Retnikopf: Widow Of Siberia (old Version)

Chapter 5 - Therapy

Dr. Christina Raynor sat across from the hollowed eyed young woman. Vienna didn't speak but she was used to that from Bucky.

"You know I don't usually make house calls," Dr Raynor said, readjusting her notepad in her lap, "but James says that you're anxious, skittish. He doesn't want to scare you."

Vienna only stared at her. Christina felt as though she were the one being studied with the way Vienna was watching her.

"Did James tell you much about me? I can introduce myself more if it'll make you more comfortable," Christina continued, trying to get some kind of conversation out of Vienna to get an idea as to what was going on with her.

"You're a therapist," Vienna said, her soft Russian accent hugging her words, "do I need to know anything else?"

"Well, some people like to know a more about a person before they open up," Christina explained, "but if you want to stay strict to profession that's fine. I used to be a soldier, now I specialise in working with people like yourself and James who have serious trauma-"

"I'm not a soldier," Vienna said, cutting her off as she spoke, "I never have been."

"That's alright," Christina said, leaning back as she watched Vienna's expressions. She didn't seem to be holding up an obvious guard, "James said you had a nightmare, do you want to talk about it?"

Vienna went silent again. She didn't like to relive her dreams by thinking about them. They were often strange and held not so subtle pieces of her past within them. But if the doctor wanted to know, she'd have to tell her.

"It can be hard to remember dreams sometimes, do you remember what woke you up?" Christina asked, trying to get something out of her.

"I was attack by an animal," Vienna said simply.

"What kind of animal was it?" Christina asked, pulling her notepad close so that she could write in it.

Vienna nodded. She'd come to the conclusion that Dr. Raynor wanted a report from her.

"A black cat, of the panthera genus, I can't be sure if it was a leopard or a jaguar," Vienna told her, trying to remember the details of her dream, "I was in the snow, likely relating to a time where I was left outside in Siberia to make my way back to the facility. I'm unsure of how I got there."

"You're very thorough," Christina smiled, her sudden responsiveness was a little worrying but they'd get to that later.

"Is that bad, for here?" Vienna asked, frowning a little as she waited for a response.

"What do you mean by that?" Christina asked.

"I have learned that some things that I do are not appropriate for my life now," Vienna told Dr. Raynor, "for example I need to make sure I blink at regular intervals in order to avoid staring. It makes people uncomfortable."

"I see."

-----

Bucky waited anxiously in the living room of Sharon's house. He knew that whatever they talked about was none of his business but, he wanted to know if she was okay. And moreover if there was anything he could do to help. After working so closely with her in Siberia, he felt almost responsible for her.

He stood up immediately as Dr. Raynor came through to where he was sitting.

"I'll be going now James," she said to him as she picked up her coat from the arm of the sofa, "we made a good start today but I'd like to see her again."

"Yeah, yeah of course, I'll ask her about it," Bucky nodded, fiddling with his hands, "so is she... Is she okay?"

"For some of the trauma she has described to me, she is doing remarkably well," Christina explained, "she's going to be a little socially stunted and display regressive tendencies but for the most part what I've seen, she's definitely not doing badly. That fact that she's so compliant with me helps a lot but it also makes me wonder if she has a difficulty with authority. I'm only telling you this because I think it may put her at risk."

"What do you mean?"

"Whatever I asked her, she would tell me," Christina explained, "I think that she did that because she thinks she has too rather than because she wanted to. So I'm asking you not to push her too far, it's likely that she thinks of you as a superior. And if that is the case, if you ask her to do something, she will, even if it puts herself and others at risk. So please be mindful of the state she's in."

"Of course."