When Kat Came Back

Chapter 47

Ashlynn was released from the hospital a few days after she spoke her last words to Andy. She hadn't spoken since then. Andy came clean and said she didn't want to talk about what happened and that she was capable of speaking, but wouldn't. They tried. They all tried. But Ashlynn had locked herself away and wouldn't answer anyone one way or the other.

Once she was released, Patricia and Patrick started making arrangements to get Ashlynn back home to Chicago. She needed to get back to school, and Patrick hoped some semblance of her normal schedule might help her open up and talk again. Patricia made an appointment with Ashlynn's therapist once travel arrangements to bring her home we're made.

Back in Chicago, the first thing Ashlynn did was go upstairs to her room and close the door. She made it clear she wanted to be left alone without speaking a word. Patricia sighed as she watched her daughter climb the stairs she had thought Ashlynn would never come home to again when they thought they might lose her after the attack in New York.

"I don't know what to do," Patricia said to Patrick that night over the phone. "She won't speak. She's barely eating. I feel like I'm losing her."

"When is she seeing her therapist?" Patrick asked.

"Tomorrow after school," Patricia said.

"Is she going to school tomorrow?"

"I told her I thought she should. Obviously, she didn't say anything about it."

Patrick sighed.

"I don't know what to say, Mom. Talk to her therapist. See if he can talk her into... talking."

Patricia wasn't sure that would help. She worried so much about Ashlynn. Especially now, after her assault in New York.

Patricia knocked on Ashlynn's bedroom door and announced she was coming in. Ashlynn was lying on her bed. She hadn't unpacked from New York. She was curled up and staring at her bedroom wall. Patricia sat down beside her daughter, on her bed.

"Ash, honey? Won't you please talk to me?" Patricia asked, touching Ashlynn's shoulder and trying to turn her over gently. Ashlynn resisted.
"Please, sweetheart."

Ashlynn didn't move.

"Honey, are you hungry? I was thinking we could order in dinner."

No response. Patricia sighed.

"If there's anything you want for dinner, let me know and we can order in, okay?"

Ashlynn didn't respond.

Patricia kissed Ashlynn on the head and told her she'd be downstairs if she wanted to come down and watch TV or order in dinner.

Once downstairs, Patricia broke down into tears and sat on the bottom stair while she cried quietly. Her daughter was hurting. She'd been hurt and Patricia couldn't imagine what Ash was going through. And Ash wouldn't tell her.

Her phone rang and she saw David's number on the screen. She answered.

"Hi, David," she said.

"Patricia? What's wrong. You sound like you've been crying. Are you okay? Is Ashlynn?"

"David, I don't know what to do. She won't speak to me. She won't speak to anyone. We got home and she went straight up to her room and is lying on her bed, just staring at the wall," Patricia said, moving into the kitchen so Ashlynn might not hear.

"Still, huh?" David said, sympathy in his voice.

"Yeah. Still. She's seeing her therapist tomorrow, but I don't know if she'll speak to him."

David sighed.

"It's supposed to be my weekend this weekend. Do you still want me to take her? We don't mind, obviously."

"I'm hoping getting back into her normal routine might help, so for now, let's stick to the schedule. So, yes. Take her this weekend. Maybe you and Melinda can help her start talking again because I haven't been able to get through to her yet."

"We'll do our best," David said. "To think, I was worried about what her kidnappers might have done, only for it to happen in New York."

"You're not going to treat her like she's damaged or something, are you? You're not going to get all awkward again, are you? I don't think Ashlynn will tolerate that anymore."

David sighed.

"No, Patricia. I will not be 'all awkward' with Ashlynn. I know what happened to her. I don't have to ask or wonder how to talk about it. I just want to help bring her back. We were finally getting along. We were doing so well. We were having really good conversations and I was getting to know what an amazing, bright and funny person Ashlynn is."

Patricia could hear tears behind David's voice and her heart broke. Not only for Ashlynn and the trauma she was dealing with, but also for David, who'd admitted weeks ago that he'd been worried about what the Summerlins may have done to Ashlynn as a child and he'd been worried he wouldn't know how to talk to her. Patricia had told him what she'd discussed with her therapist about Ashlynn/Kaitlyn and that he couldn't keep using that as an excuse.

He'd spent the next two weeks actually working on his feelings about it all and by the time Thanksgiving rolled around that weekend, and Ashlynn was supposed to be with David, he'd come to terms with the fact that Ashlynn was Ashlynn and not Kaitlyn. That the baby they'd lost was gone but their daughter was still very much alive.

And they'd started to forge a great relationship. Ashlynn had started calling David 'Dad', they texted all the time, and Ashlynn came home from her weekends with David in a much better mood. She'd been leaving for her weekends with David in a much better mood, too. She actually looked forward to going to spend time with her dad and step-mom. In fact, sometimes she'd go there from school, have dinner, hang out and David would drive her home before she had to be getting ready for bed for school the next day. 

And Ashlynn is smart and funny. But since the attack in New York, even before she'd stopped speaking, Ash was a shell of herself.

And no one knew how to get through to her. Patricia just hoped her therapist would be able to help.