Waiting Tables

Chapter 21 - Compliance

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks since Ashton had been sent to the psych facility. People had come and gone, there had been outbursts and meltdowns and revelations amongst the other patients, but Ashton didn't care. He just wanted to go home. 

He had his upteenth therapy session with just him and the psychiatrist. Like usual, she spoke for the first few minutes, urging him of the importance of therapy and how it might help him feel better (blah blah), then she left space open for him. Half the time had run down, and he couldn't take it anymore.

"I want to go home,"

She was surprised, just as he'd expected her to be when he opened his mouth suddenly. The woman sat forward, a hesitant smile on her face.

"Okay, Ashton, that's great. We want you to go home, too. But in order to do that, we're going to need some cooperation from you, okay?" he frowned. "I need you to participate, answer when we ask you questions. We need to go through some tough things that you probably won't want to talk about, and I don't blame you. But it must be done. Once I see a little progress, we can discuss you going home. So let's start small, how are you feeling right now?"

"I feel great. I think I'm over it, honestly, and I think I can go home."

She chuckled.

"That was a great try, Ashton, and I admire the enthusiasm," she crossed her leg and pursed her lips. "But it doesn't work like that. Can I be up front with you?" he nodded. If that was going to get him out of there, he wanted her to tell it straight. "You're going to need to tell me why you tried to hurt yourself. Once you can tell me about it and we work through some things, then we'll send you on your way. But only when we're confident enough you won't end up doing it again. You have to want to get better before anything works at all."

He was not going to talk about Carter. There was no way, not with the pictures he had over his head. He couldn't do it.

Ashton crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. So much for that. They couldn't keep him there forever, could they? Eventually they'd have to let him out.

"We have a little bit of time left, Ashton. This would be a good chance to prove to me that you're willing to make steps towards progress. Tell me one honest thing about yourself."

"My ex cheated on me, and I'm not willing to date people anymore because I'm worried everyone will do the same."

There, that was something. That was something real, it was actually kinda true, and she could use that. Maybe he could spin a whole thing about the relationship he had with Luke getting too close for comfort and he freaked out because it got too much.

Dr Andrea gasped, furiously scribbling on her paper.

"So since your ex, you've never been with another person?" That would explain why he doesn't like to be touched, she thought. He could have such a strong aversion to being close to people that he doesn't like being physically close to them either.

"No, I've had plenty of one night stands and all that. I only fuck them and leave, because then I don't have to worry about having my heart broken if it was never offered in the first place."

Dr Andrea's hand was flying over the page as she wrote stuff down, listening to the three sentences Ashton spoke like they were the words of god. She couldn't believe that after 2 weeks of nothing, she finally got him to speak.

"That's good, Ashton, I'm so incredibly proud of you for admitting all that! Seriously, I know that took a lot out of you, and I'm sure you're scared of rejection every time you encounter someone."