No Ordinary Love

Chapter 52

****NOT EDITED****

"I'm sorry but there's really no other information I can give you guys about her. She has moments where she'll easily answer you then suddenly shuts down as you've described before. She hears what you're saying to her but she decides not to answer. It's a bit more intense than just ignoring someone. We've changed her medication and are monitoring her, we'll see how it goes."

Dr. Theresa Rose was the Psychiatrist that was hired to help Zayra. The court had ruled in a mandatory 3 month stay. They had granted them their choice of mental hospital as long as they were accredited. Zayra had not yet talked to anyone about anything involving Elliott, they couldn't really force her, she claimed to not remember and they couldn't prove otherwise.

By now the media had found out about the assault. Other victims had also came forward, many stated that they had reported him and was either paid to stay quiet or the police wouldn't hear them out.

Apparently the state that he lived in before he moved to Los Angeles, had four complaints about his behavior, all cases were never followed through.

All of a sudden they were calling her a modern day "hero" poll after online poll about Zayra had been made regarding her recent problems. Some polls involved sexual violence and retaliation.

Stories about women fighting their attacker were shown everywhere. They started viewing Zayra as a vigilante of some sort. First her abusive father and now a serial rapist. She became an instant celebrity.

She looked at Roman and Don Xavier, as she explained to them Zayra's progress. It was painfully slow. She was shut tight. She couldn't blame her, it wouldn't be easy for her or anyone in her situation to trust anyone right away.

"Is she still having violent episodes?"

"Not as often as before, I don't know if it's the medication or the fact that she's getting acclimated here." she shrugged. "Only time will permit."

"What do you think about her overall health?"

She leaned back. "I've only seen Zayra for 6 weeks, we still need another 6. I do believe she'll need long term help. Her family has a history of depression." she stood quiet before continuing. " Are you aware about Zayra's fear of being touched?" she looked at the two.

"I've read the reports from her Therapist and found some things that he was right about Zayra. She has a rare phobia called haphephobia which is when a person has a fear of touching or being touched. It's usually derives from traumatic childhood experiences."

"We've noticed, we just never saw it as a phobia." Don Xavier answered. He made a mental note to look more into it.

"What about it?" Roman asked her.

"Well, it's difficult for us to help Zayra when we need to touch her. Such as for medical reasons, like a physical exam. She becomes violent and erratic." She tapped her fingers on the desk.

"However due to her trauma, Zayra now has a heightened fear and anxiety about people in general. If they get too close to her, she begins to shake and becomes breathless, it's basically an anxiety attack."

She looked at them and saw their concern. "67% of victims who suffer from ptsd symptoms lowers after a month of the attack, after 3 months it lowers to 43%. In Zayra's case, there's a lot of factors that can prolong her recovery."

"Do you think we'll be able to see her today?" Roman asked.

"Of course. I'll have them take her to the visiting room. I'm curious to see how she reacts with people she knows." she stood up and the men followed her out of her office.