Premature Metamorphosis

Chapter 9

Scheduling an appointment with a therapist took a little longer than first anticipated but Evelyn eventually managed to find a good fit. Caleb left most of the research and scouring the internet to her, not really knowing enough about how therapy worked to be of much help and ultimately trusting her judgement enough to take a step back.

So Evelyn spent hours upon hours researching different therapists to make sure she could find someone that she felt comfortable enough trusting her son with.

And that's how she eventually came across Raine Whispers.

Over the phone, they seemed very friendly and generally quite easy to talk to and when she took Hunter to the first appointment, they served to be a warm and welcoming presence, even if Hunter got a bit shy.

"Hi there, my name is Raine." They said softly as they kneeled down to be on Hunter's level. "And you must be Hunter, right?"

Hunter gave them a small nod from where he hid stubbornly behind his mother.

"And who's this here?" Raine asked, gesturing at the toy tucked under his arm.

Hunter clutched the cardinal a little tighter. "Flapjack..."

"That's a fun name! I'm assuming Flapjack likes pancakes then?"

"Mhm."

"And do you particularly like birds at all?"

Hunter emerged a little from behind Evelyn at that.  "Yeah!"

"Well, I've got a few colouring pages with birds on them in my office. Do you want to come have a look?" Raine offered.

Hunter turned to look up at Evelyn with a curious look in his eyes.

"You wanna go with them?" Evelyn tried to encourage him, giving him a little nudge.

Hunter dulled a little, biting his lip and clinging a little closer to her.

Like some sort of psychic, Raine immediately seemed to decipher his behaviour. "Do you want your mom to come with us?"

The curiosity returned to him and Hunter nodded eagerly.

"Alright then, just follow me."

Evelyn was impressed by their emotional sensitivity and overall calm nature, but as Raine led the pair of them through an imposing maze of white clinical hallway after white clinical hallway, all nearly identical, Evelyn began to worry about just how effective this would turn out to be, if it really would be the right fit.

Until Raine opened one of the unassuming white doors, inviting them into their office, and Evelyn's worries were scrapped.

The room had such an easygoing, welcoming feeling that it was impossible not to relax as they stepped through the door. The room was so full of colour, completely unlike the pristine white hallways they'd come through, and not only that, but it was cosy too. There were no intimidating desks to separate you or stiff chairs to sit uncomfortably in, but instead nice sofas and fluffy cushions laid out on the floor with a plastic table covered in various colouring sheets and crayons.

It was no surprise that Hunter naturally drifted away from her, taking a seat on one of the cushions to have a look at all the colouring sheets on the table, finding many bird-themed ones just as promised.

And as Evelyn sat with him through the session, he only continued to relax, becoming more and more comfortable around Raine and even talking more, giving them longer answers when they asked him questions.