True Love
Chapter 8
"Hell is usually described as a place of heat and darkness, strangely in
concert with the laws of physics. Level zero was an alternate vision, a cold,
constantly damp, harsh landscape of never ending day. It was here that the
massive machines ran continuously, providing water, heat, ventilation and power
to the upper levels of the hospital, or asylum, depending on one's position in
the building's human hierarchy. It was a world of constant noise and vibration,
so intense, so overwhelming, that those assigned to maintain this area always
wore ear protection and never spent more than four hours daily in this
environment. It was in this hell that Beverly would exist, alone much of the
time and unprotected from the oppressive onslaught on her senses."
"The monitoring team immediately noticed significant changes in her
vital signs the moment she was wheeled from the freight elevator and then moved
to the holding cell for her final checkup before facing the horrors that awaited
her. She was taken from the strait jacket, leaving her stark naked and
shivering. Beverly was made to stand with her legs spread and her arms straight
up, allowing the trio complete access to her body. They began sponging her down
with acetone, a powerful degreasing chemical. Unlike their defenseless patient,
they were protected from the harsh cleanser by gloves and respirators. She began
to grow dizzy from the odor, but they ignored her discomfort, concentrating on
their task, which was to remove the thin layer of oil that was the body's last
line of protection from the elements."
" She was then forced to squat with her arms extended outward from her sides.
One of the handlers began to use an electric trimmer to remove Beverly's hair.
To complete the job, a razor left her skull gleaming except for a number of
nicks caused by her uncontrollable shaking while she was being shaved. Finally
her baldhead was sponged thoroughly causing her to yelp in pain as the chemical
ate into the fresh nicks."
" Plastic ties were looped around her wrists and twisted until she gasped as
they cut into her papery flesh. Heavy leg irons were used to hobble her. One of
her handlers struck her viciously across the shoulder blades with his wooden
baton when she was slow to react to his hand signal urging her to begin walking
toward the first chamber that had been readied for her."
At this point I literally had to shake myself, so entranced had I become from
his story. It took a moment to regain my equilibrium, to move from the eerie
world of level zero to the comfortable, solid reality of this sitting room.
Leaning forward I asked, " How is it you speak as if you were in attendance?
Were you a part of the team of handlers?"
My host shook his head, a look of sadness quickly crossing and then
disappearing from his lined face. " I was usually given access to the tapes that
were made by the cameras monitoring what could be seen of her ordeal. There is
much however that could only be inferred, since many of her travails were
endured in total isolation except for the intrusive sensors that blindly did
what was programmed, leaving the interpretation to those merely interested in
keeping her alive so that she could endure still more. In retrospect I now
realize that this brilliant coup was just another soulless process for further
dehumanizing my true love. Beverly herself cannot recall many of the details
from her stay in that hellish place. Perhaps it is just as well that the full
story of her own personal Stations of the Cross remain shrouded in mystery.
Perhaps I have misspoken, but those are my true feelings on this matter. Now let
me continue with her story."
"How interesting that many of her torments, including the initial one, were
associated with water, one of the four indestructible elements of creation. It
took her many long minutes to shuffle down the harshly lit corridor, all the
while her senses being battered by the steady noise and vibration that radiated
from the machines located behind the thick gray-green walls. Her chemical bath
had started to do its work, intensifying the cold that she felt now that her
flesh was utterly open to it. Every step was a major effort of the will. It was
very difficult for Beverly to focus on her private thoughts; the environment was
so brutally intrusive."
"At last she reached her destination, a narrow, tiled room. Once inside she
was positioned so that she stood beneath a hole located in the ceiling, a few
feet above her. Looking at her, I was reminded of photographs of concentration
camp survivors, gaunt and shaven, their eyes vacant, almost as if they had
already died. Her handlers attached manacles to her wrists and pulled her arms
out and upward in order to anchor them to hooks embedded in the walls. A leather
hood was drawn tightly over her head. I immediately thought of a condemned
criminal about to be hung. Her captors vacated the room, closing the heavy door
on Beverly as she awaited her fate."
"Suddenly with a tremendous roar a torrent of bitterly cold water thundered
down upon her. The cooling system for the entire hospital had been bypassed into
the small tiled room that she occupied. The sound was deafening and almost
immediately she disappeared from view as hundreds upon hundreds of gallons of
icy water buried her body from sight. Two cameras, one located in the ceiling,
the other within one of the walls, recorded the entire event that lasted exactly
five minutes and twenty-one seconds. For brief moments her body could be seen
being buffeted about by the brutal forces associated with this awesome
downpour."
"Then as abruptly as it began, the flow ceased and the noise of the powerful
pumps that were taking the water back out into the recovery system could be
heard. She hung in her bonds, shivering uncontrollably from the combination of
the cold and the terrible pounding her body had received from this nightmarish
event. Minute after slow minute elapsed without any sign of activity from those
responsible for her."
" The first time I watched the tape I was in a rage, wondering why nothing
was being done about my true love's condition. Now I can say somewhat more
dispassionately that it took many minutes for the monitoring team to assess
whether Beverly had sustained major trauma, a situation that would require
retrieval by the handling team, or was in a recovering state. Unfortunately for
her, it was the latter case. Now it took more time for them to decide when or if
she would be able to undergo another treatment. It took nearly thirty minutes
for a decision to be made and instructions sent to those waiting outside the
chamber that housed Beverly."
"When the door to Beverly's cell opened I experienced feelings of
ambivalence. I watched as they took her down from the hooks that held her limp
form. To my surprise they proceeded to fasten padded restraints around her
ankles, locking them tightly together. A series of plastic ties were wrapped
around her legs, reinforcing the ankle bonds. A set of metal cables was locked
into the padded ankle cuffs. Beverly's body was then raised until the cables
could be attached to a pair of eyebolts located on the perimeter of the water
manifold. When they released her, she hung upside down from her ankles, centered
below the opening in the ceiling. Of course Beverly could not know that she was
being prepared for another near drowning. In fact she was still terribly
disoriented from the previous event. As they left the room I watched fearfully
as her shivering body slowly rotated from the cables holding her aloft."
" The sudden rush of water caught me by surprise even though I had already
experienced it once. For a few moments the soles of her feet bore the brunt of
the crushing flood of water. The impact forced her legs to bend at the knees and
then the delicate balance between her body and the powerful stream of water was
destroyed. She began to bounce wildly in mid air, her body moving randomly as it
was battered by the wall of water roaring down upon her. Unlike the initial
soaking, this one never totally obscured her. I watched, transfixed, as she
absorbed one brutal blow after another. I was sure that I was witnessing her
death; but this was not to be. Then it was over. This time the handling crew
entered immediately despite the chaos associated with the pumps removing the
water. They quickly released her from the cables and she disappeared through the
heavy door. It would be many long hours before I would know more of what new
terrors she was experiencing."
