The Marriage Counselor. (Woman x intersex)

sixty-eight.

I will update my other books shortly.

UNEDITED

chapter sixty-eight: soul detox.

"Stretch..stretch...good.." Rhea coached as Danielle let out a loud sob while stretching her hips open. They were doing trauma releases, Rhea stretching Danielle's body in ways she didn't know it could. She stretched her legs and arms, her back and joints cracking loudly when sudden waves of emotions flew through her body.

She was now stretching her hips, leaning her weight on one side of her body which shot a release through her body. Danielle's tears dripped down her sweaty face, Rhea smiling widely as she watched the woman fall apart.

"This shit hurts.." Danielle cried, sobbing louder as she moved her weight to the other side of her body, a loud pop filling the room followed by a loud groan and a fart.

"I'm so sorry. Jesus." Danielle sobbed now from embarrassment. Rhea just chuckled while releasing Danielle's leg from her hands and standing up. Danielle groaned and folded into child's pose, her lower back popping causing her to whimper.

"Good..good..you're doing so good..there's so much trauma stored in your body. It's all being released. Now it's time for the meditation. You're going to lay on your back. Do not be alarmed if you feel like you're floating. That's the point." Danielle obeyed, laying down on the yoga mat and shutting her eyes as her body started to relax.

The low humming of the chant that started to play in the background added to the floaty feeling that Danielle felt. She's never felt anything like this before, feeling as if she was outside of her body.

"Allow yourself to sink into your body. Feel every nerve, every octave. Feel every emotion, every tense feeling that you've been holding onto.." Danielle obeyed, allowing her feelings to bubble in the pit of her stomach. She whimpered quietly, Rhea sitting beside the older woman's head and watching as the different emotions flashed across her face.

"You've recently been through something traumatic. I see a scared little girl hiding in your shadow. Tell me..are you scared, Danielle?" Rhea's voice was gentle but the question felt like a stab in the gut. Danielle felt her body pressing into the ground as she suddenly felt heavy. It felt as if every single emotion she felt all year was sitting on top of her chest and rib cage, sucking the air out of her.

The way Nathaniel did.

"Y-yes." Danielle whispered quietly.

"Of what? Of who? Allow your feelings to speak. Don't think. Just let it flow through you. Imagine them surrounding you and you break them apart one by one." It didn't take long for Danielle's body to start trembling as she imagined exactly what Rhea said. It didn't help that she drank a hallucinogenic tea before this, Danielle vividly seeing everything she was afraid of in one room.

"Suffocating. He suffocated me. In front of my daughter." Danielle sniffed. She suddenly felt wetness, the memory of blood spilling from Nathaniel's neck and splashing onto her body. Her thoughts were racing, the high feeling intensifying as her body tensed.

"You'll be able to talk about it. To release it. For now..just feel. What did you feel like in that moment? When he was suffocating you?" Rhea asked quietly. Danielle swallowed hard, the feeling of panic starting to crawl up her chest when she felt a hand grab hers.

"It's okay..relax..come back to center..listen to my voice. This is to help you release. You don't want it to haunt you anymore, so you have to feel it in order to release it. What did you feel?" Danielle felt the sudden urge to scream, her chin quivering as she twisted her head around. She started to pant, his face flashing behind her eyelids causing her to sob quietly.

"Let it out. It's okay." Rhea coached, Danielle's sobs turning into loud wails and blood curling screams. She squeezed Rhea's hand and screamed. She screamed so loud that she scared herself but she couldn't stop. It was full of pain, her cries making Rhea's eyes fill with tears as she continued to squeeze her hand.

Danielle felt everything at once for the first time in a long time. Alfred's face flashed in her mind, then his alter ego Nathaniel. Then Hazel's face, then her mothers. Every single instance that hurt her for the last year filled her mind. She screamed until her voice was hoarse, Danielle panting as she tried to catch her breath. Her body was trembling, her throat sore as she suddenly felt lighter.

Then she started to cry.

"They hurt me so bad..they hurt me so bad and I can't do anything about it. Now I have blood on my hands and I can't shake the feeling that it's going to catch up to me. That I'll get karma for killing him because I didn't stop. And now I'm scared. I'm scared that Nour is going to leave me, I'm scared that after we get married if we do, he's going to change the way Alfred did. I'm scared that he's going to hurt me. I'm mad at my mom. I hate her. I hate her so much but I want nothing more than for her to love me. Now I'm scared I'm messing up my kids because of her. My dad is gay and doesn't want to tell me. I wanna have sex with Nour  but I'm scared that I'll see Alfred of Nathaniel or whatever his name is and freak out. I'm getting old. This is too much." Danielle sobbed after vocalizing everything that's been bothering her. Rhea nodded while rubbing Danielle's back after she sat up, the woman releasing every single emotion that hid inside of her.

"Good..you let all of that out. And then it's time to cleanse it away. Cry it out. Scream. Yell. Just release it because it's time."

"I keep seeing cats. Am I supposed to see cats?"
Danielle sniffed causing Rhea to laugh while patting the top of her head.

"There there. You're just a little high. It'll be okay. Let's give you that massage and get you back to your husband."