ABSTRACT
The author explained the situation, and she said to go to the nearest emergency room. The room is bleak. There is no furniture, other than a hard wooden chair in the corner, and the shower in the bathroom lacks a curtain. The nurse makes a remark about a long stay for him. It sounds like a good Catholic hospital to him, but he can tell from the triumphant gleam in her eyes that it's supposed to be a threat. It's a mental institution. In spite of the costs, his hospital stay and what had precipitated it were useful in some ways. His therapist now allows him total control over decisions regarding antidepressants. She has promised to take me at his word always so that he won't have to resort to dramatics, and she has made a commitment to overestimating instead of underestimating his level of depression.
