Keefe's hair 101

20th (Sophie)

Sophie

Sophie cried into Keefe's bloodstained shirt.

That was after Fitz ran away.
That was after Fitz got caught.
That was after the officer came back, and stood there with a shocked expression.
That was after he hurriedly unlocked Sophie's handcuff, the one Fitz had put on her bandaged hand.

That was all before Sophie called, asked, pleaded, commanded, begged for Keefe to say something- do anything- anything at all to show he was alright.

And now is the time she gave up, and cried into his shirt. It smelled of blood, and it gave Sophie nausea. But she didn't care as her tears made slightly clean lines through it.

Everything felt like a dream. Not real.
Not again.

Suddenly, Keefe let out the most quiet groan.
He was still here.
He coughed the blood out of his mouth, over the table. It didn't make any difference- it was already covered in his blood. He kept coughing and coughing. Sophie patted his back, with a new warmth towards him.
What did it mean? She didn't know.
What she did know was that Keefe needed to get medical attention immediately.
Sophie fumbled for her phone, nearly dropping it in her hastiness.

Keefe stopped coughing, and groaned his silent groan. His head went onto the table, to rest, right in the pool of blood. Sophie winced slightly.

Calling an ambulance gave Sophie flashbacks from before. The memories were bad... Sophie wondered why she isn't mentally unstable like Keefe...
Another memory occurred, a different one, the one when Keefe and her were trapped after an earthquake.
That was a good memory.

Keefe was still injured in that one, but not as badly.
The memory was awkward, comfortable, dark, light, sad, happy... perfect.

Sophie snapped out of her faze and told the receptionist, at the hospital, everything.

It took multiple lifetimes until they got there. It was actually very fast, but Sophie was impatient.

Finally, Keefe and Sophie were in the back of the ambulance. The paramedic instructed Sophie what to do to help. "Cut his shirt open- there might be some damage."
Sophie cut the shirt carefully, and realised he already had bandages around his torso. "That'll have to be rewrapped," the paramedic noted, the bandages being stained a dark red.
Those bandages must've been there since last time... Sophie thought.

"Sophie?"
That had came out of Keefe's mouth. The word sounded slurred; disjointed.
Sophie looked at Keefe's face, and noticed his eyes were slightly open and looking at her. Except in an unfocused fashion.
"Yes, it's me Keefe. You're going to be alright."
Keefe gave a half-hearted smile, except it turned into a grimace.
He was in pain.

The ambulance medic knocked him out.

"You did a good job," the medic congratulated. Sophie didn't smile, though.
She didn't know if Keefe would actually be alright. He was already mentally unstable- what else could happen?
Shell-shock only happened to soldiers in war... right?

"Will he be ok?"
The nurse smiled sadly. "Small chance of that. I reckon he might develop PTSD, after three months."

PTSD. Post-traumatic stress disorder. A disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.
Keefe has experienced 2 of all the factors of an event.

"No," Sophie sobbed. "What happens to them?"
"Well, there is a chance he will recover from it... after 6-12 months? Only, he could have a co-occurring condition which could be... depression or other anxiety disorders."
"But, what are the symptoms?!" Sophie cried.
"Oh," the paramedic looked thoughtfully at Keefe. "Well: Re-experiencing: flashbacks, dreams of the event, distressing thoughts, signs of stress. Thoughts, and feelings trigger those ones. That's one. Do you want more?"

Sophie sobbed, "yes!"
"Do you want me to write them down?" The paramedic asked.
"...no...yes! Both?"
"Alright. Number 2: Avoidance.
This includes: staying away from places, events or objects that remind the subject of the traumatic experience. Avoiding thoughts or feelings that relate to the traumatic experience. These ones causes a change to routines. Or make the subject really scared to do normal things, like drive/ride a car.

"Third: Arousal and reactivity.
This means: startling easily. Being tense, on guard or on edge. Difficulty concentrating. Difficulty sleeping or staying awake. Feeling irritable, or having angry, or aggressive outbursts. Engrossing in risky, reckless or destructive behaviour. These disrupt sleeping, eating or concentrating.

"Alright. Fourth. You ready?" Sophie nodded, although she wasn't. The paramedic was writing it down as she talked. Suddenly the doors opened and Keefe was taken out. Apologetic, the nurse said she will tell the rest later.

Sophie waited in the waiting room, actually patient for once. The paramedic from before came back, this time having clean clothes and a name tag. Her name was: Rhea.
Wasn't rhea a type of emu? Doesn't matter. Rhea had blonde hair, dark at the roots and sparkling blue eyes. She looked tired.
"Good news," she smiled wearily. "Keefe will make it."
"Bad news?" Sophie asked.
"There is none."
"C'mon you don't fool me. What is it?" Sophie insisted.
"Bad news... he will be bedridden for 2 months..."
"I knew it," Sophie frowned.
"It's not that bad."
"Yeah, well, he could develop PTSD!" Sophie shouted, ignoring the stares from everyone else. Rhea looked around and commanded Sophie to come into her office.
"Do you want me to continue-"
"Yes," Sophie interrupted.
"Alright," Rhea sighed. "Fourth symptom: cognition and mood. Trouble remembering key parts of the traumatic experience."
Sophie remembered Keefe struggling in the questioning. Was that from the other experience? "Having negative thoughts of themselves or the world," Rhea continued. "Exaggerated feelings of blame to another or of oneself. Ongoing negative emotions, such as... fear, anger, guilt or shame. Losing interest in enjoyable activities. Having feelings of social isolation. Difficulty feeling positive emotions, like happiness or satisfaction. These symptoms can either worsen or begin after the event, causing the subject to feel detached from family or friends."
Rhea examined Sophie. "You okay? That's all of them." She handed Sophie the piece of paper with the words Sophie hated so much. Sophie took it. "Thank you," Sophie said, not answering if she was okay.

And Sophie was not okay.

She realised that... Keefe might've already had PTSD.

Maybe not ALL the symptoms. But some of them.
Would it get worse now that he had endured another traumatic event?

Look at the pictures on the top. Can you guess what the bird is?
Also: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd#:~:text=Post%2Dtraumatic%20stress%20disorder%20(PTSD)%20is%20a%20disorder%20that,%2C%20scary%2C%20or%20dangerous%20event.