Chapter 49:
“Senna, I need your opinion on something.” I’m in another session with Becca and Caden, and as usually I hadn’t been paying attention. Jerking my head up and looking at her, I quirk my eyebrows questioningly, waiting for her to talk.
“Which phobia of yours would you like to work on next? I mean, these sessions are to help you whether you believe so or not. So do you have any preference? I think we’ve been making good headway…” She finally looks up from the papers in her hands, and smiles at me. “Therefore, I need to know.”
Surprise me.
She seems a little shocked by that response and I nearly smile at how wide her eyes get. I honestly have no preference to what problem they decide to work on next, because I wouldn’t even know where to start either. I suppose they can just pick and choose what to work on for now… that way it won’t get too monotonous. And I won’t be expecting whatever new therapy they have for me…
“Senna are you sure?!” Caden’s voice weeds its way into my thoughts and I glance at him, and then roll my eyes, choosing to ignore his worries. Instead, I gather up my notepad and pen, and signal to Becca that I believe the session is over. Her eyes are still a little wide and she nods slightly.
As I leave the room, I can feel her eyes on my back, following me out. Now all I have to do is sit and wait to see what she decides to do. It takes me a few minutes once I’m out of her office to realize that I don’t have a little puppy following me, as I usually do.
Turning around, I look down the hallway, almost expecting to see Caden there, leaving Becca’s office as well. But nope, he isn’t there, and after a few confused moments, it dawns on me. He’s not following me because he’s still in Becca’s office, discussing what they should do to me next.
Groaning internally, I can’t help but stomp down the hallway towards the stairs, and then continue stomping all the way to my room. Once there, I decide I need a moment of relaxation, so I drop my notebook and paper on the bed and grab some clean clothes, about to head off for the bathroom.
As I walk back down the hallway towards said bathroom, I start to wonder what it would be like to actually be cured or whatever the proper word for it is. Would I actually be able to get out of here and go live a normal life? How different is it in the real world than being stuck in here all day? I’m sure it would be a pretty drastic change…
But on the plus side -I take an assessing glance at the clothes in my hands- I’d get to pick out whatever clothes I wanted to wear. Not some standard issue junk handed out by a doctor behind a counter.
I’m not really sure how long I spend in the shower, but eventually the water starts to run a little colder and I decide it’s time to get out. It doesn’t take me long to get toweled off and get wrapped up in new clothes… however I make a point of taking a long time to get back to my room. Probably because well, I knew Caden was going to be waiting for me.
Sure enough, as soon as I enter the room, my eyes are drawn to the boy on my bed. He looks up from the papers in his hands as soon as I walk in, and a huge smile spreads across his face. Blushing slightly, I run a hand through my still-wet hair and then take a seat next to him.
His eyes go back to the paper in his hands, a move that inadvertently draws my eyes to it too. At first I’m a little confused as to what it is, but I do notice that my name is stamped across the top, along with a bunch of medical crap. From there, I scan down the page until I get to the list taking up the middle, and finally I realize what it is.
‘That’s a list of my phobias!’
I write and show Caden, waving my notebook in front of his face until he grabs it from me to make me stop. When he sees what I’ve written, he hands it back and nods.
“Yes, that’s exactly what it is. Becca gave me a copy so I can look it over and help her come up with a decision as to what to treat for you next. And NO I’m not going to tell you what I decide, before you even begin to ask.” His voice is playful yet stern and I frown scooting away from him. I have to admit that stung a little, but I do understand. I’d asked for it to be a surprise.
Eventually the slight insulted feeling goes away, and I scoot closer to him again, quietly doodling in my notebook as he mumbles to himself. Being in his company calms me down and for some reason, his low voice starts to lull me to sleep.
That peaceful environment is ruined, however, when the dinner bell rings and jolts me out of what was about to be a nice nap. Groaning internally, I pout and throw my notebook on the floor in a fit of childish rage, but hurry to pick it back up and follow after Caden as he leaves the room.
On the way to the cafeteria, Caden can’t seem to stop laughing at me. Each time he looks at me, it seems like he just can’t help but start chuckling once more. And every time he does, my face flushes and I really just want to hold my notebook up to my face so that he can’t see.
“Oh, Senna, you are too much. So adorable…” He murmurs as we get our food and sit down at our table. That last bit was nearly too soft for me to hear, but my ears catch it and I nearly start to blush again. However, I pretend not to notice what he said, and instead start to shove whatever tonight’s dinner of choice is, not that I’d paid any attention to what was on the menu.
***
Later that night, after dinner when Caden and I are back in my room, we stay up for a while and just… talk. Of course I’m not talking, but even so… it’s almost as if I really am talking to him. He doesn’t ever seem to mind having to wait for me to write something down in response, as some people do. And he actually does keep up a conversation with me about how I am, and how I thought today went, things like that.
It’s really, really nice to feel… normal. Well, as normal as being mute could be.
***
Hope you liked it.
Sorry for the late update! I’m going to try to make regular updates on the weekends, most likely Saturday.
Does that sound like a good idea to you guys?
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-Lexi