𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇- spencer reid ✔️

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

"𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐖𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐊𝐄, 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐀?" Dr. Patel questioned, leaning back in the cushioned armchair with her notebook resting on her knee. No matter how many times Celia found herself in this office, it never seemed to get any easier for her. Celia shrugged, unsure of how to answer the question. How was she? It wasn't a simple question to answer. There were so many layers to unpack, so many things to take into consideration. She could say "I'm fine" but that would feel like a lie. She hadn't been fine for close to a year now (almost to the date). Instead, she opted to say, "Not sure. The same, I guess."

"I see," Dr. Patel said thoughtfully. "The last time you were here, you'd expressed that you'd been having trouble sleeping at night due to nightmares. Is that still the case?" Celia nodded, hoping that the concealer under his eyes was enough to prevent her therapist from seeing just how much of a toll her exhaustion was taking on her. The one-year anniversary of her grandfather and her parents death was coming up quickly, and Celia found it increasingly difficult to try and pretend like everything was okay. "Have the nightmares been recurring?"

"Sometimes," she admitted reluctantly. For someone who was usually so talkative, Celia found herself much more quiet whenever she came here. She was under the impression that it would make her more willing to talk, but she could never seem to string together more than a few sentences whenever she was here. "They're not always the same," she told her. "Sometimes... Sometimes, it's just something that starts off normal, and then it's like I turn around and everything's not normal anymore." She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she was going to have to explain everything in great detail.

The other night, Celia had a dream that she was at a fashion show, and she had assumed it was a normal day until she saw her parents walk across the runway, their clothes stained with blood. The crowd cheered as though they assumed it was intentional, but Celia was frozen in place, unable to move, even after they stood at the end of the runway, looking her right in the eyes. They looked to be wearing the same clothes from the funeral, and they seemed unaware of the fact that they were bleeding out before her eyes. When she'd wake up from the dream, Celia couldn't seem to stop shaking, feeling uncomfortable due to the sheen of cold sweat that had covered her entire body.

"And sometimes, it's like I'm re-living through certain things, except I'm stuck in this...limbo where I can't seem to escape it," she added. For a few months, Celia had managed to get it under control, but with the anniversary coming up, it seemed like her mind was keen on making her remember everything that she'd gone through in the last twelve months.

"Your parents anniversary is coming up soon, if I remember correctly," she started, and Celia tried to hide her apprehension. She wasn't sure that she was ready to talk about this just yet. "It's completely normal for patients to experience a heightened emotional response, or to relive aspects of a traumatic event around an anniversary." Celia knew that, she'd heard it all before, except she didn't need to pay her therapist to tell her that. Not when she had her own encyclopedia who was more than happy to educate her on the matter. Dr. Patel glanced at Celia knowingly as she processed her words. It was almost as though she could sense her hesitation, but Celia supposed it was all a part of her job. "I understand that it might not be easy to discuss this, Celia, but let me remind you that these sessions are for you to explore those emotions at your pace. However, I can't help you, Celia, if you're not honest with me."

"A lot can change in a year," Celia told her. She nervously fiddled with the ring on her finger, tracing her thumb over her family's crest engraved into the metal. "I know things now that I didn't know back then, but there's still so much I don't know. Questions that I won't ever have answers to because the three of them are gone."