"Have you been sleeping well lately?"
In the softly lit psychological treatment room, Zuo Jianqing finished the treatment process, put down the clipboard in his hand, and asked Jiang Que casually.
Detailed records of hospitalized patients' daily medication use were kept, so Jiang Que's bedtime dosage reduction of half was already known to him. Even more gratifying was that, after a period of halving, Jiang Que had further experimented with falling asleep on his own without medication, and recent observations showed promising results.
Jiang Que sat up from the soft reclining chair, tilted his head and smiled in agreement, "Yeah, I've been sleeping well lately."
Zuo Jianqing looked at his face, which was clearly much better than when he was first admitted to the hospital. He nodded happily and asked with concern, "Are you having nightmares anymore?"
The reason why he asked this was because Jiang Que was often awakened by nightmares in the initial period of time.
This is actually very common among patients, especially those with psychological and psychiatric problems caused by traumatic events. Most of them are prone to subconsciously creating depressing and anxious dark dreams under the combined effects of bad memories and psychological pressure.
"No more." Jiang Que replied.
After he finished speaking, he seemed to recall something, his gaze vacant for a moment, then he chuckled and added, "I've been having sweet dreams lately."
Yes.
For a long time recently, for some reason, he often dreamed of some particularly beautiful scenes.
He dreamed of the Rainbow Bridge in the border town where he grew up, the undulating wheat fields under the setting sun, the waterfall cascading between the verdant cliffs, and a silhouette in the morning light.
even……
Although the face could not be seen clearly, the silhouette with a familiar aura often walked before him against the dim light, and like a hot spring touching his skin, it placed a gentle kiss on his brow.
Those dreams were truly beautiful.
It was so beautiful that every time he woke up in the morning, he would still have a lingering smile on his face.
When Zuo Jianqing saw that smile, he somehow thought of Song Yecheng giving her a goodnight kiss every night, but he was careful not to expose it. He just nodded and said, "That's good."
After saying that, he leaned forward slightly, crossed his fingers, and said, "Based on the current progress and effectiveness of the treatment, you'll be able to be discharged from the hospital around next month."
Hearing this, Jiang Que was stunned for a moment, then a bright light flashed in his eyes: "Really?"
This news is great from any perspective, and it is not surprising that Jiang Que would react like this.
Zuo Jianqing confirmed with a smile, "Indeed. I originally said that your condition didn't require mandatory hospitalization, but since you're so strict with yourself, I'll follow the strict plan. Judging from the evaluation results from the past two days, you've completely reached normal standards. The reason I didn't discharge you immediately is that I'm being cautious on your behalf. The next period of time will be considered additional consolidation treatment. How's that? No rush, huh?"
This result had far exceeded Jiang Que's expectations, shortening the battle line much more than he had originally envisioned. He certainly wasn't in a rush and readily replied, "No rush, let's consolidate for a while longer."
After hearing his definite answer, Zuo Jianqing nodded and did not continue discussing this topic. After briefly chatting with him about other issues, he ended the morning's treatment.
When Jiang Que stood up to leave, Zuo Jianqing watched him all the way out of the house, and only when the door closed again did he quietly withdraw his gaze.
Recalling the scene when Jiang Que just closed the door, and thinking of a detail he had noticed during this period, Zuo Jianqing couldn't help but concentrate and think carefully for a moment, leaning back slightly on the chair, and blinking in a trance.
In the garden.
The rich green has long faded away quietly with the alternation of dawn and dusk day after day. The veins of the leaves have been blown red by the autumn wind, the grass has been washed yellow by the autumn rain, and layers of fallen leaves are spread all over the ground, indicating that the golden October has passed quickly and the end of late autumn is approaching.
That afternoon, a cool autumn rain fell.
The low-hanging clouds cast the sky into a gloomy leaden gray, and also made the lights in the hospital building appear exceptionally bright.
Among those lighted windows, in a doctor's office on the floor, Zuo Jianqing sat sideways at his desk, drinking coffee and waiting for the person on the sofa opposite.
Song Yecheng sat on the reception sofa, looking down at the inspection and assessment report in his hand. After a while, he finally finished reading the last page and looked up to confirm: "So, it seems that his current condition has fully met the standards?"
Zuo Jianqing put down his coffee cup and nodded. "The main treatment focus during this period has been on psychological trauma repair and personality guidance integration. Because he is very cooperative, the treatment effect has been very good. According to the current evaluation results, all treatment goals have basically been achieved."
Hearing this, Song Yecheng felt a little happy in his heart, and couldn't help but ask expectantly: "When can he be discharged from the hospital?"
Seeing how positive he was, Zuo Jianqing knew he hoped Jiang Que could return to normal life as soon as possible. However, thinking about the issues he had considered earlier, he still said truthfully, "In theory, given his current condition, I could actually arrange for him to be discharged right now. But I told him that he needs to stay in the hospital for a period of consolidation treatment and can be discharged next month."
Song Yecheng keenly caught the hidden meaning in his words and asked, "Why?"
Zuo Jianqing was also not vague. He tilted his head to signal him to come over, then pushed the cup beside him aside, turned to the computer on the table, and reached out to grab the mouse.
Song Yecheng came to his side, supporting himself on the edge of the table with one hand. He clicked on the surveillance system of the inpatient building, found Jiang Que's ward, and retrieved a surveillance video from last night.
After the video was turned on, Zuo Jianqing dragged the progress directly to 10:50 pm, which was ten minutes before the lights in the inpatient building were turned off.
In the picture, Jiang Que was walking out of the tightly closed independent bathroom. He was wearing pajamas and had his newly changed clothes draped over his arms. Perhaps because his hair was wet, he raised his hand to wipe the loose hair on his forehead.
Just as he raised his hand, Zuo Jianqing pressed the pause button.
The picture froze, and Zuo Jianqing tapped the spot on the screen where Jiang Que's sleeve was. "Did you see that?"
Song Yecheng was a little confused at first, but after looking carefully for a moment, he quickly realized what Zuo Jianqing was referring to.
When Jiang Que raised his hand, his sleeve slipped slightly, revealing something on his wrist.
That's his "countdown" bracelet.
Seeing this thing, Song Yecheng immediately understood what Zuo Jianqing meant: "...He is still wearing it?"
Zuo Jianqing nodded. "I've been keeping an eye on this bracelet since the day he was admitted to the hospital. When I noticed he was always wearing it, I wondered if he'd switched it to normal mode and was just using it as a watch. But I've been paying close attention lately and found it hasn't changed modes. The numbers on it are still counting down."
Hearing this, Song Yecheng couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
This bracelet originally existed because of Jiang Que's delusion of "rebirth". The end point of the countdown was his "rebirth day" in his delusion. So according to normal logic, after his delusion of rebirth was shattered, this countdown no longer had any meaning. Why would he continue to wear it?
"Of course, you don't have to worry too much. This could just be me overthinking it." Zuo Jianqing added, "Because this special item reminds me of triggers in some psychological trauma cases I've come across before, I'm paying more attention to it."
Trigger, also known as trigger point or trigger factor.
It can be a specific melody, a specific painting, or other specific objects. These objects often have symbolic significance in the patient's traumatic experience, so when it appears, it may cause mental stimulation or psychological suggestion to the patient, triggering strong emotional fluctuations or other unexpected situations.
Although Song Yecheng is not a professional, he has come across this concept in film and television works.
In some movies, patients with multiple personalities will have their personality switched by a special piece of music, and patients who have had suicidal tendencies will regain suicidal thoughts after recovering and accidentally seeing a certain painting.
These film and television works may contain elements of artistic exaggeration, but in the spiritual realm, the psychological implications produced by specific media should not be underestimated.
Hearing Zuo Jianqing's words, Song Yecheng instantly understood his intention: "You are worried that the end of the countdown, that is, the date of 'November 14, 2020', will be a potential trigger. So you let him postpone his discharge. Do you want to make sure he spends that day in the hospital before leaving?"
Zuo Jianqing nodded and said, "That's right."
It is already the end of October, and there are only two weeks left until November 14th. Even if it is just to avoid hidden dangers, it is not too abrupt to stay for another half a month.
Song Yecheng thought for a moment and asked, "What are you going to do when that day comes?"
Zuo Jianqing said truthfully: "It depends on the situation. We will take precautions in advance. If necessary, we will not rule out the possibility of taking some compulsory measures to restrict movement."
Song Yecheng frowned slightly.
He knew that the so-called compulsory measures might include but were not limited to restraints, manual control, or injections of powerful sedatives. In his opinion, these were already extreme measures. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he would never want such measures to be used on Jiang Que.
After frowning and pondering for a long time, he finally shook his head and said, "I think this is still inappropriate."
He wasn't just defending his own shortcomings; this was a conclusion he reached after careful consideration: "If that day truly was a potential trigger, then mandatory restrictions would only be a temporary solution. If that day wasn't a trigger at all, then the sudden implementation of restrictions would only cause him to doubt and shake the trust he had already built in me."
It's not like Zuo Jianqing hadn't considered this question before, but under the current conditions, the options available to them were really limited, so he asked, "What do you think?"
Song Yecheng did have some plans in mind, but they were not yet fully formed.
He looked out the window at the rain and thought carefully for a long time before finally deciding, "Let's do this. I'll postpone your discharge as you said, but let me make the arrangements for the 14th."
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