Dog Days

Chapter 51

As Doctor Banner shows me into his office, he asks "Would you like coffee? Maybe tea?"

I clear my throat as I begin to look over the room "Water?"

He steps towards his mini fridge, next to his desk, as he asks "Room temp or cold?"

I furrow my brow and state "Room temp."

The room has the same ceiling as the waiting room. The flooring is this terrible grey carpet, but he's covered almost every square inch with different old rugs. The wall is the same beige color, only he has hung a mirror on one wall, a few paintings hang on the walls. All abstract.

There's a massive bookshelf on one wall, that's so full that he's had to get another bookshelf for the ones that don't fit.

There's this big armchair that, from the looks of the back pillow, is his favorite. There's also a couch and another smaller armchair on the opposite side of the coffee table, which has several little fidget toys and a box of tissues.

As he hands me the water, he smiles at me, tiredly "I'm sure you're not too sure about this."

I give him a sarcastic smirk "What clued you in?"

He gives me a knowing smile "You're scanning the room, and you look like you don't want to be here."

I give a short nod, before I declare "I really don't."

He motions towards the couch and asks "Why don't you take a seat?"

I move to take a seat smack dab in the middle of the couch. He takes a seat in his armchair and sighs "Okay, Thor. This is our first session together. My goal here, is to listen to you, and ask you questions about your life, so that I can give you a professional opinion about how to get you through the things that are troubling you." He speaks softly, with a gentle smile "I'm here to listen, and everything you say in this room will stay in this room. I know this process will be difficult, and you might not want to open up at first, but I assure you, I'm here to help, not judge or pity you."

I stare at the water bottle, holding it in my good hand, I rub my thumb on my bad left arm against the cap. It's hard to explain, but the sensation I get isn't right. Ever since the explosion, I've slowly gotten feeling back, but it still just feels like I only get mild sensation.

Finally, he asks "Do you have any questions?"

I look up at him and ask "Am I allowed to ask questions?"

He gives me a soft smile "Yeah, Thor. You can ask questions."

I take in a deep breath, before I ask "How am I supposed to communicate with you when everything that's bothering me is classified?"

He gives me an amused look "Thor, what happened to you is bad enough to have you sat on my couch. If we don't find a way to communicate, it will only continue to eat you alive." I set my jaw and he gives a weak smile "And I can tell that you are walking the line of letting it. You don't have to feel the way you do."

Tears come to my eye again and I take in a deep breath. I sit there for a moment, grazing my thumb over the cap of the water bottle, trying to process the pain. I take a deep breath, before I state "I don't know what to say."

He gives me a short nod, before he looks down at my hand and asks "Why do you do that?" I motions towards my hand "Is it to retrain your nerves system to trick yourself into calming down?"

It's almost ironic how well he put it, and I know my face twitches as I hear him say that. He furrows his brow and asks "What was the shoulder injury?"

I stop moving my thumb and speak tiredly "A piece of live shrapnel lodged itself into my shoulder, a little over two months ago. I'm still trying to recover from it."