Chapter 31: Stable

Cian stayed in the psychiatric hospital for over two months.

During that time his moods stayed steady, and he never hurt himself again. Dr. Keane watched him closely and decided there were no big problems, only one small worry.

Cian would laugh for no clear reason, as if at nothing.

The laughing came at odd times, sometimes in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon. It lasted an hour one day and half an hour the next. The first time Dr. Keane saw it, he nearly rushed in with a sedative. But after watching more closely, he saw that Cian was simply laughing, and when someone spoke to him, he answered clearly and sensibly. There were no other strange signs.

To be honest, Young Mr. Fitzgerald was handsome, and his laugh was bright and happy. Apart from the slightly eerie fact that he was laughing while staring at a corner, everything else was quite pleasant.

After some thought, Dr. Keane wrote in the file: "Suspected visual or auditory hallucinations due to a mental disorder, with no other obvious symptoms."

He sighed and shared this with Eoin, who had come to visit.

Eoin paused and said nothing. Dr. Keane tapped the table with his pen and hesitated before speaking. "Mr. Brennan, you don’t need to worry. We’re a professional psychiatric hospital, and we’ll give him the best treatment. There’s another matter, though..."

"Would you like to be assessed too?" Dr. Keane adjusted his glasses and smiled. "I don’t mean to offend you, but your OCD looks quite severe."

In the hospital room, Cian and the System were happily picking a film to watch.

"What should we watch today? Another action film?"

"...Anything else? I’m bored of those."

"A comedy?"

The room had a TV, but it was an old 22 inch set, smaller than Cian’s computer screen. The picture was blurry and the sound was rough. It was nothing like the System’s direct playback in his mind, with its 75 inch screen and perfect sound.

They had already watched nine Fast & Furious films and six Transformers films. Tired of explosions, they had recently switched to comedies.

The System chose Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Cian lay in bed smiling, now and then cracking dry jokes with the System. He had no idea that Dr. Keane’s opinion of his condition was far from hopeful.

The room was a private suite, thanks to his donation five years ago. It had been fully refurbished, the mattress had been replaced, and meals were prepared for him every day. He did have to take an injection daily, but with the System around, the medicine had no effect. Cian was enjoying himself and living a comfortable, easy life. All he was missing was popcorn.

Between films, he found time to go over the score with the System.

At this point in the story, Cian’s part was nearly done, with only a little wrapping up left. The score was almost final, and the System went through it with him. "Some parts of the plot are a problem, especially after you came home. You skipped a lot of lines, but all the major plot points are covered. You were pulled out of the dinner... well, it wasn’t Eoin who pulled you, and you didn’t look like a dead dog, but you were still pulled out."

"The finger: you broke it. It wasn’t Eoin who broke it, and it was only one finger, not ten, but you still broke it."

"The psychiatric hospital: this part fits best. You stayed... and there’s the restraint scene, which you haven’t done yet." The System tapped its non existent fingers. "Let’s see, the total score is 59.75. Just a little bit more."

The restraint scene was when Eoin came to visit and Cian lay in bed tied down, heartbroken and blank faced, to show the sad end of the villain.

So Cian shamelessly went to Dr. Keane and asked for restraints.

Dr. Keane was an ethical doctor, and of course he wouldn’t hand restraints to a patient just like that, since they were uncomfortable. He adjusted his glasses, looked Cian over, and frowned. "Your condition is fairly stable. Why do you need restraints?"

Cian thought, Obviously, it’s for that damn 0.25%. But to Dr. Keane he just said apologetically, "I get violent urges when I sleep."

Dr. Keane’s face turned serious at once. He looked at Cian gravely. "Can you describe the feeling in detail?"

Cian: "...Uh."

His school days were a distant memory, and he’d forgotten much about bipolar disorder. He tried to explain using what he could remember. "I see things. I feel like there are other people in the room."

Dr. Keane’s pen stopped, then drew a long line across the file.

It fit.

He quietly raised the dose of the medication.

That night, Cian finally got the restraints he wanted.

They looked like seatbelts, four fingers wide, and tied down his arms and legs to limit movement. To stop a patient from struggling wildly, they were usually tied very tight, which affected the blood flow. After a while, the limbs went numb and sore, which was pretty uncomfortable.

All for that 0.25%.

Eoin was swamped with work, and for some reason he always visited in the dead of night. He never came when Cian was awake, as if he were trying not to be noticed.

Dr. Keane had a rough idea of the awkward bond between the two of them, and he believed this handsome young man wouldn’t harm his nephew. After letting Eoin in, he stayed out of it.

Eoin sat down by Cian’s bed.

He looked over the four restraints and sat quietly for a long time. After a while, he hesitantly reached out and touched the marks left by the straps.

He rubbed them gently.

Cian let out a silent sigh.

Eoin thought he had come late and that Cian was already asleep. But Cian now slept all day and got little exercise, so he was wide awake at night, either talking to the System or watching films. Every time Eoin came, Cian was wide awake.

Eoin came under the cover of darkness and left just as quietly. He stayed only ten or twenty minutes each time, always in a hurry. Glenmore Psychiatric Hospital was far from the city, and the drive took over half an hour. Each time, Cian couldn’t help worrying that Eoin would get too tired and end up with dark circles.

It would be a shame for someone so good looking to get dark circles.

After so many visits, even someone as clueless as Cian started to feel something was off.

Why was Eoin doing this?

Five years ago, they had met by chance. No real harm was done, but Cian admitted his attitude had been terrible, and he had even said some dumb rich kid nonsense. Later, after coming back to Ireland, Eoin might not have hated him to the core, but given how the plot was going, he shouldn’t have been so... caring.

Lying in bed, Cian quietly thought it over. The System was still playing a film, a comedy it was enjoying, and it was trying to talk about the plot with Cian. Out of nowhere, a notification popped up in the background.

"60% plot completion achieved."

At this, both the System and Cian paused.

After a short pause, the System breathed a sigh of relief.

It was the System’s first time guiding a host, but judging by the experiences of those before it, Cian’s difficulty level was definitely among the top three. On the surface he seemed careless and relaxed, but deep down he was more stubborn than anyone and refused to move away from what he believed in. That had left the plot messy and disorganised.

Luckily, now that the dust had settled, the task was finally finished.

The System nudged its host and said excitedly, "Host, it’s a success! You can go home!"

When Cian first made the contract with it, the condition was to reach 60% completion, and then Cian could return to his own world.

Cian, however, was a little stunned and stayed silent for a long time.

He had taken on the System’s task because he had died suddenly in his past life. It was not long after his mental illness had been completely cured, just after he had escaped his father’s shadow, when he suddenly died. He wasn’t ready to go, so he accepted the System’s offer.

But the truth was that he was used to being alone, and there was no one he really cared about in his old life.

Later, when he arrived here and followed the plot, he did it like a casual onlooker, without putting in much effort or care. His bond with Darragh was a chance meeting. With Declan and Rory, it was mutual dislike from the start. With Fergal, he felt indifferent. And with Eoin... it was hard to say.

He had known the ending from the start, so even the journey felt dull. The only thing that counted as a real choice of his own was studying harder while abroad. The university had a tough course and high requirements to graduate, but he found it rewarding and enjoyed a student life he had never imagined in his past life.

Other than that, there wasn’t much worth mentioning.

But now that he had finally reached the end, he felt a bit lost.

Cian closed his eyes. "If I choose to leave, what will happen here?"

The System paused. "Uh..."

It thought for a moment. "In the story, ’Cian’ isn’t dead yet. After you leave, I’ll make a ’Cian’ body and put him in a temporary coma. Of course, there are some small scenes later, like Eoin visiting ’Cian’ in the psychiatric hospital. You could come back to play those."

The original character was a minor supporting role in the novel, with just a few lines at the end. He wouldn’t need to come back often and wouldn’t really affect Cian’s life in his own world.

Cian didn’t speak.

The restraints bound his limbs and left only his neck free to move. He turned his face slightly and looked at Eoin by the window.

Eoin had stood up at some point and had his back turned, looking out the window, lost in thought. The curtains in the ward weren’t drawn, and a bright moon hung in the sky, giving off a lonely light.

If this body stayed in a coma, Eoin would probably still visit, maybe every few days, months, or even years. But however often he came, he would probably feel sad every time.

Cian let out a soft sigh and said, "Let’s stay for now."

The System didn’t understand what he was thinking. After all that effort to reach the goal, he wasn’t ready to leave yet. But it nodded cluelessly. "Okay."

With the plot wrapped up and no System rules to follow, Dr. Keane saw Cian get better day by day.

Apart from that one night, Cian never asked for restraints again. He still stared at the corner, but the eerie smile was gone.

...It turned out they had finished all the good comedies, so the System and Cian switched to dramas.

Eoin still dropped by now and then, and Cian took his medicine and watched films as usual. Everything was calm. Then, out of the blue, Fergal, who hadn’t contacted Cian in ages, rang to invite him to the Fitzgerald family dinner. Shareholders and Dublin’s elite would be there, and they would discuss transferring shares.

The call was a surprise. When Fergal’s deep voice came through, Cian thought he had dialled the wrong number. He covered the phone and asked the System, "When did this become part of the plot?"

The System shrugged. "The plot’s done, so anything goes now."

They guessed that in the original plot, by this point Eoin would have taken control of Cian’s contact details. The original character had inherited some of his father’s shares, which should have earned him a seat at the shareholders’ meeting. Fergal had quickly moved the shares away, but Cian’s part of the plot had been rushed, so this hadn’t played out yet. Inviting him now and pressuring him to sign a transfer contract made sense.

The System: "Host, are you going?"

Cian: "Let’s go. I’ve got nothing else to do."

The shares could be cashed in for a good sum. Whether it went toward improving Dr. Keane’s hospital or straight to charity, it was better than the Fitzgerald family’s shares crashing after Fergal’s mess and becoming worthless.

His condition was stable now, and he could have left, but Dr. Keane wanted him to stay a few more days for observation, so he hadn’t checked out yet.

On the day of the dinner, he borrowed Dr. Keane’s beat up Nissan Micra. He dug around and found the suit at the bottom of the box, creased from being left there. So he threw on some casual clothes and drove over.

The dinner was held in a high end hotel, and the car park was full of luxury cars: Bentleys, Mercedes, Maseratis. Cian hit the brakes, and the Micra lurched into the sea of luxury cars and came to a clunky stop. He was as calm as ever, but the security guard was freaking out.

Damn, that’s bold and skilled. If it gets scratched, wouldn’t it cost a fortune?

Cian had finished his task and could leave at any time, so he didn’t care about this. He pulled out the key and went inside, ignoring the strange looks from the security guard, and asked, "I’m going to the Grafton Hotel’s ballroom. Where’s the lift?"

He followed the directions to the entrance of the ballroom and saw the greeter from far away. It was Ronan Fitzgerald, Fergal’s son, welcoming guests at the door. He was wearing a custom made suit with a Swiss luxury watch on his wrist and looked radiant. Now that Fergal had taken over the company, he was the first heir and riding high.

The original character wasn’t close to this cousin, and Cian didn’t even recognise him. He was only here to get the money and have a meal, with no interest in who ran the company. He nodded in greeting and walked inside.

Ronan was stunned for a moment and blurted out, "You’re dressed like that?"

The room was full of well known people from Dublin. The ladies were all in high heels and evening gowns, and the men wore shirts, ties, and dinner jackets. Cian, though, shuffled in wearing trainers, and his whole outfit wasn’t worth more than fifty euro.

Cian waved his hand. "Times are tough. It’s not like the old days."

Ronan looked at him, puzzled.

He knew his cousin Cian had a bad temper and hated being outshone. Now he looked shabby, almost embarrassingly so, and yet he showed no reaction?

Someone nudged him. "What are you looking at?"

Ronan looked away. "My cousin. He’s a bit odd."

That person picked up a glass of wine. "Want me to check him out for you?"

Cian strolled in and took a seat at the edge. Everyone was mingling, and no one noticed him. The announcement about the shares was planned for the end of the dinner, so he had to wait.

As he sipped champagne, Cian asked the System, "Will Eoin show up?"

Strangely enough, they had been in the same room on and off, but they hadn’t really met in a while. Cian would take his medicine and pretend to sleep, and Eoin would sit in silence and leave without a word. So if Cian wanted to talk to him, he had to find a chance like this dinner.

The System replied, "With such big changes in the shares, there’s an 87% chance he’ll come."

It asked curiously, "If you see him, what will you say? Goodbye?"

Cian’s hand paused as he swirled his glass. Then he gave a vague smile. "Maybe."

But just thinking about that ending made his heart tighten and ache with a pain he couldn’t put into words.