"I'm proud of you, Mark," Doctor Stokes told me, "You know, progress doesn't come easy, but it starts in that small, usually abrupt moment where we decide to make a change and rise above...and it seems that you may have, in fact, had that moment."

I gave her a half-smile, still uncertain that I could pull through, yet definitely feeling far more confident, "Does that mean I can go home now?"

"Well, I feel confident in sending you off, but I'm required to ask," she said, "Are you currently a danger to yourself or others?"

I shook my head, "No."

"Alright, on that promise, I can discharge you," she nodded, "I'll have the papers drawn up and the nurse will call you when they're finished."

"Thank you," I smiled, lifting myself from the chair in front of her desk.

"I do want you to follow up with a therapist," the doctor added.

I knew that was coming, "Ok, I will," I lied and turned toward the door.

"Mark," she stated plainly, obviously waiting for me to put my attention on her again.

Goddammit, just let me go...I complained silently before spinning around.

"I'll have an appointment set up for you before you leave," she grinned at me, clearly not convinced that I would follow through. "The facility is here in town and they take your insurance so there's no burden to you."

I sighed in defeat, "Thank you."

Then I was finally able to make it out the door. It had been another three days since Devin left, making my total time in the ward five days. A typical stay for a short term wing. I was just happy I had been able to show I was no longer suicidal so that I didn't get transferred into long-term treatment.

The days had gone by much the same with nothing happening. At one point, I almost had a conversation going with another patient. It had started off as stereotypical guy talk. Sports, fighting, women, but with the last topic, he randomly started talking about raping Patricia. He said that he could do it and get away with it because she was too far gone to report it. I had to admit that it made me really uncomfortable to hear someone talk like that so casually...yet somehow, I found the strength to say, "I'd report you."

The guy then turned on me, yelling something to the effect of shutting me up by fucking my pretty boy mouth. My heart jumped when he moved closer to me and raised his voice to say it. Thankfully, one of the male nurses rushed over and pulled the man back which just made him angrier and he kept spouting shit and fighting the nurse's grip. Other staff came in and had to sedate the guy. I found it odd that nobody asked if I was alright, but I guess since they ended up putting him in the isolation room, it didn't really matter.

More importantly, I felt I was starting to get somewhere with these dream powers. I had tried again the second night to somehow reach Devin and was still unable so I switched to consciously rotating the place I was in, being careful not to end up at 1428 Elm again. That seemed to come easiest to me and I quickly concluded that I had the hang of it. Then, I put my attention on drawing my sword. It was a little more difficult, but by the end of last night, I felt it was getting simpler.

Admittedly, it was the astral travel experience that helped me to perfect these techniques. The more I focused on controlling that energy inside of me, my spirit, and using it to complete tasks other than removing it from my body, I realized that the dream realm was just that: spiritual. I had wanted to move on and try making other things happen in that world like telekinesis or pyrokinesis, but I was awoken by the sound of a patient roaming the halls undergoing intervals of shouting and then mumbling to himself. By the time staff had him under control, I couldn't get back to sleep and not long after, the first meal of the day was provided.

"Mark Chressler?"

I was relieved when my name was called, instantly skipping from the activity room and to the nurses' station where I underwent the same discharge procedure that Devin had days prior. Once everything was signed and I had my follow-up orders, I was escorted out of the ward. I had had my wallet in my pants when I'd been taken to the hospital in the first place, so I was able to hail a cab to take me home. When we pulled up to my apartment complex and I saw the total, I was afraid I didn't have enough to pay the driver. However, I ended up with the fee plus eight dollars left over.

I glanced up and down the front of the building, trying to see if Devin was hanging around, but it didn't appear so. I made my way into the building and up the stairs to the second floor, only to see my new friend standing outside my apartment door. I grinned when I laid eyes on him, having missed his company.

"You've got great timing," I said.

"Nah," he laughed, "They always do the discharges at the same time so I've just been coming every day to check for you."

"Oh," I replied awkwardly, "That makes sense."

As I stepped toward the door and pulled my key out to open it, I noticed that he was wearing the same clothes he did the day he left. I knew he was going to be on the streets, but I had wondered if he'd be able to get whatever possessions he had from his sister. I didn't want to be rude and point out that he had nothing yet at the same time I wanted to check on him especially since he probably hadn't had money to buy himself any food either.

"Well, they had me out before lunch so I'm going to head in to cook something for us," I decided on saying, "You can go take a shower if you want while I figure that out. I know I hate putting on the same outfit after I bathe and it looks like we're close in size if you want to snag something from my closet."

By that time, I had the apartment open and had stepped through the doorway. I head Devin say 'hey, thanks, man,' as he followed me, but I didn't say anything else for fear it would be too much. Instead, I simply strolled to my fridge and began searching for things I could fix. There wasn't much left so I ended up making due with bologna sandwiches and ramen. My friend showered quickly and emerged in a pair of my blue jeans and a white tank top. It was the most I'd seen of him since modesty was strictly enforced at the ward and even sleeveless tops were against the rules. The guy was actually well-built like he worked out on the daily.

"See something you like?" Devin flirted playfully, making me realize I had been staring.

"No," I said quickly, then thinking I was rude, added, "I mean, I'm glad the clothes fit is all."

The guy laughed as he came further into the room to take the plate I was holding out for him, "I'm just fucking around, Mark."

I grinned sheepishly. To be honest, I'd never really been stable enough to think much about what I was and wasn't attracted to. I mean, I had had sex with women before and I had masturbated, but it'd never been a prime concern of mine. I could, however, admit that Devin was physically attractive and I'd already established I liked his personality. Yet, this still wasn't the time for such things and my attention instantly redirected to the task at hand. I didn't eat much of my food and instead spent most of meal time on the phone talking to my boss and explaining what had happened. Fortunately for me, he hadn't actually fired me in the first place and had only taken my name off the schedule. Also, since he was in need of my employment, he went ahead and began my regular routine as if nothing had ever happened. Now that all that was out of the way...

"So, I guess you weren't able to pull me into your dream?" Devin asked on cue as I put my cell to rest and picked up my fork.

"No, but I have been getting better with manipulating my dreams. I even reached Maggie at one point," I answered.

"Oh? That's cool. How did that go?" my friend smiled as he swallowed the last bite from his plate.

Absentmindedly, I dropped the utensil in my hand and pushed my plate over to him like I'd gotten used to doing in the hospital, "Well, I tried to leave before she could see me...but she said my name and asked why I was there. I disappeared without responding."

"Oof. Well, for all she knows it wasn't the real you, right?" Devin offered.

"Yeah, but I somehow doubt that's the case," I muttered. "Anyway, I have the weekend off from work. I was thinking maybe we could do some more research into these spiritual powers. Like perhaps you could try coming into my dream at the same time I'm trying to get to you. It might be easier that way."

"Sounds good to me..." he gave a half-grin and took a bite out of the sandwich I had slid his way. It seemed like he wanted to say something, making me wonder if he was doubting my sanity at last, but then he finally spoke, "Your boss isn't hiring is he?"

"That bastard is always hiring because nobody wants to work for him," I rolled my eyes.

"You're a glutton for punishment, I see," Devin poked with a laugh.

I smiled, "Come in with me Monday and apply. See if I'm joking for yourself."

"I'll do that," he replied. Was that all that he had wanted? A job? and not worried that he was bunking with a deluded freak? Wait. Bunking. I hadn't ever asked him if he wanted to stay with me. "Devin, you know you're welcome to sleep on the couch while you're settling out. I mean, I'd offer you a bedroom, and don't take this the wrong way, but there's just the one and..."

"Woah," the man threw his hands up, "I really appreciate that. I'm sorry if I came onto you or made you feel uncomfortable like that."

"No no!" I assured, "You didn't, I just didn't want to be the one to do that and give you the wrong impression is all."

Devin laughed, "Honestly, I've gotten to a point where I just assume all guys are straight."

I smiled, "I really haven't done enough dating to think about things like that."

The conversation seemed to feel a little awkward then, but being the master extrovert that he apparently was, Devin quickly and casually slipped us into another topic. The rest of the day, we chatted, watched TV and when I had started cleaning the place up, my new roommate pitched in. When it was dark out, but still early, we both decided to head to bed, having formulated our plans for attempting to meet each other in the dream world. The idea was that, using the technique for focusing the spirit that I had learned, we'd both got to sleep envisioning sitting on the couch together and talking. With past success, I went in expecting it to work so I was disappointed when it didn't even though I did find myself on the couch.

"Goddammit," I growled out loud only to be met with Devin's voice.

"Mark?"

"Devin?" I questioned, standing up from my seat and listening for where it had come from.

Just as I made it to the hall, he appeared, having come out of my bedroom.

"Dude, this is pretty trippy," the dream Devin reached out and touched my face with the tips of his fingers.

I reached up and swatted his hand away, "Were you in my bedroom?"

"Yeah, apparently," he laughed. "I honestly was thinking about the couch, but then my mind was like, well, I'm laying on the couch and Mark is actually in his bedroom...so I guess my brain got confused?"

I shook my head while grinning, somewhat having pictured a dirtier answer, "Well, at any rate, it worked. I guess now you need to try-"

"Oh, tsk tsk," the devious Fred Krueger cut me off, "This won't do at all."