Healing The Void (The Roys, #2) ✔

Chapter 39 - Mirage

She stared at the phone screen as her eyes welled up again. This was perhaps for the fifth time today that she was tearing up.

Ashwin texted her.

'I know you're not okay. Talk to me?'

'I can't.'

'What happened? Did Abhimanyu say something?'

'No.'
'But he didn't return home for two days.'

'Did something happen?'

'We consummated our marriage.'

'Wow! Congratulations!'
'Wait! And he disappeared after that?'

'Yes.'

There was a longer pause. Then he texted, 'I just talked to Devina Mukherjee. The psychologist I mentioned to you earlier. She has given a slot around 9 p.m tonight. Talk to her. The meeting will be held online, on a zoom meeting. If you want, I can join too.'

'Ashwin, you don't need to do all this for me.'

'You are my friend. This is what friends do.'

So, around 9 p.m. Ashwin called her to inform he had sent her the zoom meeting link. She could join it and he'd be there too.

Devina Mukherjee was a nice lady in her thirties. After listening to everything she asked a final question to Shreya.

"To diagnose an individual with SPD (Schizoid personality disorder), we have to look closely at some of his traits. As Outlined in DSM V -- the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, SPD has 7 distinctive traits. Among which, if only 4 are present in any person, then they are considered to be Schizoids."

Shreya asked, "What are those?"

"Number one, Schizoids neither desires nor enjoys close relationships. Two, they choose solitary activities. Three, they have none or little interest in having sexual experiences. Four, they take pleasure only in a few activities. Five, Schizoids lack close friends or confidants. Six, Schizoids appears indifferent to praise or criticism, and lastly but most distinctively, individuals with SPD show emotional coldness, detachment, or flattened affectivity. Now you have to tell me, Mr. Abhimanyu exhibits how many of these traits."

Shreya took a shaky breath. "Almost all of these. But..." she paused briefly before adding hesitatingly, "We've had sex."

"Of course. Schizoid personality disorder is a huge spectrum. Some schizoids do enjoy sex. It entirely varies from individual to individual. But can you remind yourself what exactly happened after you've had sex?"

"He said, I'll have to figure out his love language because he's incapable of doing the same."

"Hmm. And after that?"

"The next morning, he sent me away because he had work. I haven't seen him since then. His phone is also switched off. It feels like he has cut me off from having any kind of interaction."

"When was it?"

"Two days ago."

Devina nodded thoughtfully and noted down something. After a moment she said, "Was it your first time together?"

Shreya's face flushed at the question. But she somehow answered. "Yes."

"Seems like, he's trying to figure out this new kind of emotions he's feeling now. Ms. Shreya, it's not like schizoids do not feel emotions. They just don't want to acknowledge them. They pretend to be emotionless and feel confidant remaining that way. It gives them a certain kind of control over the fear of getting weak emotionally or their trust issues in general. In other words, you can say, they tend to bottle up their emotions. But now that he has you in his life... in some... intimate kind of way, he's trying to figure it out."