Just Make Du'aa

• t w o •

A/N: Question: Do you think Dina over reacted with her panic attack? It clearly wasn't a big deal to the guy, but she panicked really bad. Did she have the right to, or was she over reacting? Comment your thoughts..

Also, if you haven't noticed, I've changed the title from Define Damaged to Just Make Du'aa. I like it much better and it suits the story more. Opinions? Do you guys like the cover?

Dedicated to @shaukai for her heart felt messages. I really appreciate them. And over the past two days I've gotten so much love and support from you guys and I wish I could thank you all individually. Thank you for the comments and votes and adding it to your reading lists! You motivate me to keep writing, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Thank you for reading! Enjoy the chapter!

Farouz

I told you I'd have a hard time detaching myself from this case. This is her third visit and she still hasn't told me what happened to make her friend send her here. We haven't really improved on anything, except now she showed up willingly and her friend, Amity, didn't have to scream at her in the parking lot. I mean, she did tell me things. About her family, and how suffocated she often felt at her home. I love them, but we're so different. And they get triggered by such little actions, I just felt that I'd love them more if I didn't live with them.

Mostly, she asked me questions. How long did it take me to embrace Islam? I still haven't told her I converted and wasn't born into the religion. Sometimes I feel like the only thing grounding me is the du'aa I make to Him, she'd point up, it's like I can feel him listening. Does that sound stupid? She asked that question a lot. A large percentage of her sentences ended with, "sorry, that's dumb," or, "is that stupid?" Those questions are the only windows I have to the inside of her mind.

Dina gave off a really confident vibe, but the way she talked, the light stuttering, how she gets tongue tied, and those questions, they show that something, or someone, made her feel bad about things she's passionate about. Someone belittled her and invalidated her opinions. That's why she's so insecure about what she says, and constantly apologizes for it. My theory is that her dad had something to do with it. She says he jokes around and doesn't really know when to stop. I feel his joking goes overboard. But she also has this strong love and respect for her dad, I don't have the heart to tell her.

Basically, I'm crap at my job with her for some reason. I can't direct her thoughts in the direction I want them, I have a really hard time reading her. And I end up just chatting with her for the entire hour! The worst part is that I know if this keeps happening she'll realize I'm no help and go find someone else. For some reason I really want to keep seeing her. So, today, I'm going to sit her down, and actually get some work done.

She walked in, greeted me, and went to sit in her usual chair. Every time, I wait for her to start the conversation. But she never does. Today she twirled the bracelet around her wrist until I said, "okay, I need to talk to you about something." She looked up expectantly, "I need you to tell me what brought you here."

With a short laugh, she said, "Amity did, I already told you that she–"

"No," I shook my head, "what caused her to bring you here?" Dina's smile dropped. "I'm here to help you okay? And I need to know the source of the problem so I can start to help you."

"I don't need your help," she said sharply, "sorry, that was rude. Honestly Amity just panicked, it wasn't even a big deal. I'm fine, really, I don't need a psychologist."