habits ❀ mattia polibio

settantotto

𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄
𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀

the next day, mattia was finally discharged from the hospital and was sent home where he would spend the next four weeks on painkillers and bed rest. thankfully, madison was there for him for the rest of the week, but that was cut short after her outdoor suspension was over and she had to return to school.

at school, everyone gave her glares or looked at her with a pity face due to being the girlfriend whose boyfriend got shot. she wasn't embarrassed because it wasn't anything to be embarrassed about. she wanted to tell everyone to fuck off, but she couldn't afford another suspension so she stayed quiet.

she sometimes facetimed mattia during lunch but most of the time let him get some rest after having a rough injury in his leg. she wondered if the police ever did anything with the information she gave them.

and as if something were listening to her thoughts, the next week she saw a news article about mariano and angelo arrested for being involved in the shooting. she called mattia as soon as she saw the article and she almost skipped school just to see him and give him a fat hug.

she wanted mariano and angelo to pay for what they did to mattia and them getting arrested meant they would.

she often found herself impatient, wanting things to be normal again. she knew, no matter how well he hid it, that mattia was deeply traumatized by the event. she was glad he was seeing a psychologist because it'll really help him with all of the images stuck in his head.

mattia had therapy once a week to really treat what he has and what went on in his brain. a week after he was discharged, he started having nightmares about the event but in different places. these places varied from school, the mall, his old job, to even his own home.

only having three sessions so far, they haven't come to a diagnosis yet, his psychologist thinks he has post traumatic stress disorder, also known as ptsd.

"i'm scared to walk into a hotel and experience everything again," said mattia as he spoke to his therapist through a zoom call.

"often times when we experience a traumatic event like such, we avoid the places that remind us of it or the places where it can possibly happen again as a defense mechanism to protect our mind and to avoid that same state of anxiety you felt when he pulled out the gun," she explain to him. "i'm assuming you were scared when he pulled out the gun, correct?"

mattia laughed, "what do you think?" he sarcastically told her and she smiled. "i was scared but in the moment i wanted to believe the gun was fake."

"yeah i understand," she says. "with this session coming to a close, the next two are going to be us talking about the event and letting your mind free of those thoughts. once you go to physical therapy, i want you to come to my office and we're going to practice some grounding techniques and slowly get rid of those triggers that cause that state of anxiety. as for the dreams, you really have to do something that releases your mind from any thinking about it. i normally tell my patients to draw or color in a coloring book, but if you already have a hobby i seriously want you to start doing that. our dreams are often things we unwillingly think of and by doing a hobby, your mind is focused on completing it rather than thinking about the event." she explains.

mattia nodded as he took in the information, "my only hobby was soccer and that was taken from me," he says.

"you should try coloring, ive seen it help so many of my patients before and i think you could really benefit from it. if it doesn't work, then we look for another hobby," she says and he nods. "okay mattia, it's always a pleasure talking to you. we'll meet up again next week."