Growing up Ed Nygma: A Change of Heart

Chapter 5

  It was Monday morning and I felt oddly nervous and filled with dread,I looked at my phone before getting up. Arkham Meeting today read the alert on my phone the second I turned it on....that all makes sense now. I got up, changed and went to wash up then went down for breakfast, I made myself some toast and then went and finished getting ready for school,I still had time to do whatever, I had quite a while actually so I decided to call Kristen " Kristen Kringle." She said when she answered I smiled as I heard her voice " Morning My Love." I say smiling " Morning Eddie Dear." She replies with a giggle. "I have my first session today with the psychiatrist... I'm nervous and wanted to call you. Hearing your voice calms me." I say " oh yeah....mine's tomorrow." Kristen replies sadly " but I'm sure you'll be fine...is yours after school too?" She asks me, I nod forgetting I'm on the phone then said " yeah." After a while, we hang up and I go to school. At lunch, I tell Lee about my session later. Once school's out, my mom picks me up and we drive to Arkham. I was texting Kristen on the way there the whole time:

"We're on our way.." I text her

" I'll be waiting for you" she replied

"I love you." I said

"I love you too."

Kristen and I stop texting as we pull into the parking lot of Arkham Asylum. It's huge: Tall and wide with seemingly infinite doors, but little windows. My heart speeds up and my palms sweat as we park. You're not crazy. I say to myself You're not being held here like some... You're just talking to someone. That's all it is. You sure about that? Maybe you'll end up living here one day. You be quiet. BE QUIET. My mind battles itself as my mom and I exit the car " you okay ed ?" My mom asks "I'm scared mom. I don't want to talk to a stranger about my problems" I say as we enter and approach the main desk."I know Eddie Bear but it will help in the long run." my mom says as we walk up to the desk. I look around at the hallways leading to different rooms and parts of the Asylum.. I hear faint screams from deep inside that scare me even more. "Edward Nygma?" The lady calls for me to come in. I look at my mom " You'll be fine."She says hugging me " go on. I have a surprise for you after you're done." I nod and then the lady walks me into an office "Miss Quinn will see you shortly." She says, "Okay" I mutter, and she leaves closing the door.

I sit down on the chair next to the desk and look around the room, seeing 'calming' pictures on the wall, tissues, a bookshelf on the back wall, and a bowl of candy on the desk. There's also a name plate on the desk that reads: Dr. Harleen Quinzel, PhD. I twiddle my thumbs in my lap and tap my foot nervously. After a few minutes, someone knocks on the door and comes in. "Edward? Nice to meet you I'm Dr. Quinn; Dr. sounds scary so you can call me Miss. Quinn" She says smiling, I stand up to shake her hand. She appears to be in her late teens, probably 19 or early 20s with blonde hair pulled into a bun, blue eyes,wearing a red blouse and a navy blue almost black pencil skirt and black roundish glasses " such a gentlemen you are,Edward" She says after I nod at her question from before " Very Nice to meet you, Miss.Quinn." I say, trying to keep calm she seems nice. "Have a seat, make yourself at home." She says sitting down at her desk facing me, I sit back down in the chair and adjust my glasses out of habit,still trying to calm down.

She gets out a clipboard with a notebook attached and a pen "So Edward, let's start out simple. We'll build our way up from here. Why are you seeing me?" She asks " I am seeing you today because I have recently been diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder and I've been hearing voices since I was 6 years old." I answer calmly, she writes notes down in her notebook "Okay. Now how frequent are these voices would you say? A few times a day? week?" She asks I think about this" I'd say about everyday but they are more obvious depending on my mood and/or emotions at the time I hear them." I say, she takes notes and nods calmly and nonchalantly. This calms me, she hasn't treated me like I'm crazy. It just feels like a normal conversation... Apart from the setting and the note taking.

She takes more notes and then looks back up "These voices you hear, have they ever influenced your actions?" She asks " Yes....they have." I state shortly "I see, would you like to share any of these experiences?" She says tapping her pen on the clipboard " Well....when I've ran away from home and My first date......and countless other times." I say, she nods not looking at her notes, perhaps because what I just shared was so personal "Let's start with you running away from home for today. How did these voices influence you to do so?" I thought about this then I said " Well My dad got a new job offer and I didn't want to move with him and I didn't want to leave my friend and my Girlfriend so they convinced me to run away that night to my Girlfriends house." I explain "Okay. She nods. They must have seemed logical in that moment Edward." She reassures me, I nod. She then asks me about Kristen. I describe her, and then before I know it the hour is up and our session ends. "Edward it was nice to meet you. We'll continue on Wednesday?" She ends I nod " yes. Definitely." I say getting up. She smiles and leaves, and then I head back to where my mom was waiting for me. She stands up "Eddie bear, how was it? Is she nice?" She asks me as we walk outside to the car " very." I say "Oh I'm SO glad. And I'm extremely proud of you honey." She hugs me and we get in the car to head home. I immediately text Kristen and tell her that it actually went well and wasn't worth the worrying. As we drive through Gotham City, I look out of the window at all the skyscrapers and cars passing by. You did it. You made it! It wasn't so bad was it? I think to myself. I wait for my other voices to respond in argument, but for the first time in a while, they don't.