ASHLEY'S POV
It's been a week since Danny came home and we have our first therapy sessions today doctor Evans said she needs a half hour to evaluate all of us so she can work on the best family based approached as well as the best individual approaches , everyone is a little nervous for today especially Asher, Danny told me about his hands and needless to say i was very worried about it so i went to talk to the football coach and he said that Asher was fine one minute and the next he was going at the punching bag like his life depended on it. I tried to talk to him about it but he just says he doesn't know what happened and in a sense i believe him but there is a little voice in the back of my mind telling me that there is more to the story and he just doesn't want to say anything which makes me all the more happy we decided to get therapy for all of us i mean if he won't tell me at least he will be telling someone and everything we say has to be kept confidential between ourselves and doctor Evans.
As we pulled into the parking lot at doctor Evans office i looked at Asher in the mirror he seemed slightly agitated and that concerned me we didn't force any of them to be here we had a long talk as a family and we all agreed to coming to therapy just to help us work through some of our issues . We got out of the car and i grabbed Danny's hand as we made our way inside the office we were met with her receptionist and sat down on the chairs waiting for her to finish u in her office before getting one of us to go in with her and talk for a while. After a few minutes she stepped outside followed by another woman they said goodbye and the woman left her eyes fell on us and she smiled lightly.
"Asher would you like to go first?" she asked and he nodded and shrugged getting up following her inside the office
ASHER'S POV
I sat down on the chair in front of her desk and she sat down in front of me clearing her throat grabbing a note pad and a pen.
"So Asher i'm going to ask you some questions and i want you to answer them honestly for me please can you do that?" i nodded and she smiled clicking her pen before she spoke.
"How have you been feeling lately?"
"I don't know i've been a little more sad than i usually am and i don't sleep to well most nights " i answered and she nodded writing it down.
"Do you have nightmare's?"
"I do"
"What about?"
"It's mostly a reoccurring nightmare"
"Okay tell me about it, our dreams can tell us a lot about what we truly feel"i nodded ad took a deep breath.
"Well it starts off pretty normal like every other morning we spend together as a family but everything and everyone looks different, Hazel is a lot skinnier it looks like she still struggles with her ED and my moms seem distant from each other where they would normally be all smiley and loving towards each other they seem distant and cold" i stopped for a moment but she signaled for me to continue.
"Then mom turns to us and tells us that she and momma are getting divorced and then it gets quiet like the scary kind of quiet then Hazel turns to me and asks me to help her and all of the sudden they're all hanging off of a cliff and i'm being forced to choose who i want to save and who i want to allow to die and i always wake up before i get the chance to choose" i finished and she wrote it all down before she looked up at me again.
"Do you often feel like it's your job to protect the people in your family?"
"Of course they're my family i would give my life for them" i answered ad she smiled.
"When Danny went missing did you blame yourself?"
"I did because i'm supposed to protect them all of them " i answered and swallowed the lump in my throat.
"How do you deal with your anger Asher ?" she asked and i immediately put my hands in my pockets.
"I don't know really i play football so that helps a lot "i answered and she nodded.
'Alright that's all i need from you for know could you please send your little brother in for me ?" i nodded and got up walking outside telling Elijah it was his turn.
I sat down next to momma and she put her hand on my knee squeezing it reassuringly.
That's pretty much how our morning went all of us took turns to go in and explain and answer questions and we left at around noon and went home. i sighed as i laid down on my bed i felt tired mainly because i haven't been sleeping too well but also because this morning really took a lot out of me. I closed my eye and just laid there for a while, i felt my bed dip and someone pressed a kiss to my temple by the smell of their perfume i could tell it was Momma.
"I love you monkey man" she whispered, i used to love it when she called me that when i was little so hearing it now really made me feel good, it made my heart feel a little lighter in my chest , i drifted off into a much needed sleep as momma played with my hair i think she knows i'm not asleep but she doesn't seem to mind , maybe this whole therapy thing isn't such a bad idea after all.
