Speak

Chapter 16

"Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it."

- Tori Amos

*Greg POV*

I pick Lizzy up for her therapy session on Saturday, expecting the worst. Wesley said that she had shut down and was pushing everyone away. After what Wesley told me, I feared I would be checking her back into Shadow Mountain. While she definitely is more restrained than last week, Lizzy doesn't seem as bad as Wesley described.

Last week, I could tell she was happy. Now, it's like she's confused. Perhaps Wesley was able to get through to her. Maybe all these years of therapy are finally paying off.

We just have to keep going in the right direction.

"So, Lizzy," I decide to strike up a conversation. "Tell me more about Wesley."

Lizzy doesn't respond. She just keeps reading like she hasn't heard a word I've said. I can't tell whether she is internalizing or intentionally ignoring me.

"Lizzy, I asked you a question."

Still nothing. I can see the annoyance on her face and breathe a sigh of relief. She's not internalizing, she's being a brat. Lizzy used to do this all the time, and I don't know whether to be frustrated or smile.

"Lizzy..."

Lizzy rolls her eyes and puts her book down. She glares at me like she has a million times.

"A question is a sentence in an interrogative form, addressed to someone in order to get information in reply. You did not use an interrogative word, therefore; you did not ask me a question."

I can see her crack a smile as she picks her book back up. The sass is back. In the past, that would just irritate me more, but seeing Lizzy's former self shine through more and more gives me hope.

"What can you tell me about Wesley?"

Obviously irritated at my intrusion of her romantic life, Lizzy puts down the book and glares at me. She has always had a temper, just like our father.

"What do you want to know," she signs.

She crosses her arms and continues to glare at me. I already know more about Wesley than Lizzy knows, and I know I need to tread lightly so that she doesn't convince herself she shouldn't give him a chance.

"What is he like," I ask. "Why do you like him?"

Her expression changes from irritation to uncertainty, and I worry she is second-guessing herself again.
I'm about to tell her that she doesn't have to tell me when she starts to sign.

"He doesn't judge me," she replies. "He doesn't look at me like I belong in the psych ward."

It pains me that Lizzy still thinks having to go to Shadow Mountain was punishment for her refusal to speak. She hated it because they made her feel "nothing," but it helped her more than she realizes. It is the stigma attached to mental health care, that needing help means she's crazy. She was traumatized and needed help in dealing with what happened to her.

"He doesn't try to get me to talk about the past," she adds, rolling her eyes.

As much as I know it hurts, I still believe a big weight would be lifted off her shoulders if she opened up about what happened. Even Doctor Holiday has said that real healing won't start until she confronts what happened, instead of trying to hide it away like a dirty secret.

I try to think of a response when Lizzy blushes. There's something more, something Wesley has done that has broken through to her heart.