Time To Live

Chapter 26: Precipice

"We have reached a great precipice in our work together," Dr. Steininger explained as her tone grew serious. She folded her perfect nails into her lap and smiled reassuringly at the couple seated before her. "Today, we must tackle the issue that sits heavily at the heart of the matter that divides you. Do either of you know what I'm getting at?"

Jenna's nail-bitten fingers continued to fret at the hem of her blouse as she glanced quickly out of the corner of her eye at Chris, whose arms were folded defensively across his chest. His bottom lip was jutting out, signaling that he was trying not to dig a grave for himself by responding too quickly. Eventually, the weight of the silence seemed to win out, and he winced. "How could you not recognize Ryan?"

Jenna considered that question, really turned it about inside her mind and slowly began to speak. "When I met Ryan for the first time, in that coffee shop, it was so quick that I barely processed what he looked like. Honestly, I was much more focused on the man he was with," she blushed. "Then, I always met him in passing for a minute here or there. He was average height, he had a beard and longish, dark hair that had this coppery-reddish streak in it." She glanced upward to meet the counselor's understanding eyes and, feeling more confident, she continued. "I don't remember that night at all, so I can't say if I knew who he was or not; I simply don't remember."

Pausing to try and shake the anxiety that surrounded just the consideration of that night of her life, she sighed and dropped the hem of her blouse in frustration. "The man that I met in the bar over a year later had closely-cropped brown hair and only the slightest bit of facial stubble. He had a baby face and he was in no reminiscent of the Ryan that I knew as Chris' guitar player." Immediately, she began to defend herself. "I'm sorry if that sounds ridiculous and I know that people can change a lot in a year's time, but —"

The counselor lifted her hand quickly. "Let me offer up a theory, shall I? With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, many sufferers may actually experience a kind of amnesia in relation to the traumatic events that plague them. This, coupled with the heavy possibility that you were drugged, would clearly explain why you no longer remember much from that night of your life, and why you have forgotten events that were closely connected to that night, even moments that involve the man that you love."

Dr. Steininger's eyes met Chris' across the small office. He continued to gnaw his bottom lip, but he remained silent, considering the doctor's words, so she continued. "If we accept that you do not remember many pieces of that evening, Jenna, this fits beneath the umbrella of textbook PTSD. Do you accept that Jenna might not remember all of the events of the evening in question, Christopher?" she inquired, her questioning gaze boring straight through him.

Chris drew in a deep breath and sighed. "I'm not sure I ever questioned her memory of that night. I understand why she would want to forget; she was drugged, after all. I just don't understand how she could wipe everything about him from her memory."

Dr. Steininger nodded and began to quickly scribble a note. "Now, see if you can follow me here, Christopher. Jenna was already traumatised and struggling with anything linked to that evening and your band. Then, to add insult to the situation, the two of you had a huge, blow-up fight that resulted in Jenna packing her bags and leaving your life. Throughout all of this, she was pregnant and her body's chemicals were, for lack of a better term, completely out-of-whack due to the developing fetus."