My one and only Love

Chapter 19

Maya’s first day back to Dr. Embry she sat in silence for the entire hour, challenging the doctor. She couldn’t make Maya like her or make her talk and Maya was going to prove it to her. But Dr. Embry wasn’t going to give up on her. The following week was the same, but the week after she sat at her desk and left Maya on the couch with a pack of drawing pencils and a pad of paper. “Okay Maya, you don’t have to talk to me, all you have to do is draw. Anything you want or feel just put it on the paper.” Maya was suspicious and sat staring at the paper for a long time, not sure she should.

Maya hadn’t drawn anything since her mother passed away, Josh had brought back all her art supplies from Ohio but she still never opened the box, just shoved it into the back of the closet. She chewed on the inside of her lip as she pulled a pencil from the box. She rolled it between her fingers for a second and felt a pull in her middle, like she was somehow being drawn to the paper like a magnet. She reached for it, touching the thick page and glancing up to see if she was being watched but Dr. Embry was looking down at her papers.

Maya curled up in the corner of the couch and began to sketch. Not a word was spoken between the two but Dr. Embry felt like she was making some progress, having heard about Maya’s lack of art work recently. She made some notes and glanced over inconspicuously a few times. After a half an hour she stood, moving over and sitting on the couch this time. “May I see it?” Maya looked down at the image and then to the doctor a few times and shrugged, handing over the pad of paper. She had begun a simple sketch of Josh smiling at her, his kind eyes so realistically drawn it would feel like he was truly smiling at you. “You are a very talented young woman.” Dr. Embry told her softly, handing the paper back to her. Maya was expecting her to say more about it, but she didn’t say all she was thinking. “Maya I’d like you to do a little assignment for me before our next visit.”

“Homework?” Maya asked with a scoff.

“Kind of, but I’m hoping you’ll enjoy it.” She continued. “I want you to take this pad of paper and pencils home with you and I want you to draw at least one picture a day, you can do more if you like. And just bring it back and let me see them next Wednesday.”

“Okay…” Maya was suspicious again, but she took the paper and pencils and shoved them into her backpack still not sure she would actually do this assignment.