Almost Easy

Dr. Hollis Thompson scurried around her office, straightening the piles of paperwork that overpowered her desk, hoping that it would look presentable enough for her first patient who would be arriving very shortly. She straightened the papers and watered her two plants before settling down on her comfortable leather armchair to go over her newest clients file before he arrived.

She opened up the folder and inside was a picture of a very attractive man, according to the records he was 25 years old and a veteran of the Iraq War. The man in the picture looked so broken, Hollis could tell right away what was wrong with him. His green eyes gave everything away, they were empty and emotionless. It was evident that those eyes had seen terrible things while in the service.

"Dr. Thompson?" The receptionists voice rang through the intercom that was sitting on Hollis' desk. She placed the file on the table beside her chair and walked over to her desk, pressing down the intercom button. "Yes Veronica?"

"Your patient is here to see you."

"You can send him in."

She walked back over and sat down, pulling her notebook and the file into her lap and sticking a pencil through her ponytail. The door opened slowly and two men walked into her office. The first was tall and built, from the looks of him he was also an army man. He was wearing a fedora and dark glasses which he removed when he entered the room. Following behind him was the man from the file, Zachary Baker.

She stood and walked towards the two men to greet them. The first extended his hand to her while the other simply kept his eyes focused on the floor.

"I'm Hollis Thompson" She said in her doctor voice, shaking his extended hand.

"Brian Haner" He responded, "I'm Zacky's roommate and we were in the service together."

She nodded and her attention went to Zachary. She reached her hand out to him, "It's nice to meet you Zachary" She said with a warm smile, an attempt to get him to make eye contact with her.

"He prefers Zacky" Brian said, "And don't take offense if he doesn't talk, he doesn't really talk to anyone. That's part of the reason why he's here." He explained and then looked at his friend, "Zacky, at least shake her hand. She's going to help you." He said softly.

Reluctantly Zacky reached out and took Hollis' hand in his own and shook it without saying a word. "Thank you Zacky." She said. "If you want you can take a seat right on that couch over there. You can lie down if you want but if you would prefer to sit, that's fine too."

He walked over to the couch, eyes still focused on the ground and sat down in the middle of the couch. Hollis turned her attention back to Brian when she was sure Zacky was all right.

"Will you be joining us today Mr. Haner?"

"Please, it's Brian. And no, I'm going to be waiting outside but if he needs me or anything, you can call me in. But I think Zacky needs to do this on his own."

She nodded, "That's probably for the best. We'll be done in an hour or so. Thank you for bringing him."

They shook hands again and Brian walked over to Zacky, giving him a pat on the back and some reassuring words before leaving the office, closing the door behind him.

She walked back to her chair and sat down, facing Zacky who still refused to look at her. "So, do you want to talk about why you're here?"

No response.

"I can only learn so much about you from your file Zacky. You're going to have to tell me why you are here. I don't want to hear it from Brian, I want to hear it from you."

No response.

"I'm here to help you Zacky. I want to help you."

"You can't" A low, almost silent voice said.

"What was that?"

No response.

"I heard that Zacky, don't pretend that you didn't say anything. Why do you think I can't help you?"

He sat without moving for a moment before he slowly lifted his head up to make eye contact with her. "Because you can't." He said in a more clear voice.

His words stung her. She was used to patients who didn't think she could help, but the malice in his voice stabbed her. That mixed with the sadness in those eyes. It was the same sadness in the photo but it translated a hundred times more pained in real life. Her heart ached for this man and she didn't know anything about him.

"Now I know you might think that now" she began once she regained her composure, "But trust me, I have patients who come in all the time thinking that I can't help them and by the end of our sessions I have managed to help them in one way or another. If you come into this thinking you won't get better, you won't get better."

No response.

"Well, don't you want to get better?"

No response.

"If you aren't doing this for you, at least do it for your friend. He really cares about you Zacky, at least try and cooperate with me for him."

"All right." He mumbled, his eyes retreating once more to the ground.

"Well, it's a start. Is there anything you want to talk about? Anything you want help with? Is there a goal you want to set for you to accomplish by the end of our sessions?"

He thought for a second. She noticed his brow furrowing as he thought about her question. "I want to be able to sleep in a room by myself." He said finally.

She wrote down his answer in her notepad and then looked back to Zacky. "Why can't you sleep in a room alone now? What is keeping you from that?"

"Scared" He responded simply. "My troop was attacked one night overseas. I had been stationed at one part of the camp alone and fell asleep, it almost cost me my life. I haven't been able to sleep in a room alone since then."

She jotted more notes as he talked and then looked at him again with a smile. "This is very good Zacky. You're recognizing the source of your fear and attempting to fix it. I'm assuming this means that you and Brian share a bedroom?"

He nodded slowly, "Technically we have separate rooms, where we keep our stuff, but my room has two beds in it and that's where he sleeps. If he had to leave for some reason and won't be home at night my sister comes and stays the night with me. She lives close for that reason."

"Is your sister old or younger than you?"

"Older."

"I see. And she has no problem staying with you?"

He shook his head, "Not that I know of. She's never complained before. She's very supportive."

"Is there anyone else in your life close to you besides your sister and Brian? A girlfriend perhaps?"

He shook his head, "No. No girlfriend." He said, his voice getting suddenly more quiet.

Hollis searched her mind for something else to ask him when her eyes wandered to the clock and saw that their session was over.

"Well, it appears as if we're out of time. But I will see you very soon all right? I want you to try and pinpoint where your fear is stemming from. I believe you have what we call post traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD. This is generally caused by one specific event and I would like you to think about this, but if things get too hard, then don't push yourself. I'll see you next week." She said with a smile as he nodded in agreement to her assignment.

She stood up and walked to the door, inviting Brian back inside.

"He did wonderfully" She told him, digging through her desk for a business card to give him as he walked over and gave Zacky another pat on the back, asking him how he was feeling. She couldn't hear Zacky's response but it was obvious that Brian did, he looked at her and smiled and Hollis knew that she had gotten through to him.

She walked over and handed Brian her card, "Here's my card, if you need anything don't hesitate to call me. His next appointment will be this time next week. So I will see you both then."

She shook hands with Brian once more, Zacky not being as receptive as he was moments earlier and Hollis stayed standing until the two men had left the office, closing the door behind them. She took her notebook and sat at her laptop, typing up her notes in a new file labeled "Zacky Baker". As she typed she tried to come up with more ways to get him to open up, but she was having a hard time. She hadn't had a patient who was as selectively mute as Zacky was.

"Call Brian and ask for pointers" She said aloud as she wrote a note to herself.

"Dr. Thompson, your next patient is here." Veronica's voice sliced through the comfortable silence and she sighed as she pressed the intercom button.

"Send him in." She said as she temporarily closed the file of Zacky Baker.

But she couldn't get him out of her mind.