The plot device

The Plot Device


Fiction
Edward W Pritchard
draft 2


Through a combination of behavioral counseling, hypnosis, pharmacology and surgical implant it became possible to convince patients at a large chain of nursing homes, that while they were now in modest circumstances in their old age; it was by choice, and that they had previously had considerable celebrity, and had only recently choose to enter this nursing home to finish their life in a quiet secluded location, peacefully watching television and reading after a lifetime of intrigue and adventure. The corporation that ran the nursing home was obscenely profitable because a very minimum of staff and security was needed to watch these type patients and with the government subsidies from Medicare and private insurance it was a very lucrative business.

My sister and I had a part to play in the treatment of our Father at one of the facilities under the new program. Once every other week one of us would be required to meet with our Father to assist the nursing home staff with maintaining the delusion that he was a retired Movie Producer and our Dad was in the home incognito and the press would love to learn his whereabouts so as to arrange interviews concerning a salacious scandal he was in following his wife, and our Mother's death. Of course nothing of sort had happened and we put him in this place after Mother died and he began to be unable to care for himself. He had a modest pension as a retired insurance adjuster and what with that, the government money and the little I and my sister put in he was quite comfortable. However, the special program can be quite expensive if the psychiatric staff must continue to plant bi-weekly the delusions into the patient. That's how my sister and I reluctantly agreed to the bi-monthly meetings and got involved with planting ideas into father's mind.

We agreed to the special counseling program because initially Dad reacted very badly to his new environment and because of family obligations neither of us could have Dad live with us.

Yesterday I met with Dad and had a script prepared by the staff psychiatrist and other staff members of ideas I was to suggest to Dad, that would later be implanted into his mind by the various methods discussed at the beginning of this story. I also had several props to use such as newspaper clippings, pictures, and a few letters form real celebrities to him. Of course the real celebrities were compensated by the nursing home corporation and did similar letters to thousands of patients.

Anyway, yesterday the orientation with Dad went so well that I chanced today's session by phone. Feigning anger I ranted at Dad about his romantic indiscretions and the damage they had done to our family's good name. Laying it on thick, following the script the corporate psychologist had prepared; I chastised Dad about his weekends with Lola in Colorado skiing and his two week affaire de coeur in Santa Fe, New Mexico with a college student. About there I became aware that Dad was putting me on and knew of the ruse I was perpetrating and although I continued the charade since for now it was bought and paid for; something was askew and my acting became contrived and although I couldn't see Dad as I was talking on the phone I was sure he was smiling as I ranted on.