A Simple Folded Paper

46

On the next day, both girls made their way to Dr. Franklin's office where they sat on two chairs on the opposite side of his desk. Lauren was holding Camila's hand since they got out of the house because she was pretty aware of the girl's nervousness. Once the talk started, Camila was squeezing Lauren's hand so hard that Lauren had to turn to her and make her release the tight hold on her hand, a few more minutes and Lauren was pretty sure that she would be leaving that place with a few broken bones.

Dr. Franklin questioned what had led Camila to be in that state and Lauren helped her go through it the whole talk, comforting the girl when things got overwhelming and tears fell. Lauren took the lead when it was time to talk about the post-traumatic effects, Camila completing when it was needed.

"So, you get uncomfortable when you're around people in general or just men?", the doctor asked.

"I don't really know, it only happened a couple of times and it was or with Lauren or with her dad. It could be mainly men plus Lauren because she's always close and stuff.", Camila explained, trying her best to express what she thought. This was not easy though, Dr. Franklin knew what spots to put a finger on and Camila was still not entirely comfortable about this.

"What it would be your reaction if a man sat next to you at a bus stop?".

"I don't really know, I guess I would be uncomfortable but it really depends because he was not doing anything, he was just sat there.", Camila answered, looking at Lauren so she could see some sign of if her answer was correct or not. Lauren just smiled slightly at her and gave a gentle squeeze on her entwined hands.

"Alright.", the man said, pausing for a couple of seconds while he wrote something on his notepad. "What if it was a boy with your age flirting with you?".

Camila chuckled, "I don't know about that, but I pretty sure my girlfriend wouldn't like it."

Dr. Franklin raised an eyebrow at her and Camila nodded slightly to her side. The man's eyes met with Lauren who waved awkwardly at him. His gaze went to their entwined hands and it was only then that he understood. Well, yeah, he noticed the hands and hugs but he guessed that Lauren was just... a close friend. He let out a laugh to lighten the mood and proceeded with the session.

Towards the end, the doctor taught Camila and Lauren a few ways to get Camila to calm down when something like that happened and then closed the session.

"Camila, can you wait in the hall while I talk with Lauren a bit?", the doctor asked.

Camila furrowed her eyebrows but still nodded and left, she wondered what the doctor had possibly to say to her girlfriend that couldn't be said in front of her.

Meanwhile, in the office, the man approached Lauren and placed a hand on her shoulder. "How are you with this whole situation?".

"What do you mean?".

"Well, it's not easy to deal with this. Camila is the one experiencing it, but you are allowed to not be okay too.", the doctor explained.

"I think I'm just scared, like, what if she is in a lot of pain and I can't make anything to make it better? What will happen when she gets exhausted for the lack of sleep due to all the nightmares? What if...", she paused and took a deep breath, "she gets mad at me for not doing anything and leaves? And leave me?".

The man nodded understanding where Lauren was coming from. "If that day comes, you just got to remember that she will not mean it. Like you said, she'll be exhausted at some point so her moods will get a little bit worse, but next session I'll prescribe some pills to sleep if that'll help, alright?"