Rain

•11•

"Was that really the best thing to do?" His therapist crosses his legs.

Pete was assigned this therapist in the summer of last year. Pete wasn't in a good place. Dr. Holland was a man in his 60's, grey haired, with a wrinkled and long face. He has bushy eyebrows and thin lips. Thin reading glasses attached to a metal chain. Holland was pretty understanding and probably the best person at his job.

"Probably not." Pete runs his hands through his hair.

"Did you feel any better?"

"Yeah...I enjoyed it."

He nods. "But did it help your point? The cause you were fighting for?"

Pete thinks for a moment. "I don't know what I was fighting for."

"Was it the boy again? Patrick? Am I correct?"

"His name is Patrick, yeah..." Pete falls back against the chair. "I don't know maybe? I feel like I was fighting against his bullying."

"Sometimes words are better than actions."

"Words weren't working!" Pete grips the armrests tightly.

Holland isn't even phased. "You dropped to his level."

"I did not!"

"You did, Pete. You dropped to his level. He's a bully, he hurts people. You hurt him."

"He hurt me!"

"That's why he's a bully."

"I'm not! I didn't pour water on a kid who's allergic! I didn't slam a kid against a locker 2 weeks into the school year. I didn't sit in detention for a week when I got in a fist fight because I took someone's wallet!"

"I noticed you circled back to Patrick again."

"Just a good example." Pete grumbles, crossing his arms.

"You didn't do those things Pete but you could lead toward it. Your anger was so controlled...we made some serious progress. What happened? What got in the way?"

It's true. Pete hadn't had an anger or depressed episode until this week. There's not much difference in his medication or his life.

"I hit my head."

"What?" Dr Holland was caught off guard.

"Less than a week ago...I hit my head."

"That wouldn't trigger anything unless it was a serious brain injury."

"Oh." Pete looks down again, racking his brain.

"How'd you hit your head?" Holland leans back, prepping to write.

"Uhm..." Pete runs his hands down his face before leaning back too. "I was running around in the rain and someone knocked on their window, I got so distracted and curious that I fell."

Dr Holland writes a few little notes down.

"I found out later that Patrick was knocking." Pete adds.

Holland stops writing and looks up. "That name...again."

"Patrick?"

"He's constantly being mentioned. I've taken a tally...he's been mentioned about 5 times since the start of our session."

"So?"

"So, I believe he could be the catalyst in this situation."

"So he's the one pissing me off?"

"No, you obviously don't mind him, it's what comes with him. You're being more empathetic than you think. You're seeing the world through someone with a life opposite from you. Someone who is shy, someone who is a bullied, someone with obstacles, someone who has left so much behind him because if he dwells he will be stuck."