Third Person
"You found a therapist?" A little skeptical, and rightly so as Vito thought to himself, he looked at his brother across the table. They had dinner that evening and Josephine said that she had an appointment with her new psychologist tomorrow. "Have you checked his references?"
Domenico contented himself with a disparaging look and continued eating. "He has no criminal record, if that's enough of a reference for you. I thought that was a good start."
Valentino quickly lowered his head to hide his grin. It was hard to break Vito's patience, but Domenico always made it look so easy. He had mastered what his younger brothers had been despairing of for a long time and didn't even let it seem complicated. Matteo and Riccardo also followed the conversation with interest. Matteo's interest was more in the fact that, for the first time in this family, therapy was discussed openly and Riccardo just liked to see his eldest brothers in discord. Vito's brows seemed to emerge. "I strongly suspect you're joking."
"And you suspect wrong," replied Domenico. "Tiny agreed, so why should we stand in her way?"
He knew that he had checkmated Vito and Vito knew it too. Still, he was sure Josephine would have agreed to anyone they suggested. How could Domenico act so carelessly? Perhaps the psychologist was completely unsuitable. Maybe Josephine wanted a women instead! Female influence certainly wouldn't be wrong, after all she was only among men here. Had Domenico discussed this with her beforehand? "What time is the appointment?"
"At 10 a.m.," Josephine answered quietly and sipped the shake that Maria had made for her. Vito pulled out his cell phone and compared his calendar before typing the appointment in.
"I thought we weren't allowed to use cell phones during dinner or has that changed?" Valentino looked at him innocently. Josephine hid her irritation; She had often seen Domenico in particular with his cell phone at the table, but for him the rules seemed more like guidelines.
"Perché i miei genitori non potevano fermarsi dopo di me?" [Why couldn't my parents stop after me?], Vito murmured quietly.
"Because perfection takes practice. That's why I'm the youngest," Matteo answered confidently and received little encouragement from his brothers. Riccardo snorted contemptuously, Valentino punched him in his side and Domenico kicked his leg under the table.
"No, that's why we have Josephine now. No pressure, but the family's hope is now on you." Valentino winked at her. To no one's surprise, Josephine blushed and looked bashfully at her plate while Matteo said something derogatory to Valentino, which Vito immediately stopped. Eating together, Josephine had learned in the last few weeks, meant just as much to the Marini family as discussing things. It was never quiet.
___________
Bradford Jones was, to put it mildly, nervous about his next appointment. Although there was a certain amount of tension beforehand with every new patient, this time was different. The man on the phone had told him that it was urgent to start the sessions as early as possible, that and a few other things, but other than that only sparse information was given. He vaguely knew the reputation of the Marinis and he wasn't sure how to deal with it. Could he treat the girl the same way he treated his other patients? And what did urgent mean? An incident was stated, but the background to it was not explained further.
It was the same questions that had been bothering him ever since the call. His husband had said he should cancel the appointment, but Bradford doubted this family could be canceled so easily. Especially when it came to a member of the family. His eyes fell on the clock again. They would be there soon if they were on time. As a precaution, he had scheduled the following appointment during his lunch break, just in case it took longer, but they were indeed punctual to the minute.
The office of Dr. Jones was in one of the high-rise buildings that were built around the turn of the millennium and Vito noticed that it wasn't particularly big either. Actually it only consisted of an anteroom, a bathroom, probably a storage room and the actual office. There were lots of plants and a pleasant light, which with the colors of the walls made it unexpectedly cozy and inviting. Nevertheless, Vito was still not sure that he had made the right choice. Dr. Jones was undoubtedly competent and had years of experience in trauma therapy, but he was less qualified than other psychologists. In addition, he actually only treated adults and not young people. But he kept his doubts for Josephine's protection to himself. She was already very tense and Vito was glad that she had agreed at all.
Josephine was indeed nervous. She had spent most of the night debating whether it was a good idea or not and until this moment she didn't have a final opinion. It seemed unrealistic to her that a stranger could understand her and even help her, especially because she brought with her so many problems. And what if he said she was beyond help? What should she do then? So lost in her thoughts, she didn't even notice how they were no longer alone.
Bradford knew the moment he saw her that urgent meant urgent after all. The girl, who looked younger than she actually was, hadn't noticed him yet and so he was able to examine her briefly. She was shockingly thin, her eyes staring blankly at a picture on the wall. His first thought was possible anorexia, but it was just a thought that he quickly pushed away. Smiling, he held out his hand to her. "Hello Josephine, it's nice to meet you."
Startled, Josephine jumped when she heard her name and saw first the hand and then the man it belonged to. He was probably in his mid-forties, slim but untrained and had blonde hair that was slowly turning gray. The ring on his finger suggested that he was married. Was that good or bad?
"Hello," she said quietly and hesitantly shook her hand.
"Thank you for finding an appointment so quickly. Unfortunately, the circumstances required an unconventional approach, but I hope this will not have an impact on Josephine's treatment." Vito also shook the man's hand, who didn't miss the subtle threat.
Bradford decided to just smile and nod. "Of course. Josephine, would you prefer if the two of us spoke alone first or all three of us?"
To the two men's surprise, Josephine wished to speak with Dr. Jones. However, it wasn't of her sudden confidence or comfort, but rather with the fact that topics might come up she didn't want Vito to know about. She had informed herself: as long as Vito was not her guardian, he was legally not allowed to look into her health files. She just had to make sure that Dr. Jones wouldn't document everything. Just. Josephine had no idea how she was going to do it.
Nervously, she followed the psychologist and looked one last time at Vito, who smiled encouragingly at her. "I'll be right out here. If you need me, all you have to do is call, okay?"
"Okay. Thank you." Josephine closed the door and looked around the room. It was similarly furnished as the anteroom, but to her relief there was a wall of windows from which she could see the city. Even though the room was smaller, it didn't feel as cramped. In the room there was space for a desk, a bookshelf, two armchairs that stood at a 135° angle to each other and countless plants.
Bradford leaned against his desk and watched her reaction. Was it a conscious behavior to look for escape routes from the room or did she do it unconsciously? She just discovered the photo of him and his husband. He noticed with interest how she seemed to relax a little. "This is my husband. He's a botanist, which is why all these plants are here. Would you like to sit down?"
Josephine shyly took a seat on the armchair that was closer to the door. Bradford sat down next to her, folded his hands and looked at her kindly. Josephine looked at his hands in surprise. She had expected him to have something to write with, but that wasn't the case. "May I ask you something?"
"Of course. That would be a very one-sided conversation if only one person was allowed to ask something and after all, this is a meeting to get to know each other," replied Dr. Jones smiling.
"Aren't you going to write down what I say?"
Bradford laughed. "I know I have gray hair, but my memory still works quite well. I find it distracting to take notes during conversations, which doesn't mean that I don't write anything down. For myself, I just find it easier in the end in peace to write down what came up in the conversation."
Josephine's cheeks turned red as she looked at her hands in shame. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. And I'm sorry you were forced to meet me."
"The way we came together has no impact on your right for help. It takes a lot of strength and insight to realize that you need help and for that alone you have my greatest respect,", Dr. Jones reassured der and waited a moment before continuing. "What can I help you with?"
Josephine nervously pulled her sleeves over her hands. How was she supposed to start? "What we're discussing is confidential, right? I know that Vito can be informed if he's my guardian, but he doesn't have to know everything, right?"
Bradford frowned thoughtfully. He began to have an inkling of what brought them here. "Do you know that I usually only look after adults? The legal situation is clear: no one is allowed to know anything unless the patient explicitly agrees or there is a risk of whatever kind. It's a little different for minors, but I can explain to Mr. Marini why I would like to do the same for you in order to build a trustful relationship. The exception, however, is if I have the impression that you are in danger. Then I am obliged to inform your guardian or the CPS. Do you agree to that?"
She thought about it and finally nodded. What he said made sense and perhaps the worst could be avoided. "I am, thank you very much." Josephine hesitated. "I don't know where to start."
"Well, either at the beginning or with what concerns you most. That's entirely your decision."
So she started talking. She talked about her parents, her foster family, the time on the streets, the sleep problems and the panic attacks. She didn't say a lot of things, like the flashbacks and what they were about, she just hoped that Dr. Jones didn't notice.
He did notice. He had worked with too many victims of abuse to not notice the signs, but he said nothing about it. It was her life and she had the right to decide what to reveal and when. Bradford now understood what was meant by urgent. In front of him sat a teenager who had to grow up too early, but who didn't want to give up on herself. In fact, that was exactly why he was optimistic. If she didn't want to give up on herself, then no one else should either.
Josephine fell silent. Except for a few questions, Dr. Jones didn't interrupt her and she was surprised at how much she had said. What did he think of her now? Did he think she was a hopeless case and would reject her? Maybe she should have said less? She looked at him worriedly, but nothing on his face suggested what he was thinking.
A few seconds passed without anything being said. Then Dr. Jones took a breath. "Before we discuss anything else, I would like to ask you one thing, Josephine, and this time it is important to me that you be honest." He looked at her expectantly and she nodded quickly. "Do you have thoughts of hurting yourself or ending your life?"
"I didn't survive just to end it now.", she said hasher than intended.
"One could argue that putting a gun to one's head and pulling the trigger could count as a suicide attempt."
'Oh, so he does know that.', she thought but resolutely looked him in the eyes for the first time. "One could argue that up until then I had just escaped."
Hello there,
how are you all doing?
I don't know what happened since the last chapters but hello to so many new readers! I'm glad you found my little story :-)
To all my 'old' readers: I am really sorry for taking so long! It wasn't intended.
The end scene is one of my key scenes I really want to include. Feels refreshing to delete it from my list.
See you soon 🌹