ʜɪᴅᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴇᴇᴋ

CHAPTER TWO

Jay lays down on the leather couch in the distored office. He lays there alone for what feels like hours. The only sounds are that of his inner thoughts. He reaches behind his head, running his hand through the plant behind him.

The door cracks open, and a woman enters the room. Jay sits up, admiringly almost. Her black pencil skirt, tucked into your white blouse. The way she walks in her heels. She removes her glasses, placing them onto the small table to her left as she sits into her chair.

"Good morning, Jay," she says.

Jay is smiling now. His hands fiddle together, almost like a nervous teenager on the first date.

"Good morning, Dr. Collins," he responds.

"Please, don't get up," she continues taking out her notepad, "Lay back down."

Jay lays his head back onto the leather couch. He tries to make himself comfortable but struggles. Suddenly, there is added pressure. Dr. Collins passes Jay a pillow to rest his head on,

"Thank you," says Jay.

Dr. Collins begins writing down her notes. She asks Jay a handful of questions, some of which he has trouble answering. He visibly struggles to find the answers, to which he asks to move on.

Dr. Collins approaches the window, it overlooks the city, and she begins to draw the blinds. Jay, confused, sits up.

"Don't worry," she continues, "I'm just setting up."

Jay rests his head down once again, as Dr. Collins turns off the light in her office. The room is now in complete darkness, and Jay closes his eyes once again. This time, Dr. Collins tries to lul Jay to sleep, something of a hypnotherapy routine.

"You're somewhere safe, the safest place in the world to you," Dr. Collins says.

Jay gives into her soft tone. The way she elongates her words has him feeling tired. He relaxes all his muscles from head to toe.

Suddenly, Jay jumps up in a moment of panic. Dr. Collins rushes to turn on the lights and reopen the blinds. Jay jumping gave her a fright. She didn't think he'd respond to the treatment the way he did.

"What the fuck was that?" Asks Jay.

"Hypnotherapy," replies Dr. Collins.

Jay shakes his head and feels a migraine coming on. His head thumps, almost crippled with the pain. He sits back down onto the leather couch, his hands pressed against his head. Dr. Collins takes medication from her bag, handing Jay two tablets and a small glass of water.

"I don't want to do that again," says Jay.

Dr. Collins inspects him, almost. Her gaze was drawn to him and how he just reacted.

"What did you see?" She asks.

"Nothing," replies Jay, shaking his head.

She takes her notepad in hand and begins writing. Jay sipping his water notices this and tries to get a look in. Dr. Collins pulls the notepad closer to her chest,

"Sorry, Jay," she continues, "I can't let you see."

Jay nods his head. He dissaproves, but he respects the rules of the office and of hers too. Jay approaches the window, gazing upon the city,

"Why is it taking so long for me?" He continues as he looks out the window, "everyone else took a month, two at most. But me, two years, why?"

Dr. Collins lays down her notepad. She approaches her desk, sitting down as she tucks herself in.

"You all went through something very traumatic," she continues as she looks at Jay, "you might have had the worst of it."

Jay runs his hands upon his stomach, the first scar at the hands of Mandy. He thinks back to that night, the one that changed everything. How is trust was betrayed so easily at the hands of someone he tried to protect.

Jay has not been the same since, not trusting anyone outside of the surviving four, not even new romances that tried to blossom within the past two years. He finds himself haunted, every day, more so at night when he tries to rest his head upon his pillow.

The memories come unwarranted, sometimes at random times of the day. It's something he can't come to terms with. How two of his closest friends could betray him like that. But not only betray him, but attempt to take his life from him.

He feels blessed every day to have been able to survive but has taken such a toll on his mental health on his ever growing road to recovery.

Sometimes, rehabilitation seems out of reach for him, like he wants to give up and succumb to his fear and give in to what haunts him every day.

"I'm scared," says Jay.

"Scared of what?" Asks Dr. Collins.

Jay shakes his head slowly, stilling peering out the window to the city covered in rain.

"That's the thing." He continues as he turns now facing Dr. Collins, "I don't know."

The timer rings out as Dr. Collins reaches for the alarm. Jay grabs his coat and bag. She stands up to walk him to the door,

"Same time next week, don't forget," she says.

Jay nods and heads for the exit. Upon leaving the therapist, he sees Skyler and Quinn waiting outside for him. The two of them drenched in rain, with no shelter around them. Jay looks confused. He approaches them,

"What's wrong?" He continues, "we're not supposed to meet until six o'clock," he says.

Quinn wipes her tears away from her eyes. Jay grows worried as he awaits a response.

"My sister was attacked," says Quinn.

"Fuck," replies Jay.