Mad Severy, the rehabilitation provocauteur, used it as a shock therapy tool. He said to Otis, “I’ve been told you pretty much caused a man named Pete Wetmore to kill himself. Some might say that was a form of murder. Isn’t that right, Otis?” Otis shook his head to the left and then to the right. It was a reflex response. A real one. If Otis had realized he could move his head, he might have decided to nod up and down, saying yes. Whatever, it was considered another erectionlike breakthrough event in the coming back to life of Otis Halstead. Otis, again, was alarmed a bit at the happiness over his response to something concerning the death of another man. On the other hand, he understood what was going on. Response was everything. Whatever shocks it took to get him to respond were part of the cure, part of bringing him back to life. “Now you wish you’d said yes, don’t you, Otis?” asked Mad, who was clearly one astute man. “Say it. Say yes and nod.” Otis nodded. He figured, why not?
