Kate Gompert on the psych ward — "I want shock,’ she said finally…"
‘I want shock,’ she said finally. ‘Isn’t part of this whole concerned kindness deal that you’re supposed to ask me how I think you can be of help? Cause I’ve been through this before. You haven’t asked what I want. Isn’t it? Well how about either give me ECT [n.29] again, or give me my belt back. Because I can’t stand feeling like this another second, and the seconds keep coming on and on.’
Context
The treatment demand as ultimatum: shock or the belt back, two routes out of consciousness offered as equivalents. "The seconds keep coming on and on" is the smallest possible statement of the book's present-moment problem — the abiding Gately's arc will answer — here experienced as pure torment.