"I'm sorry I think this is a mistake. I'm gonna go now." I shook my head and headed for the door.
"Audrey, please." His voice was pleading. "Dr. Miller told me about you. Will you give me a chance to help you?
"I bit my bottom lip, looking at him and thinking. I promised Cindy I'd try. Just this one time. If this doesn't turn out the way I wanted I could always switch therapist. I needed to step out of my comfort zone. Iyon ang madalas na sinasabi sa akin ni Cindy. But why him? Sa dami ng pwede kong maging psychiatrist bakit siya pa?
"W—what did she say?" I asked, hardly looking at him.
"Dr. Miller told me to look after you. That you're in a very vulnerable state and that you need my help. She spoke of you so dearly. I know she cares about you more than a doctor should care about her patient." He gave me a warm smile.
I rubbed my elbow, still keeping my eyes from looking at him. "Nice to meet you, Dr. Francois."
"Will you take a seat with me?" He asked in a very polite and professional tone.
I nodded my head. He slowly walked back to his table and I followed him. Umupo siya sa likod ng table niya at ako sa armchair na nasa harap nito. He clasped his hands on the table and looked at me. "How are you?"
"I'm good." I fidgeted with my fingers on my lap. I felt like the walls were closing in on me...us. I was in a room with a man I practically don't know. I could already feel the tremble starting from my hands. I always feel like men were out to get me. Any man outside my family all wanted to hurt me. Just like they did.
"Audrey, are you okay?" He asked in deep worry.
"Y—yeah..." There was shiver in my voice.
"Do you mind telling me why you're here?"
"PTSD." I answered. That was what I diagnosed with. Post traumatic stress disorder. Cindy said it was a heightened response to trauma that doesn't stop even after the trauma is over. She was right, it felt like living the same day again and again. The nightmare never stops. Even now that I was 'fixed', there was still residue left of what had happened.
He nodded his head and started writing on the paper in front of him. "Can we go back to the very beginning? I want to know what caused your PTSD. I want to understand you better.
"I swallowed, feeling my throat closing. I bit my lower lip to keep it from trembling. "It was my twenty first birthday...
"A cold splash of water woke me up. I let out a shrilling scream and opened my eyes but I couldn't see anything. It was just dark. I tried to move only to find out that both my hands were tied behind my back and my feet together.
"What is this? Ano bang nangyayari? Pakawalan niyo ako! This isn't funny" I squirmed. I thought maybe it was my friends or my idiot twin brother playing a prank on me, pretending to kidnap me on the night of my birthday. How original. I wanted to roll my eyes. I'd seen this in movies before.
"Gising na pala ang prinsesa." I heard an unfamiliar voice of a man and then he laughed. His voice was throaty and rough, his laughter menacing and scary.
That's when I knew I was in deep trouble. This wasn't a joke. Sinubukan kong alalahanin ang nangyari bago ako napunta dito. I remember having dinner with my family on the eve of my birthday. Ma made her special lasagna for me. Dad promised he'd book my plane ticket for my Eurotrip. I'd been to Europe and a bunch of different coutries with my parents and siblings. But this time I wanted to go alone at finally pumayag na din si Dad. After that, I snuck out of the house to meet up with my friends at a club. I wanted to start my twenty first birthday with a bang. I was now legal to drink alcohol and go to casinos. Inisip ko na sana pala sinabi ko kay Dad na gusto ko sa Vegas icelebrate ang birthday ko. I went into the club and saw my friends, we drank, talked, and danced. I excused myself to go to the bathroom and on my way, someone grabbed me from behind and covered my face and nose...
