Ghosts of War | CoD - MW

Chapter 7.

Kimberly settled down in the soft leather chair, looking around the office. Most of the furniture was brown, the room clean and open. It was nice and a bit too calming. She brought her eyes back to the woman in front of her, studying her face.

The psychiatrist had black wavy hair, brown eyes and seemingly in her 50's. The way Kimberly couldn't read any emotion off of her made her curious. This woman was like a closed door. Perhaps a part of her job.
-"Now, would you like to tell me why we're here today?" Dr. Ellis asked, looking down on her empty paper. She held the pen lightly in her hand, awaiting the girl's answer. The woman had used quite some time reading Kimberly's file, but there was something missing from it.

-"Well, my teammates figured I would need clearance, given the things I've been through in recent years," Kimberly said, tying her hands together with her fingers.
-"Okay. Can you talk a little about yourself and the things you have been through?"

-"I... Uh, well. I was born in Scotland... soon 24 years ago. When I turned 8, day of my birthday, my parents split and my dad brought me over to America since he had to work," Kimberly began, uncertain of how to explain everything to the doctor.
-"How was your relationship between your family at the time?"

-"My mother and I would argue a lot. I would test her patience and defy her orders, making a mess all the time. I did so to gain her attention, since she liked my brother more. My older brother of 2 years, well, we were like cat and mouse. My father was the sweetest man at the time, when he and my mother were good," Kimberly said, thinking back to the simple childhood she used to have. It was every childs dream, until it all fell apart and became her own personal hell.

-"How did it make you feel then, leaving everything you knew at 8 years old?"
Kimberly looked down at her hands, noticing that she had begun spinning her ring. She was getting nervous talking about this. She would have to open up to a stranger.

-"It was hard. My father got really mad after my mother broke up, and he would blame me because I was the troublemaker. It was manageable for a while, but after 6 months he got hurt when he led a mission in... Afghanistan. He worked in the army, but enemies bombed his squad. It was supposed to be a quick in and out, and he was the only survivor, but he hurt his head after the accident and weren't ever the same," Kimberly said, thinking back. She had to think before she spoke, afraid to get something wrong in the timeline. She didn't want things to sound too bad either. She needed to get cleared, and that as soon as possible.

-"What happened then, after he got hurt?"
-"He was forced to retire. John Price, a good friend of his who used to take care of me, would come visit often, but my father would eventually always chase him out. Price used to be my idol, and he was very kind to me. He still is my idol, honestly. My father didn't like the idea of me joining the army, so he did what he could to stop me and my dreams, but it never worked, as we might see."

-"What did he do to try and stop you?"
Kimberly looked over at the psychiatrist, meeting her brown eyes. Ellis was studying the girls body language, trying to tie together the pieces. Kimberly hesitated, aware that this was where the real evaluation would begin. Ellis could see the obvious discomfort on the girls face.

-"The question should be what he didn't do. I... He would yell and scream at me, hit me, lock me out throughout the nights, make threats. He really didn't want me to become what he had become, so he tried to show me how bad it was in the army. Cold nights, war, blood and insane people. He only wanted to protect me, but the damages he had taken changed his entire personality. He would never hit me, never even cuss at me. He refused to have Price over eventually because of me, he refused me to have friends and, yeah. Never gave up trying to convince me how a soldier's life would be and why I should stay away."