Out Of Time

The Thousand Yard Stare

Arthur settled his wife into bed and let the doctor take a look at her. Dutch and the rest were hovering outside their door. When the doctor was done talking to and examining Sam, he walked out of the room with Arthur and shut the door. "Doc, what happened to her?" Dutch asked.

The doctor looked at Arthur as if for approval to explain the situation. He gave Dr. Hughes a nod. "Go ahead, Dr. Hughes."

Dr. Hughes faced Dutch and everyone else. "Mrs. Morgan is suffering from a condition called "battle fatigue". What you just witnessed was her having a flashback of her trauma with...Micah, was it?"

"Yes," Arthur said.

"Right. I was in the mess hall as well when she ran out. Something triggered her flashback, and I think it was those two men yelling in the kitchen. So from now on, no yelling around her, okay?"

The people nodded and agreed. "Why did she have that...look in her eye? Like she wasn't seein' any of us?" Reverend Swanson asked.

"It's called "the thousand yard stare", sir. It happens with flashbacks and dissociating."

"Dissociating?" Dutch inquired.

"When a victim of trauma dissociates, they disconnect from reality and turn in on themselves. It's a defense mechanism. The victim gets trapped inside their own body, inside an endless abyss. Which is why I instructed Mr. Morgan to "talk her out of it", and," Dr. Hughes turned to Arthur, "you did a fantastic job, by the way."

Arthur smirked a little. "So, the next time she has one, I just do what you told me to get Sam out of her own head?"

"Precisely," the doctor replied. "Same goes for any of you if Mr. Morgan is not around when it happens again. Just be patient and talk her through it." They all agreed and the doctor looked at Arthur again. "She's going to be fine as long as she has a strong support system, and I can tell she has that in spades."

Arthur gave a sad smile and nodded. "Thank you, Dr. Hughes."

"Is she always gonna be like this?" Dutch asked.

The doctor shrugged. "It could take months or years for the condition to go away, but it's likely that she may always have it."

Arthur closed his eyes and bowed his head, the rim of his hat shadowing his face. This was not something he wanted to hear. After answering a few more questions, the doctor left everyone in the corridor and Arthur rubbed his face as he leaned against the wall. This was a lot for him to take in. Dutch approached him and pat his shoulder.

"Sam's gonna be okay, Arthur. She's a strong woman," Dutch said.

Arthur nodded. "I know. But...Jesus Christ..."

Suddenly Arthur and Sam's door opened and Sam poked her head out, looking at everyone. They all looked at her in shock. She frowned at them before chuckling nervously. "I'm sorry you all had to see that, what was going on..."

The group shook their heads, telling her it was fine and asking her if she was okay. Arthur was relieved to see that she seemed fine now. "Sam, you alright?"

Sam nodded with a grin. "Yeah. Just...can I talk to you for a bit, babe?"

Arthur smiled. "Sure."

Arthur left the others and walked into the room, shutting the door behind them. As soon as he did, Sam embraced him and buried her face into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Arthur," she whispered.

Arthur pulled her in close and kissed her temple. "It's fine, baby girl. You ain't gotta be sorry for nothin'."

Sam nodded. "Can we talk about what happened?"