The Light to his Darkness (Mafia Romance) {18+}

Chapter 12 - New Beginnings

(a/n i wrote 12 chapters in 1 week 😭...30k words/65 pages)

Lauren's POV

**Tuesday **

After my Child Development class, i was energized and ready to start my day at work . Working at this clinic actually brought me joy - even if my patients weren't always children. I had connections with all of my patients , especially Milo .

Milo - whom i saw twice a week for an hour- was my first patient and we've worked perfectly together for over 2 years. Milo was a middle aged man diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (also known as Multiple personality disorder) . He was a system of 6 and had problems with depersonalization/ a blurred sense of reality . He once described it to me as living in a dreamlike state and would frequently come back to consciousness , lost in random places .

Our current goal with Milo is understanding his personalities and documenting their traits so that we can find a way for him to move through the world safely .

Each identity of Milo has different attributes, roles and even physical appearances, making it pretty easy to know who exactly i was talking to at the moment .

In front of me , a 45 year old female , Ms.Venable , sat with her legs crossed and her hands folded neatly on her legs . Ms.Venable always wore black long skirts/dresses with minimal jewelry and always had a beauty mark next to her lip . She had been the first identity of Milo documented and served as the primary protector .

"Dr.Coldwell, Pleasure to see you again" she said. Her back was straight and she always spoke with a sharp tongue .
"You as well , it's been a while . How have you been?"

Ms.Venable scooted forward and sighed deeply
"I am surrounded by Idiots"she says rolling her eyes and picking her nails boredly .

I know we aren't really supposed to say this but Ms.Venable was my favorite. She was a no nonsense - strict women who will protect the system at all cost . I loved that about her , aside from her sassy attitude.

i chuckled at her distaste for people

"Why don't you start by telling me how your week went"
Milo has suffered through some abuse in his adolescence resulting in this diagnosis. His multiple identities formed as a coping mechanism for his pain but he didn't get officially diagnosed until a few years ago . So far their progress with me has been insurmountable and i am very proud of how far we've come .

I knew all 6 of his identities and they all ranged from having different genders , ages , sexual orientations and even spoken languages.

"We can't decide on dating. One person wants to date a girl , another doesn't want to date at all , one is a freaking child , and all the others are too anxious about finding a person who would want to date a system of 6"
Very valid problem to have .

"And what do you want Ms.Venable" i countered . While i definitely understood the issue , i wanted her to get in the habit of talking about herself .
"I don't have time for dating" she replied in disgust
"Why not ?" i ask curiously

"Because things don't get done when you sit down . There's too much to be done and i don't have time to entertain some sad sack when i have my own problems"

establish personal boundaries

i wrote down in my notepad
"Do you think that you deserve a connection with someone just as much as anyone else?"

"i suppose - but i have a hard time already keeping up with all 6 of us . I couldn't possible keep up with a relationship too . Yesterday Toby decided to take control in the middle of the supermarket and he ran around with a box of opened fruit lops . They almost called the police on us !"