GO TO HELL, CAPTAIN (Preview)

24: PTSD

"You said she cried which means she's had a nightmare and that is also it's symptoms. It is a disorder characterised by failure to recover after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. The condition may last months or years, with triggers that can bring back memories of the trauma accompanied by intense emotional and physical reactions. And in her case, both happened. Symptoms may include nightmares or flashbacks, avoidance of situations that bring back the trauma, heightened reactivity to stimuli, anxiety or depressed mood

"PTSD does not always last forever, even without treatment. Sometimes the effects of PTSD will go away after a few months. Sometimes they may last for years —or longer. Most people who have PTSD will slowly get better, but many people will have problems that do not go away. Just like Layla Abd Al-Tunaij's, her own seems to have been there for a really long time. People with PTSD may avoid situations or people that remind them of the traumatic event, and they may have strong negative reactions to something as ordinary as a loud noise or an accidental touch.

"Does she flinch from loud noises or accidental touches?"

Zayd has been quiet trying to connect the dots of Layla's post traumatic stress disorder. Everything is slowly making sense while the puzzles are settled together in a perfect game. This somehow slipped his mind since he's met her. She's been acting weird or she is always weird.

And she does flinch to accidental touches and never even allow him to cuddle her whenever they finish their night adventure. He thought that was all part of her principle but then that is not the case at all. In the night, she's always trashing from left to right and if he touches her by mistake, she will hit his hand away from her body on instincts. Sometimes she'd reflexively slip away from him.

Fuck! This was right in front of him, the dots were there and traceable too but he couldn't do it at all.

"She does but not to loud noises, accidental touches." He answered with furrowed brows, trying to think whether she's ever flinched away from loud noise but he cannot recall any of that.

The doctor nodded her head and wrote something inside the file in front of her. She looked at him thoroughly, seeing right through his expression like the curious person she's always been. She is used to poking her nose into peoples lives because she's darn sure God sent her into his parents lives so he can be born. She is the root to all the love that's followed and she'd love to tell him that story now to calm him down but first things first.

"Are you by any chance in love with your wife? I mean, I'm just curious." She tilted her head, her eyes sharply studying him in a way that screams you shouldn't lie to me because I can see right through you.

Zayd raised a brow at her audacity but then remembered she knows his parents so she deserves that respect. "No, I am not in love with her. That is all you are going to know about our marriage so please don't ask further."

Dr. Mujida nodded her head in understanding. "Should I tell you an interesting story about your parents? It's really amazing."

Is there anything he doesn't know about his parents now? They always seize any opportunity given to them to tell him about their love life and how it all started from the scratch. The way they met at her college when he volunteered to pick her up, how she bullied innocent kids for her own pain then comes endometriosis and her father forcing the marriage on her. His father also refused to divorce her because he's promised not to and so on and so forth. He knows everything he needs to but why not her version?

"Sure. But is Layla awake?"

"Nope. She won't be for a while too." She swiveled on her chair playing with a jet black pen between her fingers. "Well your mother was my patient many years ago at this particular hospital. I'm very sure she doesn't know that I'm back in town or she would've invited me over and introduce us but that is beside the point. She had this disease, endometriosis and that too the last stage that needed surgery. Her father asked for other options and I told him it's marriage because intercourse helps with endometriosis more than anything.