but they'd also managed to slice just about all of his emotions, negative or otherwise right down the middle. It wasn't that he had lost them, he was sure he still 'felt'. It was hard to describe. They just felt like they wasn't his own anymore. At least, like he wasn't quite in control of them. Still, he supposed, emotional ruin aside, at least he was out of the institute and being driven back to his own house.
How long had it been? Nearly a year now. Not quite, though. It felt much longer. He struggled to send himself back to the days when he had been happily living on the cusp of what was considered 'normal'. He had decided not to go to college, and that had actually worked out for a while. He'd still been living with his family when he met Jessica, and he vaguely remembered happiness. It was when she left him that everything that got majorly fucked up.
The cheating, the breakup, and then the drinking, the stalking, the attack, the court case.. Randall had been a minor then, lucky for him. The judge had decided that with his parents permission the Anhiem Institute would be the best place for Randall, having made several recent breakthroughs with behavioural treatment and experimental drug conditioning. Randall had been incredibly worried, even scared about the institute when he arrived, but it hadn't really been that bad. It was certainly better than prison anyway, he figured. The freeway lights were creating complex shadows across the car. Randall's tiredness crept back again, and with no more effort from his father to finish the conversation, Randall fell asleep.
The car pulled into the driveway a little after midnight. Randall's dad had stopped off at a service station for dinner sometime after Randall had fallen asleep, but Randall had decided not to bother with food. He was hungry, but he didn't want the added social awkwardness of having to sit across from his father and eat a meal. He was grateful for the extra time it had added to the journey when he noticed all the lights in the house were off. His mother and his sister were asleep, which could only be a good thing. He'd deal with them tomorrow.
The familiar smell of the house hit Randall as his father opened the front door into the hallway. Nothing had really changed, and what little was different had already been documented by his mother in a million letters. The smell, however, couldn't be conveyed with words and it comforted him somewhat. The institute tried in vain to emulate the comforts of home without looking to much like a mental hospital, but there's only so much you can do to hide sterility, and the aroma of twenty years of family life couldn't be emulated.
"I'm going to bed son," his father said wearily. "I'm only an early shift tomorrow and your mother will be out most of the day, but we'll talk in the evening, ok?", his father looked at him tentatively, perhaps hoping to illicit some sort of response.
"Sure." Randall replied. He didn't really mind if his parents wanted to talk. If they expected something more than a quiet apathy from him though, they were going to be disappointed. He watched his dad retreat up the stairs and into his room, quietly closing the door behind him. He listened at the foot of the stairs for a while, and when no sounds came, he gave up and walked up the stairs to his own room.
Not bothering to turn the light on in his room, he shut the door and threw himself on the bed, falling asleep for the second time in the evening.
"Randall?"
"Randall? Wake up!"