He Heals Me

Chapter 1: My First Session

  Kina POV
            I'm laying in a glass tank of water in the middle of an empty room, submerged to where only my face is above the surface. My eyes are closed. Beneath the surface all I can hear is Close to you by Frank Ocean, the occasional shifting of the water from my breathing and my shallow heartbeat. It's pitch black dark except for a small window. My psychiatrist and her assistant are in an observation room on the other side of this window monitoring my vitals and movements.

           I hear Dr. Lynn's voice come into the tank telling me to think back to when I was a child. My furthest memory comes into my head. I hear my heartbeat speed up and my breathing quickens. I hear a door open and close meaning someone has entered the room, but I keep my eyes closed per Dr. Lynn's instruction. Once I hear no more movement, I focus back on the memory.....

-Flashback to when Kina was 2 years old-

I was playing in my brother's room on the floor. We watched cartoons and built random structures out of his Connects set. I loved to build things. I heard yelling in the kitchen. Mom and Dad no doubt were arguing again. I hated to hear them yelling. A thud and the sound of a table sliding across the floor made me cringe. My brother, 6 years old at this time, noticed and made me go into the closet to hide. He covered me in a blanket and told me to cover my ears and he would come back. I was afraid, but I did as told. As soon as he shut the door, I began silently crying. A couple of minutes passed and I became anxious. I removed my hand from my ears and heard my mom scream. Loud scuffling and a loud crack followed. I wanted to leave the closet but was too afraid. I could hear her crying so I cried louder. My brother ran into the closet with the house phone. He dialed 911 and gave them our address. His white shirt was stained red and he had a scratch on his arm. I wanted to ask him what happened but could only cry. He held my hand until the police and ambulance came. Once they rang the doorbell, my brother led me to the door to let them in. To get to the door we had to pass the kitchen but he wouldn't let me look inside. The police pulled us outside and went in to investigate. The rest is fuzzy but I do remember them wheeling my mother out on a stretcher. I remember trying to run after them to go with her. I needed to see her face, but the police officer wouldn't let me go. I don't know what they did with my dad. I screamed and kicked until I wore myself out. My brother patted my back until I finally gave in and fell asleep.

-End of Flashback-

                  I could feel tears slide down the sides of my face. My body softly shook as I tried to calm myself back down. It was like the memory played out before my eyes and I was helpless to change anything. I came back to the present feeling a hand reach into the water and grasp mine. The music flowed back in. I began to calm down feeling the hand rub its thumb over the back of my hand. It brought me comfort.

            The hand remained on mine until my body's tremors had ceased and my breathing was normal. I felt another hand cup my face and wipe my tears in the softest way. I almost opened my eyes to see who was touching me, but Dr. Lynn's voice came in again to say we were done with this exercise and I could get dressed. Before I could open my eyes, the hands were gone. I sat up and looked around the room to see a towel and a change of clothes next to the tank, folded in a neat pile. The window to the observation room was covered so I couldn't see the other side.

I splashed some water on my face before getting up to dry off and get dressed. Once I was done, I walked out of the door to the reception area to schedule my next appointment.

Charlotte, the receptionist, already had my appointment slip printed so I just signed out and left. I was feeling hungry so I decided to stop for food before going home for the night.

Dr. Lynn POV

I was pleased with the results of Kina's first session. She managed to let some emotion slip out of the hard outer shell she's created around herself. I went over my treatment plan for her while my assistant cleaned the session room. He's an intern hoping to land a spot working with my experimental therapy research program. I heard a knock on the door.

Doc: Come in Larry.
Lar: Hey the tank is drained and put away. Did you need me to do anything else before I leave?
Doc: No, that will be all for today.

Larry stood at the door looking down as if he had something to say. I know what he saw today troubled him slightly. He's fresh from school so he hasn't seen a patient mid traumatic memory before.

Doc: It gets easier Larry.
Lar: How? She looked so afraid. I could see her shaking. She cried without ever opening her eyes.
Doc: You have to separate yourself from getting swept up in a patient's emotions. You have to care but know that whatever you put them through, no matter how painful it may seem, is necessary for full recovery.
Lar: If you had to rate that reaction to treatment on a scale of 1 to 10, how bad was it?
Doc: *sighs* That was a 3 at best. It gets worse the deeper into it you go. Just know that in the end you will have helped them.
Lar: Yeah. I guess so. I'll see you in the morning Doc.
Doc: Alright Larry. Have a good evening. Try not to let it get you down ok.

Author POV
Larry nodded and proceeded to walk out. He said goodnight to Charlotte, the receptionist. He just knows she has a crush on him. She's been flirting with him since he started about a week ago. He chuckles to himself right out the front door and into the parking lot. Getting in his car, he takes a second to stop and think if he's going to be able to deal with this line of work. Figuring he'll just see how it goes, he cranks up the car and heads home.

A/N
Sooooooo....how was that for a start? Comment and vote. Let me know what's up. What questions do you have?