Therapist, Audrey Edwards, has a new client. She's worked with ex-soldiers before, but none quite as intriguing as the enigmatic James Buchanan Barnes.
"i found love
where it wasn't supposed to be,
right in front of me."
- I Found, Amber Run.
Sl...
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"give me love, the human kind." - Humankind, Reuben And The Dark & AG
☾
I've come to love Mondays, but today, I walk to my office full of nerves and it makes me feel reminiscent of my first day with James.
But this is a different kind of nerves today.
I've felt sick to the stomach since last Monday.
The regime and amends list James has been instructed to follow, now more than ever, is not sitting right with me.
He is not getting the proper closure from his efforts. He is suffering.
At first I thought, I'm just a tiny little nobody amongst all this legal, government jargon. There's nothing I can say or do. But I cannot sit by any longer. I have to say something.
To truly help James, I have to be one hundred percent honest with him. I have to do better. I have to do right by him when so many others have not.
He's been doing so well. He's been opening up to me. Dare I go as far to say, he's trusting me?
How can I willingly try to gain his trust, if I'm not completely honest with him?
Screw the government.
He's been through enough.
James walks in and gets seated, removing Steve's journal from his jeans pocket so he can sit more comfortably.
I don't want to tell him straight off the bat and lose a session. So we spend the session discussing his time at war, back in the early forties.
He talks about it openly and looks back on it healthily. It doesn't seem to have a harsh hold on him, which is good. It seems his memories of Steve overpower the dread of the war.
Considering it was eighty years ago and he's been through so much more since, it makes sense.
As our time draws to an end, my stomach is back in knots, ten fold.
I let out a deep exhale, in preparation for the blow I'm about to deliver.
"Well, James, we're nearly halfway through your assigned therapy." I announce with a forced smile. "I'm sure you're happy about that?"
"Ecstatic." he states bluntly, making me chuckle.
His attitude has surprisingly grown on me and is expected now.
"I'm very pleased with our progress so far and I appreciate you opening up to me. You're doing well. I'm very proud of you."
His eyes soften at my words.
Damn.. Time for the parting gift.
"..My goal is not just to get you through you court appointed regime, but to actually, sincerely, help you." I start.
