Diane!

I Trust You

The next day Jean and avril came to me again, like I had told them to. Jean politely smiled as I told her to have a seat... One glance at Avril and I knew that the little one had been crying. Her eyes were puffy n were blood red.. Her cheeks were stained with tears... I wondered if she had tried to restrain her mother from bringing her here and had failed. 

I began the session and proceeded as planned.

Good morning Jean, good morning Avril. 

Say Avril, would you like to go and see the playground? I'm sure u get pretty bored sitting around here.. Don't you? 

Avril's eyes lighted up n she gave me a friendly smile and nodded . 

Stacy!! I called to my assistant. "Could you take little Avril out to the playground? And treat her to some ice cream please .

Avril took Stacy's hand and turned to go. She looked back at me and asked " Can Diane go too?"

I looked surprised but replied "Yes you can take whoever you want to".

To which she dryly replied " No its just gonna be Diane" and then they left.

Jean looked bewildered and almost shrieked! 

"What did you do that for? Can't you see she is SICK.. She is not in  proper mental condition to go out anywhere alone! And you know there is no one called Diane! But you're misleading her to think that there is!! What the hell was wrong with you Doctor?"

I was taken back by this sudden outburst but replied as what I thought was calm " Calm down jean! I know what I'm doing. And as for being alone, that's why I've sent Stacy with avril. If I'm going to be handling this case then I have to gain Avril's confidence. She needs to trust that I'm here to help her. She needs to be comfortable with me!" 

And more than Avril , I need you to trust me Jean. I need you to know that i want the best for Avril.

Jean looked a little embarrassed. " I'm sorry doctor I just got a little worried , you have my full confidence doctor. I trust you".

That's good then! Let's get down to business shall we?

So tell me Jean, is Avril an only child? 

"No doctor, she is definitely the smallest , but not the only one. I have a daughter and a son".

Okay so she is like the baby of the house.

"Well you can say that , cause there is quite a lot of age difference between the three of them".

How many years are we talking about then?

Well my daughter is 21 , my son who  is younger than her is going to be 16 In a month , and Avril is 11. So yea she got pampered all the time I think. 

So Jean, who is Avril more closer to? I mean, who does she spend or did spend most of her time with? 

" Well to be precise doctor , Avril spent most of her time with Lizelle my eldest daughter".

So are you saying that Avril is not close to your son... Um..

"Mark!" His name is mark.

Right! Mark!

"No doctor I didn't mean that. When Lizzy was around, before she went to college, then Avril spent most of her time with Lizzy. And she was very fond of Mark too. But from the time Lizzie has left the house , Avril seems to be lost. She stays alone most of the time."

Well I'm going to have to know a little more about your family and know the kind of background Avril has grown up in to understand her case. Would you like to elaborate? 

"Sure! Me and my Husband are basically from France but Moved to Alaska  after we got married. A year later Lizelle was born. Now Lizelle is working. She left home when she was 18. Mark of course is still in high school. The three of them have always been very good children. Never misbehaved , always obedient. I've NEVER had trouble with them".

Did they ever fight among themselves? 

"Well like every other child , yes! they did fight. But never so bad that me or Noah my husband had to get involved. They always solved the problems among themselves". 

Okay , now that I know a little about your family , I want to know Jean if anybody in your family is a Psychic medium? Or has had any supernatural experience before? 

Well my words seem to sting her. She looked most surprised. Her expression gave me my answer.

"Why do you ask Doctor? As far as I know , No one in our family is a psychic medium or had any extraordinary experiences. Is there something wrong Doctor? Don't you think we are going astray from the case of Avril?"

No Jean I do not think we are going astray from Avril's case. I think , Jean that Avril might be a psychic medium. She might be haunted by a girl ghost. And if the case is so , we immediately need to take action. 

Just then Avril and Stacy returned. Avril seemed to have become very pally with Stacy. She seemed very cheerful. As soon as she entered the room again she was greeted by her mother's sobs. Jean had become hysterical after what I had said. Avril looked really worried at the sight of her mother. 

Jean! i said hastily looking at Avril's concern. We don't want to upset the dear girl now do you. Come on now, Pull yourself together. 

Jean seemed to get the urgency in my voice. She dried her tears and seated her self back on the couch giving Avril a reassuring smile. 

I called Avril up to me and summoned Stacy to leave.

Hi again Avril. Did you have fun then today with stacy? 

Avril smiled and for the very first time seemed interested in talking to me "Yes I had loads of fun , Stacy took me and Diane to all the swings and then , then you know she gave us an ice cream treat. " 

I smiled at the little girls excited face "Did Diane like the ice cream then?"  

"No she was not hungry" replied Avril. 

Okay then Avril i'm glad you had such an Amazing day. I'm going to meet you Next Tuesday now. For now go wait outside with Stacy while i have a word with your Mother.

Avril left and i turned to jean.

Ok Jean , Here's what i want you to do. Take Avril Home and notice her behaviour till next Tuesday. Anything you find unusual or suspicious among her things.. bring them to me. Watch to see if you can find drawings or weird behaviour , then you tell me about it. And if you do find signs of anything unusual, don't panic. Just be patient with her. And I will see you Next Tuesday

"I'll do as you say doctor. I'll do anything to get her back" 

Jean left my office. 

I think we are making a little progress on this case ,i thought to myself. I was glad that I had gained Avril's confidence now. Now i'll go and ask Stacy what happened while she was out with Avril. She is sure to have some news..