LIE

Chapter 43

Luc:

Early Sunday morning there was a knock on my bedroom door.

"Luc, are you up?" Jeanette's voice asked.

"Up?" I thought. I rolled over and sat up.

The door opened and Jeanette stepped in. She was dressed and ready to go.

"You have your appointment with Dr. Hunt, remember?" She said.

Oh, right.

"Come on. Get dressed and meet me in the car." Jeanette left and closed the door.

I listened to music while we rode to the hospital.

Dr. Hunt and I made progress with each other and I refused to see anyone other than him, so they made arrangements for me to keep seeing him.

"When I went home for the first time I had a realization," I started when Dr. Hunt and I got to talking. "None of it was my fault and I didn't deserve what the Narsons did to me." Dr. Hunt nodded in agreement.

"But that's when things got...weird. I started crying. Like hysterical, non-stop crying."

"Well, I did stop, but it felt like I never would." I said.

"And then, after that, I'd start crying over the littlest things. My baby sister said my name as she recognized me. Started crying. I hung out with my friend. Started crying." I explained.

Dr. Hunt shifted in his seat. "Well, the pills make you a little emotional. I guess you're the type of person who feels intensely." He said.

"Well I don't wanna feel intensely." I pouted. Dr. Hunt laughed.

"Don't worry, it'll pass."

"There's something else," I started. "I could talk, but I couldn't talk at will. Now I can practically give a monologue."

"Did something happen?" Dr. Hunt asked.

I nodded. "I told my friends what happened to me, we're on the same page and starting to talk again." And then some.

"It seems you suffer from traumatic mutism." Dr. Hunt stated.

I tilted my head in confusion.

"You told me you went silent after being taken from your former home, now this. It stems from trauma." He clarified.

"Oh." Makes sense.

"And another thing, I want to pinpoint why I had a breakdown, why I got PTSD." I said. "I was fine before, but then we moved here."

"Could that have done it?" I asked.

Dr. Hunt nodded.

The house.

"Well, now that I think about it, I did go back to my old house."

"That would do it." Dr. Hunt said lowly and with a small nod. I sighed.

"So I really did do this to myself." I said lowly.

"That wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known."

There was more talking, then I left and joined Jeanette in the car.

"How'd it go?" She asked.

"Fine. Can we go back home please?" I said.

"Yes." Jeanette turned the car on.

"You don't want to get something to eat first?" She asked as she pulled out of the hospital driveway. I nodded.