Waiting in a cold, callous room, my foot tapping impatiently against the floor
A bitter December morning in the city
Cold and wet, it forecasts the inevitable melancholy
White walls laughing and tormenting me, a dizzy, heavy head drops to my sweaty palms
Beads of salt greet the maelstrom of worry, not to be separated by any such human strength
All sounds in the room fade out at once until a voice calls from down the hall

Turned into stone, the newly coalesced muscle and bone
They somehow move on their own
The beat of frantic, hopeful words leads them on
"It's nothing, don't you worry. You'll be fine you see.
Just keep moving. Follow me."
Hundreds of voices, all unknown to me, all at once they scream:

"Lionel, the doctor will see you now
Lionel, an answer lies beyond this door
This pain in your head is but soon an old memory
Oh Lionel, but do you know how?"

Wiping my hands, fixing my collar I stand and walk over
The eyes of the sick and the stares of the worried stalk my shaky firgure
Words in the air, "right this way sir," but the softness fails to soothe
One foot in the past, one towards my dreadful future, I'm soon in
The usual grin is absent from his face as the man in white reads from his notes
"Twice you've come and now the news I have, my friend, is not what I was hoping for."

"Lionel, it's something nasty in your head
An inexplicable, raging, incurable malady
Lionel, you must make a grave decision
Oh Lionel, you must choose between your life and your mind
You'll only keep one."

A new dilemma boils in his blood
Each cell, each solitary drop
Circulates the horror throughout his body
From bottom to top

They beckon the tall, pale man to claim his place among the lillies
"Forget this arrogant plight. You're not the hero, nor shining knight."

He swiftly exits the room, nails engraving, crescent marks remaining
"Out, out! For your removal I shout!"
He stumbles and trips
Whispers leave his lips

"They're right; I'm an empty chamber in this firefight."
The medicine's the key, but will he risk his sanity?
Inside he knows
His love for mankind rivals the fear they've sown