A Cry in the Park - A Bob's Burgers fanfic - by BobsBurgersStories1

A Cry in the Park - Part 15

Chapter 15

A couple of hours later, Louise had fallen asleep, when a doctor they hadn't seen before entered the room.

   "Hello, Mr and Mrs Belcher, my name's Dr Kettleman, and I specialise in child psychology," he shook their hands, gesturing for them to sit.

   "Are you here to talk to Louise?" asked Bob.

   "Well, I hope to in the future, but, right now, I just want to have a quick chat with you two, about what you might expect from her."

   "Like what?" Linda leaned forward slightly.

   "I believe Dr Cabell mentioned emotional trauma?" he asked, and the parents nodded. "It is very likely that she will suffer from that. It's too early to tell right now, and I don't want to make any formal diagnosis yet, but given what she's been through, it would be astounding if she came through mentally unscathed."

   "What is.. emotional trauma?" asked Bob.

   "In her case, there would be things like nightmares, flashbacks, trouble sleeping; she may be overwhelmed by certain fears, things like that. These are all perfectly normal things for her to experience. She may have some sort of anxiety, possibly when you leave her sight, and she may mentally regress a little bit, and become clingy. Again, it's all completely normal, so I don't want you to worry. From what I've seen, you seem to be a very supportive family, and that will be the most helpful thing."

Bob and Linda looked relieved.

   "So, we just keep doing what we're doing?" Linda clarified, and the doctor nodded.

   "Yes, and also remember to look after yourselves; it was a stressful time for you, too. If you feel worried, then please, talk to me. It's natural for you to feel overprotective of her now. You may have nightmares too, but again, it's all normal. I obviously wouldn't speak to her today; I don't want to overwhelm her."

   "I think she's too tired right now," said Linda, and Kettleman nodded.

   "That's fine. Would it be all right to see if I can speak to Louise in a week or two?" he suggested.

   "Well, if she wants to," said Bob slowly. "She's.. not very good at expressing her feelings," he admitted. "If she doesn't want to talk, then we're not gonna force her."

   "That's perfectly fine," nodded Kettleman. "Absolutely fine. If she decides she wants to talk -"

'She won't,' Bob thought, "then we can arrange something. If not, perhaps give her a little time to recover, and then try again?"

   "How come?"

   "It'll be a way for us to see how she's coping. It's very likely that she will struggle, and keeping support options open could be a big help."

   "Okay, we'll do that," said Bob, privately thinking that Louise would never breathe a word of it. "And, uh, we'll let you know."

   "No problem," the doctor rose, as did the parents. "It was nice to meet you." He nodded again.

   "Thank you so much, doctor," said Linda.

When he left, they resumed sitting, and they were silent. It was quite scary to think about how Louise could go through yet more trauma.

   "Well, we'll just have to help her," said Bob finally, as if in response to a question.

   "We can do that."

   "What's emotional trauma?" asked Gene. "Is Louise gonna be like I was when we found out Bruce Willis was dead the whole time?"

   "We don't know," said Bob honestly. "From what the doctor said, it's mainly bad dreams, and she might feel anxious."