Sleep Doctor
by hypno👁citrus
This is my first original hypno story, so it's short but sweet. Enjoy!
“...rry to wake you, I just need to ask you a couple of questions.”
Henry blinked gradually into awareness, heavy eyes reluctant to let go of the pleasant dream he was having. A man in a lab coat was shaking him gently at the shoulder, a clipboard in his other hand. That was… strange. Did he not fall asleep in his bedroom…?
“Sir, I’m very sorry, but we need you to wake up.”
“Huh…?” He blinked again. For some reason, he couldn’t quite seem to shake the tiredness from his mind enough to piece together what was going on, nor form the words to ask. “Where… who…?”
The man in the lab coat smiled down at him reassuringly. For the first time, Henry noticed that he was laying down on a rather comfortable bed, one he only sank further into as he attempted to sit himself up. “Don’t worry, we can answer your questions in due time,” he continued, “But first, it’s very important you answer our questions. It will only be a couple of minutes, then you can go right back to sleep, okay?”
Despite the situation, the man’s voice carried a kindness which put Henry’s mind at ease, least of which because he promised Henry could go back to sleep. He didn’t know why, but going back to sleep felt like the most agreeable idea to Henry right now, and it was only the strangeness of the situation and the insistence of the… Scientist? Doctor? That kept him from giving in to sleep once again. “O…kay…” he finally answered.
“Good,” the doctor clicked his pen. “Can you tell me your name, please?”
“...Henry,” Henry answered, although even this basic answer seemed to take longer than usual to muster.
The doctor scribbled something onto his notepad, the soft scratches soothing to the ear. “That’s right, your name is Henry. And your date of birth?”
”Um,” This one was harder, numbers were slipping from his grasp almost faster than words. “February… seventh?”
Scribbles again. “Yes, of course. And the year?”
“Nnn…. 1992.”
The doctor beamed. “Yes, very good! You’re doing such a good job so far!”
Henry couldn’t explain it, but for some reason, the doctor’s gentle praise sent tingles down his spine. He was happy he was doing a good job, even though that felt a little silly, as all he had done so far was answer basic questions about himself. He let himself relax down a little into the comfortable mattress below him, even though that made the allure of sleep all the more tempting.
“Next question,” the doctor kept going, paying no mind to Henry’s sleepiness. “Do you know who I am?”
This question was much, much harder, and Henry found himself scrunching his brow in the attempt to think at all. The man was a complete stranger to him, but what if Henry had met him before, and he just didn’t remember? He didn’t want to hurt the doctor’s feelings. Still, he supposed if he really was talking to a doctor, he should answer honestly. “I’m sorry… I don’t know,” he looked away nervously.
“Oh, no need to apologize Henry,” An unexpected touch under his chin surprised him, as the doctor gently turned his head back, allowing their eyes to meet. “You are answering all my questions absolutely perfectly! Just one more to go!”
Henry felt himself melt, despite himself. He was so happy to make the doctor happy, and the news that he only had to stay awake for a single question more made the anticipation of sleep grow even stronger in his mind. “What… what is it?”
“How do you feel right now?”
An intense wave of tiredness washed over Henry, much stronger than the post-sleep grogginess he felt before. He tried to answer something like “okay” or “good” or perhaps, “sleepy,” but he found his voice caught in his throat. There was a right answer to this, he knew it deep in the recesses of his mind, but some small part of him still wanted to fight it, wanted to stay awake.
The doctor kept smiling his sweet, comforting smile. “It’s ok Henry, take your time, I know you can do it.”
The praise shot through him once again, stronger, deeper. He wanted to sleep so bad, if only he would say the right words -! Oh, but he wanted to stay awake too, he wanted to keep staring into the nice doctor’s eyes, keep answering his simple, easy questions. It felt so good to answer his questions. “I… I…-” Ah…
The hand on his chin slid up to gently pet his hair, and the doctor leaned in close, speaking softly now. “Just say the words my love, and you can sleep so deeply for me.”
His eyes crossed with the last of his effort, the words bubbling out of his throat so pleasantly as his will to fight it faded into nothingness. “I’m… d-deeply… hypnotized,” he sighed in relief, his eyes rolling into the back of his head and finally, finally closing, giving in to that blissful nothingness. The last thing echoing in his mind were his Instructions, the ones his lovely doctor had placed so far back in his subconscious, he was hardly aware of them at all. Sleep, Forget, Repeat… Sleep, Forget, Repeat…