𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟗𝟕

"𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴' 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵

     "I NEED A NEW THERAPIST," Noah mumbles as her mother brushes her hair. They are stood in Emily's bathroom, Noah wanting to get ready with her mother.

It is the day of Haley's funeral.  The teen's days have been spent at the apartment, avoiding everything.  She has been stuck to Emily's side and refuses to get out of their home.

"Just because he went through Dr. Stephenson's office doesn't mean you have to stop seeing him," Emily tells her daughter as she carefully brushes through the teen's hair.

"I don't wanna bring any more trouble to him."

Emily turns the teen around to face her. She puts her hands on Noah's shoulders and peers into her electric blue eyes.

"Noah, Foyet is gone — he's dead," Emily reminds her.

"I know, I just—" Noah pauses to take a deep breath, "What if he's traumatized?  Can't even look at me because I remind him of what happened?"

"Noah, we talked to Dr. Stephenson and he wasn't in the office when Foyet went in.  He wasn't hurt and the only files he looked through were yours."

"I don't know," Noah shakes her head as she turns back around.

"I'm only asking you to stay because you were so happy with Dr. Stephenson," Emily mentions as she continues brushing, "I mean, we looked everywhere for a therapist like him and he's perfect."

𝕗𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜

"This place is supposed to be good, one of the agents recommended it," Emily says as she slides her laptop across the dining room table for Noah to look.

"Okay," The teen replies as she scrolls through the website.

"Read through the doctors and see which one you like," The mother suggests and watches her daughter scroll through.

The teen takes her time, which Emily understands.  The mother cleans up around the living room and waits for her daughter to be done.

Noah reads name after name.  She reads their profiles and what they specialize in.  She is about to give up when she comes across one of the therapists.  The picture of the man seems inviting — he has glasses, a nice smile, and he seems a bit on the younger side.  She reads through his profile and can feel that he is the right decision.

"This one," Noah calls out to her mother, who is in the kitchen doing dishes.

Emily stands behind the teen's chair and looks at the profile.  She scans through it and peers over at Noah.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Noah nods.

"You don't think having a woman will be more comfortable?"

"I don't know," Noah shrugs, "I think it would be better for me to have a guy. For a while, I was really hesitant around women because the one woman I had in my life was Gia. She made me think all women were the same. But I always felt comfortable with my Dad, so I think I'm less likely to be scared to open up if it's a man."

"Okay, bub," Emily replies and kisses her daughter's cheek.

"Is that okay?"

"Whatever you think will help you best," Emily says.

"Okay," Noah nods as she turns to the screen.

"So..." Emily trails off as she looks at the doctor's name on the screen, "Dr. Stephenson?"