Almost Easy

The first thing that Hollis noticed as she readied herself for Zacky's appointment was that Brian hadn't tried to contact her yet. She placed the notepad and pencil on the small table next to the armchair and paced uneasily in her office, waiting for Zacky and Brian to arrive.

"Dr. Thompson?" Veronica called over the intercom and Hollis didn't bother to respond before going to the door and opening it, and looking into the lobby and seeing only Zacky sitting in the waiting room.

"Come on in Zacky" She said with a smile and Zacky gave her a weak smile as he stood and walked into her office. Hollis looked back into the lobby one more time, looking to see if maybe Brian had stepped outside for a minute.

"He's not here" Zacky's voice brought down her hopes as she closed the door and turned to face him.

"What?" She asked, attempting to play dumb.

"Brian's not here. He just dropped me off but he will be back in an hour to pick me up. He said he had errands to run...but I think something is wrong. He seems really upset..." He said in his normal meek voice and Hollis' heart dropped.

I'm hurting Zacky by being with Brian...and when I'm not with Brian it's still hurting Zacky...what the hell am I supposed to do?

"All right then. Let's get started."She said cheerfully, trying to compensate for her troubled mind. She sat down and pulled her notebook into her lap, trying to think of how exactly to start off this session.

"Can I tell you about someone else today?" He asked quietly, his green eyes staring at her.

"Of course you can. Is there any reason why?"

He shrugged, "After talking about Matt, I felt...better. I felt like I was able to let him go in a way. I felt good for the first time since coming back."

"Well that's amazing Zacky, really. I'm so happy for you. Of course you can tell me about someone else."

Zacky took a deep breath, clearing his head and attempting to organize his thoughts. "Johnny." He said after a moment.

"What do you want to tell me about Johnny? What was he like?"

And then Zacky did something that Hollis had ever seen...he laughed. It was more of a chuckle really, but the point was...he was happy. He smiled and looked at her, "Johnny, Johnny was something else. Short shit...that's what we all called him. He was a smaller guy. Shorter than everyone else, but he was strong as an ox. He was the butt of all of our jokes, but he put up with it. He took everything in stride."

He laughed again.

"One time, Matt poured some of the oatmeal that he had for breakfast into Johnny's boots. I still remember us waiting outside of his barracks and hearing him yelling...it was times like those that really made being over there bearable."

"And did Johnny make it home?" Hollis asked, knowing it was probably not the best question based on how Matt's story ended.

Zacky nodded. "Yeah. He came home. He married Lacey, his girlfriend from before the army. They moved to Connecticut shortly after he came home. I haven't talked to him since."

"Have you ever thought of trying to contact him?"

"I've tried. He never responds." His emerald eyes began to well up with tears.

"Why does this hurt you so badly? Why are you crying? I can tell that he was more than just comic relief while you were in Iraq."

"He...he has a bronze star you know" He said, a few tears sliding down his cheek.

"I'm not quite sure what that is. How did he get it?"

"It's awarded for bravery and acts of merit. He got it when he...saved my life."

Hollis forgot her profession for a second, putting her pencil and notebook aside and leaning closer to hear the story without caring about notes, simply caring about how this effected Zacky.

"Do you...want to talk about that?"

He nodded and closed his eyes for a second, rubbing them in an attempt to get rid of the tears. "There was a sniper...stationed on the roof of one of the buildings in the town square. Johnny saw him...I didn't. I wasn't paying attention, I was being stupid. Johnny got to me in time, the bullet got him right in the knee...blew out the entire thing. He couldn't walk..." The tears came again.

"I was stupid and now he can't walk."

"I'm sure that he was just glad that he was able to save you. I'm sure he would do it again."

"Then why won't he talk to me!?" He yelled in a strained voice, "As soon as I got back here he left. He couldn't stand seeing me knowing I was the reason why he can't walk!"

She stood up and walked over to the couch, sitting beside him. She knew that what she was doing wasn't acceptable, but she couldn't care less. She put her arms around him and pulled him close to her as he cried.

"He hates me" He repeated over and over again as he shook. "I wish that I would have just died there."

"No. No you don't. You don't wish that."

She sat like that, holding him and attempting to calm him down. She watched the clock hands move at a rapid rate and before she knew it, the intercom voice broke the silence.

"Dr. Thompson, your next patient is here."

He sprung out of her arms and rushed to the door.

"Zacky!" She called, stopping him at the door.

He turned around, his eyes red and puffy.

"No one would ever wish you died."

He nodded, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand before leaving the room. Knowing that she had limited time, Hollis rushed to her purse and dug her blackberry out of it. She opened up her messenger and quickly typed a message to Brian, sent it and then put it back into her purse before her next patient came in.

Brian sat outside of the office in his escalade, waiting for Zacky to come out. His phone began to vibrate and he picked it up, seeing that he had a new message from Hollis.

There's no way I can keep doing this.