The Paranoia of Dr. Silberman
The hum of the electric wheelchair was a pathetic noise in the opulent, wood-paneled office. Dr. Silberman, his body twisted by a drunk driver’s sedan, gripped the armrests until his knuckles were white. Across the massive oak desk sat Joe Jukic, impeccably dressed in a charcoal suit, his face a mask of calm, almost empathetic concern. A small, subtle EU flag lapel pin caught the light.
“They targeted me, Joe. They know what I saw,” Silberman rasped, his voice thin and sharp with bitterness. “That truck didn’t just miss the light. It was a message. And that message was stamped with a gold star on a blue field.”
Joe leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “Doc, we’ve talked about this. The police report is clear. It was a twenty-year-old kid who blew a $1,500 fine and bought too many shots of grappa. It was a tragic, awful accident. I truly regret what happened to you.” He paused, his green eyes holding Silberman’s gaze with unblinking sincerity. “But this talk of the ‘EU Mafia’… it’s going too far. You’re assigning intent where there is only misfortune.”
Silberman laughed, a dry, coughing sound. “Misfortune? The man I testified against, the one whose whole network I helped dismantle, is now free on a technicality! And two days later, I’m permanently strapped to this thing. Don’t you think that’s a coincidence, Joe?”
Joe sighed, running a hand over his smooth, dark hair. “It’s stress, Doc. It’s trauma. You’ve been through hell, and your mind is doing what it can to make sense of the chaos. It’s creating a convenient villain—the same villain you’ve been fighting for years. This is textbook reactive paranoia, maybe even a touch of paranoid schizophrenic delusion triggered by the extreme psychological distress.”
The doctor shoved the control stick, propelling the wheelchair aggressively toward the desk. “You protect them! You’re part of them!”
Joe didn’t flinch. He simply met the charge with a gentle, patient smile. “I’m your friend, Doctor. And I think you need help. Not a bodyguard, not a gun. A specialist. Let me call you one of the best psychiatrists in Geneva. We can get you stable. You’re safe here, Doc. The ‘EU Mafia’ is a ghost story you’re telling yourself to cope with the reality of an empty street and a careless boy.”
Silberman stared at him, his entire body trembling with frustrated rage. Joe’s calm certainty was a polished shield, impossible to pierce. Was he right? Was this just the broken circuitry of his own mind, a desperate attempt to replace senseless tragedy with meaningful malice? Or was the man sitting before him, this pillar of European commerce and community, truly the devil in disguise? Silberman could no longer tell the difference, and that was the most terrifying crippling of all.