Dispatched || Maddie Buckley

Chapter Thirty: Beginning Again

"So Michael, I'm Dr. Finch. Why don't you tell me what brought you to me today?"

Mikey swallowed hard, chewed on his bottom lip, and fiddled with his shaky hands in his lap, "It's, uh, it's Mikey... Not Michael. Well, it is Michael but please call me Mikey."

The therapist nodded, "Okay, Mikey, why don't you tell me what brought you to me today?"

"Well, I have these episodes where I can't breathe, my hands get all shaky, and everything goes all blurry." Mikey admitted, keeping his eyes on his lap.

"That sounds like a panic attack. When do you mainly have these episodes?" Dr. Finch questioned, clicking his pen.

"Uh, I, uh.. Well, I had a really bad one when my cousin came to see me. We don't, uh, we don't really get along." Mikey swallowed thickly, "He used to do things.. when I was younger."

"Now, Mikey, this is a safe space for you to talk about those things. Nothing you say will leave this room, so, let's talk about that."

"O-Okay.. Well, uh, he used to hit me amongst other things. He and my father had field days with their fists and Thomas, he, uh.. He liked other things too."

"Would you like to talk about what other things you mean?" The therapist questioned, crossing his leg over knee.

Mikey felt his breath hitch in his throat, "Honestly, I don't remember a lot of it. I think a big part of me tried to push those memories far deep inside. I don't know.."

"That's okay.. It's day one of this. We don't have to talk about it quite yet. We will work on opening up your trauma as we progress because that is what this is. Trauma. It's causing your panic attacks."

Mikey's nerves got the best of him, his anxiety peeking at its highest point as he looked down at his phone to check his phone, "Well thank you Dr. Finch. I,uh, I have a shift today. I should probably get going if I don't want to be late." He forced a chuckle and stood up, grabbing his jacket and rushing out of the room.

Once he was hit with the fresh warm air of the outdoors,
he fell backwards against the brick walled building. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths as Eleanor had shown him to do when he started to feel like this. He brought his palms to his face and wiped away the sweat that had formed on his forehead. He wasn't used to talking about his past, about his father, about his cousin, or his mother that he had never met. Yet, he had to now.

He needed to.

He left the therapist's office feeling even more lost than he had before. He knew why he was there. He was fighting for happiness but what was the point if all it brought was more pain? He couldn't wrap his mind around it.

"All units report to the Target on the corner of Martis and Third. Physical altercation has broken out. RA units are advised that medical assistance is needed."

Mikey took a good deep breath before heading over to the location of the altercation.

-

He finally pulled to a stop outside of the Target, leaving his flashing red and blue lights on as he stepped from the vehicle. He saw a young man sitting on the sidewalk clutching his broken and bleeding nose and another young man being held back by a few of his friends, clutching his broken hand.

Mikey sighed and rolled his eyes, "Care to tell me what exactly happened here today, guys?"

All of the teens started to speak over one another, making it hard for Mikey to understand what exactly they were each saying.

"One at a time, please." Mikey looked around at the group and pointed at the tall boy standing behind his friend with the broken nose. "You. Go. Tell me."