Brain on Fire Page #5

- Get out of my room.

- Okay.

We're gonna leave you alone now,

okay, Susannah?

I recorded some of my songs.

When you listen to it,

you'll remember some stuffs.

Hey, talk to me, Susannah.

Please.

I'm.. I'm scared.

I just.. God, Stephen, I feel like..

Everyone here is just talking about me.

- I need you, I need you.

- Hey, hey. Listen to me.

We're gonna get to the bottom of this.

We can get through it together.

- Really?

- Yeah, really.

I have multiple personality disorder.

Have you been diagnosed by any

psychiatrists or psychologists?

No.

I was diagnosed by a psychiatrist

with bipolar disorder,

but not multiple personality.

And were you taking any

medications for that?

No.

They tried to, but I refused to take it.

I spit it out.

Dr. Khan, I need to get out of here.

- It's not safe for me here, anymore.

- Why it's not safe for you here?

They're talking about me.

All of them.

I can hear them.

The nurses.. talking about me.

And I can hear their thoughts.

You can hear their thoughts?

You know, they think I can't hear them,

but I do.

I hear them loud and clear.

I don't wanna talk to you anymore.

Help!

No! No!

Help!

- Help!

- Susannah.

I can assume two possible diagnoses.

First, presentation of schizophrenia

plus a postictal psychosis.

Now, she's clearly psychotic,

but the question is..

Where is the psychotic behavior

coming from?

I'm gonna prescribe a Haloperidol.

It should sedate her and also

we could do some further testing, but

If her behavior doesn't improve,

I think we should locate hospital centre

better equipped to deal with her problem.

No.

My daughter is not going to psycho ward.

How do you explain the seizures?

How do you explain that she's

never been like this before?

How can you just arrive at this conclusion

without all of the facts?

Dr. Ryan, why don't you do that

further testing

before you threaten us with

psychiatric hospitals?

- Well?

- They have nothing.

Nothing?

She's been here over a week. I mean,

they have to have something.

They don't know. Each of them is

giving us a different diagnosis.

One is saying bipolar, the next

one is saying szhizophrenic,

the other saying psychotic. I don't know.

What is that even mean?

It means nobody knows what

the hell is going on.

She's not psychotic, whatever it is.

I agree. I think it's just the most

convenient explanation for them.

So, we need to continue putting pressure on them,

so that they continue to investigate.

- Okay, it's important. Pressure.

- Yeah.

Well, I just want you both

to know that I'm planning

on being here until they

figure out what's wrong.

I wanna be with her and

she needs all of this.

- Thank you, Stephen.

- Yeah.

- I appreciate that.

- Excuse us.

We should be looking for

neurological causes here.

Susannah!

Hello. Hi.

Don't get too excited.

You look great.

Brought you some fake flowers.

Am I gonna hug you?

I'm just gonna do it.

Hey, babe.

So what, you don't talk to me now?

I have something for you.

It's very disappointing.

It's a be-sick-crap-ugly card.

And everybody made it. In the

office, everybody signed it.

And a lot of people said some really,

really sappy things that you

and I would've made fun of.

Even Richard signed it.

I think he really misses you.

You were like his little apprentice.

And I miss you.

And he misses you. This is..

I'll put this here.

We can make fun of it later.

We tested Susannah for every

infectious diseases that we know of.

All of the results are negative,

inculding Lyme disease,

toxoplasmosis, cryptococcus,

tuberculosis, and many, many more.

All of the test being negative,

suggested that Susannah has a

primary psychotic illness,

which I feel it's likely schizophrenia.

So what does all of this mean?

Maybe, this is not the right hospital

to treat her.

Perhaps, Susannah should be transferred

to a psychiatric hospital.

Okay, look. I'm gonna continue

to monitor Susannah

on a daily basis on the next three days.

Let's just hope that something shows up

and we can figure out a way of solving this

and getting your daughter better.

Something?

I, I don't understand this.

Our daughter is dying in there.

The tests are not showing us

that she's dying, Mr. Cahalan.

The tests are saying that

she's a healthy young woman.

- She's clearly suffering and we are...

- I want answers!

It is your job to give us answers!

This ain't some kids club,

where you get to play doctor!

This is my daughter's life! Her life

is in your hands and I want answers!

Tell me what is wrong with my daughter!

The truth is, Mr. Cahalan, that we don't

know what is wrong with Susannah.

We work and make decisions based on facts,

and at this point, we don't have any.

We're sorry that there's nothing more

that we can do.

Excuse me.

We already have a bed on standby and

we're just waiting for your desicion.

Fully catatonic.

Hey.

- You okay?

- Yeah.

So how do holding up?

It shouldn't be like this, you know.

I know she's still in there.

She's just trapped.

When I look at her eyes, I can

see her screaming to get out.

I thought of all people, you doctors,

you know,

you'd be able to give us

some hope, you know.

I mean, that's your job, right?

- I wish you all a fantastic weekend.

- Thank you.

And please praise yourself.

I want to see you in my class next week.

Wow, Dr. Khan.

- To what do I owe you the pleasure?

- I need your help.

I teach now, leave me in peace.

21 year-old female, right-handed.

Her symptoms began with manic behavior,

paranoia, erratic outbursts.

That led to a seizure, which led to

another one, which led to a third.

Her condition continues to regress.

Everyday.

Sabrina, I teach now.

What's crazy is that apart from this,

she was completely crazy.

She was on no medication, whatsoever.

Her physical exams were normal.

Her neurological exams were normal.

Infection work out negative, autoimmune test

negative, toxic metabolic workup negative.

- All of it was negative.

- I admit, itt sounds very interesting.

But like I said, I teach now.

She's on the verge on going

to a psychiatric hospital.

Dr. Khan, based on what you were telling

me, maybe that's where she should be.

No. It would be very easy for me to tell

her that she's bipolar or schizophrenic,

but the fact is, there's

just something in my bones

that's telling me that,

that's not the case.

I knew the feeling. Okay,

I will take a peek.

Great.

I wonder what he'll be like.

Hopefully competent.

- Good day. Hello.

- Hi, I'm Rhona, I'm Susannah's mother.

- Nice to meet you.

- Hello, pleasure.

- Tom, I'm her dad.

- Tom.

I'm Dr. Najjar and you must

be the famous Susannah?

Call me Souhel.

Pleasure is all mine.

- So, um, please have a seat.

- Okay.

Susannah, I will do my best to help you.

I will not hurt you and I will never

lie to you.

Okay? Okay. Let's begin.

What is your name?

What is the year?

- We need to stay strong for Susannah.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes