Winning the Lottery

Ch. 18 Therapy

"I had a baby."

Their eyes widened. They gasped, "What?!"

"Oh, sorry. I meant, I had a baby as in a patient. I was monitoring him all morning. I'm finished now, though, so I'll go with Jake," I spoke.

They relaxed.

"Okay. Let's go," I smiled.

Jake led me to the psychiatric department, where he signed in.

We sat down in the waiting room.

"You didn't tell me you had an appointment today," I murmured.

"Sorry. I knew you were busy. It was easier to have Mom page you."

I nodded.

"Hamilton?" a woman called.

Jake stood.

I followed suit and followed him down a hallway.

We went into a room with a brown chair and a red couch. There were weird plants in the window and psychology books lining the shelves of a bookcase. It looked like a typical therapist's office.

"Please, have a seat," she spoke.

Jake and I sat on the couch.

She sat down. "James, I see you brought someone with you today."

"Yes, this is my girlfriend, Dr. Bridget Malone. Britt, this is Dr. Richards," Jake spoke.

"Nice to meet you," I spoke.

"You too." She turned to Jake. "This is a big step."

"It is, but I hurt her. I had a nightmare and I hurt her."

"Do you remember what you'd saw? she asked him.

"I was on a battlefield and I was trying to help my best friend, but no one would help me. They didn't help and he was dying," Jake spoke.

She wrote it down. "How did you hurt Dr. Malone?"

"I was having the nightmare and I guess I hit her, tried to choke her."

She looked at me.

I nodded. "He woke, screaming, so I jtried to wake him up."

She nodded and wrote something down. "She stayed the night?"

"Yes."

"Does she do that often?"

"Only the past couple nights."

"There was no problem this morning?"

Jake looked at me.

I shook my head. "No, nothing happened this morning."

She wrote it down. "Okay. Did something happen the other day that would have triggered a flare?"

"She was discharged, but that's about it," Jake spoke.

"Discharged? Did something happen?"

"I was shot. Jake was there every step of the way," I spoke, taking his hand.

He smiled at me and stole a quick kiss. He turned to Dr. Richards. "This is why I need your help. I need this. I need her. To have her means I need to find a way to ease the terrors."

She nodded. "With the shooting, how did you feel?"

"She was after Britt. I was terrified. I held her in a bathroom floor, because I wanted her to be safe. I didn't want her to know what it feels like to be shot. I didn't want her to have the aftermath."