The Blood-stained Deer

Chapter 2: Therapeutic Talks and Waiting Turns

The next morning, I was woken up by a tray of food brought by Jack himself and it was minutely placed in front of me as soon as I sat up to receive it. "Breakfast in bed. Your first motion of decency since the incident no doubt." Jack said as he sat at the foot of the bed. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Rather...okay, all things considered." I said after a bite of scrambled eggs on toast. Jack nodded in understanding. "Well, today is another day. I will be bringing you once again to the office with me as I cannot leave you here alone." Which was perfectly understandable, seeing as I was still a stranger to him and his family.

Breakfast was finished, and I swiftly pulled back the covers, haven slept in the only set of clothes I had at the time. Jack got ready and soon I was once again back in his car. The ride was swift, routinely for him and guards nodded to him as he passed by the door. I could tell others found me freakish as I passed by but I knew that would be something I had to get used to. I hoped the others did too.

Jack stopped in front of a blurred glass door that had his name written above the door, indicating that it was his office. He unlocked the door and opened it wider, letting me pass through as he removed his keys from the knob. "Do make yourself comfortable here...if that's possible." Jack said as he swiftly got to work behind his desk. "I'll do my best." I said as I smiled and sat in his arm chair. There were magazines and newspapers on a side table.

Upon picking a newspaper up, the first thing that caught my eye was Hobb's house and I put it down swiftly. I apparently had a panicked expression on my face as Jack stopped working and looked to me. "Are you alright?" He said before he realized what must have been in my hands.

"I'm sorry about that..." He said as if he had any choice what was on the front page. I shrugged it off. I had to get used to it, it would only expand to a much longer story. Nearing 10 o'clock, I began to be restless. I excused myself from the room, receiving a warning not to get lost.

With that in mind, I continued out the door and down hallways. Soon, after turning a corner, I heard a familiar voice. Will Graham. I poked my head into the room where the sound was coming from. A classroom. He was a teacher.

"He was a disgusting pig of a man that cared very little for his family. To the point of murdering his entire family. He also- "

But I couldn't stand to listen to him diminish my 'father' so. I walked into the room, silencing it with my presence. "He was not a pig! He was maybe distant, but he was never cruel."

Will took a deep breath and looked at me. "Not to you he wasn't. I don't think you know that he slit his wife's and daughter's throats in cold blood to get away from us."

That opened my eyes and I could not think straight. "Then why..." I began, but no one was listening as people were packing up their things and emptying the room. Will walked over to me but stopped as something else took his attention.

A young woman entered the room and was soon joined by jack. Jack briefly glanced to me before returning his attention to Will. She and Jack urged Will to speak to a psychiatrist that went by the name Hannibal Lecter, and I was soon mentioned as it would also benefit me.

Will sighed as he left the room, going who knows where.

I moved to follow or to at least leave the room when Alana gently placed a hand on my shoulder. "I think it would help you too." She said. "You just got torn from a home that seemed normal to you. Let alone the predicaments that occurred inside it."

I glanced at Jack and knew he would want at least someone to get help so I went along with it. Will returned, and I told him that I was going to talk with him, which was the straw that made Will agree as well.

Will walked down hallways, slowly leading me behind him, small conversations on how psychiatrists are supposed to work. If I wasn't comfortable with something, I could just say so and the subject would change.

We arrived at a tall, dark oak door and Will raised a hand to lightly knock on the door. Almost immediately after doing so, a tall man with a well toned face and grey hair opened the door. He was dressed in a sophisticated suit.

"Ah, Will, Elain. Come on in." He said pulling the door open wider so we both could enter. Will, despite not wanting to come here in the first place, walked in and I hide behind him for the most part.

Considering my timid state, Hannibal let me off the hook for the most part, as he told me to talk when I wanted to and to not feel obligated to. I felt more comfortable because of it as I walked along the walls, admiring the books. I loved the feeling of the leather spines. Every now and then I could feel their gazes on the back of my head. I paid it no mind, as I tried to keep myself busy.

While I was exploring the wide room filled with smart décor and books, I listened to Will and Dr. Lecter's conversation that started blandly until it began to get interesting.

"Last time he sent me into a dark place, I brought something back." Will said as he began to pace around the room which seemed to be what he did when he was slightly uncomfortable.

"A surrogate daughter? You saved Abigail Hobbs' life. You also orphaned her. That comes with certain emotional obligations, - regardless of empathy disorders." Dr. Lecter replied, his gaze following him like a gentle hawk watching its children play, no matter how close to the cliff's edge.

"You were there. You saved her life too. Do you feel obligated?" Will said, turning the question back on it's head and diverted it to Dr. Lecter.

"Yes. I feel a staggering amount of obligation. I feel responsibility." He replied as he stepped to the side slightly. "I've fantasized about scenarios where my actions may have allowed a different fate for Abigail Hobbs."

"Jack thinks Abigail Hobbs helped her dad kill those girls." Will said, not totally to Hannibal, but to cement the statement in his mind foremost.

"How does that make you feel?"

"How does it make you feel?" Will said, once again answering with a return of the question. Which seemed to be another defense mechanism. "I find it vulgar."

"Me too. And entirely possible." Hannibal said, answering with minimal effort.

"It's not what happened." Will said with seemingly utter surety.

I was frozen to my spot on the floor, crouched down with my hands in my long hair. I had no knowledge of what they were talking about. I knew who they were talking about on a basic sense but what this all had to do with a greater scheme of things, I couldn't understand. Tears of confusion and frustration poured down my face. It was only when I sniffed that they turned to return their gazes to me.

"Oh no..." Will said as he ran to my side.

Hannibal walked slower towards me, while Will wrapped his comforting arms around my shivering shoulders. "We shouldn't talk about things that she has no understanding of around her..." He said, gazing upwards at his and soon to be my doctor. Hannibal seemed to understand as he helped me stand and gazed at a bookshelf for a while as Will escorted me out of the office. He sat me in a small armchair and smoothed my hair back.

"Here, so you do not get bored or more stressed." Hannibal said as he handed me a novel. I thanked him as I took it in my hands. He gave me a sympathetic yet understanding glance as he returned inside with Will in tow.