Fall Out Girl

*Dr. Bennington’s POV*

Emmy is a real piece of work. I thought about all the things she had been put through as I scrolled through all of my notes. In the few years that I had known her, her disorder was slowly fazing out. But now? It’s way worse than what I had started with. I looked down at the first page in the three-ring binder.

Quiet. Doesn’t seem to trust much. Reserved. Possibly prone to panic attacks.

How wrong I was. It was worse. Much worse. She was the first person with DPD that I had ever come into contact with. I had to pull my mentor for suggestions. He had given me the therapy options. At the time, Jakob wasn’t around, so I didn’t have to worry about her overdosing on her medication. But, then, Janet got hooked on it and I had to immediately pull them off. Hypnosis seemed to help a little. I finally got Emmy to remember what had happened so she couldn’t keep dismissing what the others were telling her. But, as everyone says, hypnosis can only go so far. Psychotherapy can only go a little further, also. This is where Brittany and Sora come into play. At the last Dissociative Psychology Convention I was told of a new treatment: stick them in groups with others that have a dissociative disorder. It seemed to be working at first, but because of recent events, Sadie has decided to take over completely and drown out the other personalities.

Hm, personalities. They were always interesting. Elle was always scared and only attached
herself to Patrick. She was the easiest to deal with when she was out. Well, Jakob was easy, too, as long as he was restrained or nowhere near Patrick, Chris and Joe. Janet and Sadie, however, were a pain. Janet never listened and would continue her reckless behavior. Sadie was so close to Emmy that it was mostly hard to tell them apart- you had to pay attention to the subtle things she did.

The girls giggling upstairs brought me out of my thoughts. Sighing, I grabbed a hold of my phone and punched in Ms. Stump’s work number.

“Cup of Joe Java House, How may I help you?” her tired voice wrung out.

“Hello, Ms. Stump, this is Dr. Bennington.”

“Oh, hey, is everything ok? Emmy didn’t-”

“Oh, no, I’m sorry. Everything is fine. I was just wondering when you would be home tonight. I need to discuss and clear a few things before moving forward in your daughter’s treatment.”

“Oh, you scared me a little bit at first. I’m getting off early tonight so I should be home around 9. Is that ok with you?”

I glanced over at the clock. 7:30. “Yes, that’s fine. I’ll go ahead and feed the girls.”

“Ok, well, I will talk to you later. Goodbye.”

I got up and started to cook spaghetti since it didn’t require too much effort.

I called the girls down once it was ready.

Once we were most of the way through the meal, I proposed an alternative treatment. “Sadie, how would you and the others like to stay here until we can integrate you?”

She shuffled some of the food around her plate before looking up at me with narrow eyes. “What?”

“I want you to stay here. I can home school both you and Brittany so you can graduate in time.”

I could see the battle that was raging inside. “But, Emmy?”

“Emmy cannot sort herself out when you’re the one in control.”

She shook her head. “No. Jakob and Janet don’t agree with you.

“What about Elle?”

She shook her head. “Elle has no say in this, she’s too young. No, Emmy gets confused too easily. She will be fine as long as we are guiding her.”

I knew that she wouldn’t respond any further to the topic. We ate the rest of the meal in silence. When we were finished, I told the girls to get ready as I stuffed the dishes into the dishwasher. Two minutes later, the girls came back down and we all piled into my small Honda.

Ms. Stump and all the boys were over there by the time that we arrived. Sadie immediately jumped out of the car and dragged Brittany behind her. I walked up the steps after the two and went inside. I quickly located Ms. Stump in the kitchen.

She smiled at me and motioned to the small table. “Would you like any coffee?”

“Not thank you.”

Still smiling, she sat herself down in front of me with her steaming coffee mug. “So, what did you want to discuss?”

I took in a deep breath and prepared myself. “I think it will be in Amelia’s best interest if she stays with me for the duration of her treatment. I already have another girl taking this course if you wish to speak to her parents about it.”

Ms. Stump’s face visibly fell as she set her mug down. “I don’t know about that. You said that therapy takes years. In a few months she’s going to Dartmouth. It’s her dream. I can’t take it away from her like that. Is it the only way?”

I nodded my head. “Because of recent events, her condition has gotten worse. She needs to be taken away from all stress. A mental facility will not work in this case, not that you would want to put her in there. Of course, we could always continue her current treatment, it just may take longer. She doesn’t seem to want to integrate her personalities. I don’t know if you have noticed, but the fourth personality- Sadie- has been in control all of today and shows no sign of letting go.”

“I-I’ll think about it.” There was a tear forming in her eye.

I reached over the table and held her hand comforting. “It will be ok, I promise. But, before I can proceed to integrate them, I must warn you that the host personality hardly ever comes out in the end. I need you to prepare for this.”

She nodded her head again and slipped her hand out of mine. “I’ll think about it. Thank you, for all you’ve done.” She stood up, me following, and led me to the door. I called up the stairs for Brittany. She was pouting, obviously not wanting to leave.

“Do I have to? I want to stay.”

“Brittany,” I said in a warning tone.

“Fine!” she scoffed. “Let me go get my shoes on.” She said, running back up the stairs.

“She could stay. I wouldn’t mind.”

“No, her parents gave me specific instructions. I ‘m sorry, but she’s my charge and I can’t lose sight of her for too long. It’s a miracle that they let me enroll her into Emmy’s high school.”

Ms. Sump nodded again as Brittany charged down the stairs, trailed by Sadie, Patrick, and three other boys that I barely recognized.

“Bye, Brittany!” they shouted half way down the stairs. Smiling, she waved back at them.

“See you tomorrow?” Sadie asked.

“Yea!”

“No, you won’t. We’re going to Chicago for the entire day, remember?” I countered.

Her face fell. “Oh, well, I’ll see you guys at school, yea?”

They nodded. I lightly grabbed her elbow and lead her outside.

“I’m sorry, Dr. B, but they’re so nice. Much better than my old friends.” She apologized once we were in the car and a safe distance away from the house.

I nodded my head in agreement. “Yes, but don’t forget our goal- the reason why we moved here.”

“I know, but, she seems happy with them.”

“No, that’s Sadie getting to you.”