Adopted (a Zalfie fanfic) [1]

Chapter 28

Quick A/N: It's official. I am the worst wattpadder (is that even a word?) in the history of wattpad. I'm really sorry I've not updated for so long but I've literally got like zero inspiration right now and I'm finding it incredibly difficult to come up with anything. Sorry x

*Zoe's POV*
Thursday quickly rolled round and soon enough it was 10:00am and time to pick Lily up for her first therapy session. The car journey was spent discussing things through with Alfie. I had read about people's experiences with this type of therapy and what would happen. Alfie had contacted the therapist who would be working with Lily and got reassurance from a professional that things weren't going to be easy, but everything would work out in the end.

The whole parent thing was taking some getting used too but we were getting there. Lily probably wasn't the easiest choice for first time parents but we wanted to make her life better and I think we were succeeding in that. We could see how far Lily had come over time, her confidence was building and things were starting to brighten up. But then things started going wrong. Not with our family, but inside her head. She was visioning things and re-experiencing things that had happened a long time ago.

That was why the therapy was so desperately needed. The longer we were leaving it, the worse it was becoming. Lily didn't see it that way though, she couldn't really understand why we were so worried.

She was very much against the whole idea, and I can see why. Lily isn't one of those people who like to talk about things. She would rather keep them all to herself.

That's what made therapy so hard I think. We arrived 15 minutes before our appointment and as we sat waiting to be called, you could tell she was incredibly anxious. "Breathe Lily, it'll all be fine. I promise." I whispered. I feared another panic attack was coming and I needed to calm her down before it was too late. She had brought a book with her and was sat reading it, but you could tell she wasn't taking any of it in. She just stared at the page as if it were blank.

It was what seemed like a lifetime before we were finally called in to an office. It weren't like a doctors office, there was nothing at all medical about it (A/N: If you watch PLL, I'm visioning something like Dr Sullivan's). I think that helped relax us all a little.

We sat down and the therapist introduced herself as Dr Linda Shaw. She talked us through what was going to happen in the next few sessions while we were still adjusting to things. We were going to have a family session once a week and then Lily was also to have a private session with Linda on a Monday.

We had passed on a copy of Lily's files to her in advance, so she knew everything about what Lily had been through in order to understand fully.

Linda started by telling Lily what we were going to talk about and if she was alright with it. She asked if she could ask Lily some questions about what had happened to her before and didn't get much of a response. So she started with the question of "Do you still think of the car crash?"

Lily flinched at the memory and I was waiting for her to either explode or break down. But instead, she just stared in front of her and whispered, "All the time."

"How do you feel when you get these thoughts?" She asked.

It took Lily a few moments to think of a reply. "Sad, lonely...miserable." she said. Sighing, she opened up her book and continued to read it from where she left off. You could see the tears forming. I knew something like this would happen. I glanced at the therapist and then at Alfie.

"Lily? I know it's hard, but we've got to do this to sort the problem. You can't just block us all out every time." I said, reaching out for her hand. She pulled it back and stared at me.

"I don't want to be here. I don't want to speak about these things. I don't want to have to live my life like this but I don't have a choice. I never do." With that, she stood up and walked out, sitting back outside in the waiting area.

I stood up to follow her when Linda held me back. "She wants to be alone right now. She'll come round, it's bound to be like this at first. Give her a while."

I sat back down and watched through the glass as Lily paced the corridor outside, ringing her hands and shaking her head. This was where things were going to start getting tough.