Caught

Chapter 38: The Diagnoses

Alicia's POV

I then saw Mayra and Kelsey come out. Mayra looked worried and she had looked like she'd been crying. Poor girl, I'm so glad I came with her and not Ruben.
"Mrs. Dominguez, may I speak with you for a moment?" I nodded.
"Mayra, would you like to take Lucky out for a walk?" She asked.
Mayra nodded and took the dog outside. I went inside the room where Mayra and Kelsey have their session.
"So how's she doing?" I asked.
She made a half smile. "She's doing okay. She's been more expressive and honest to me so that's a good sign." She said.
"But I think she's been a little afraid and distancing herself."
"What do you mean by distancing herself?" I asked.
"I mean she tends to shut herself out from what it seems." She said. I might have to agree on that. She has been distancing herself from us.
"Is there anything that I should be more concerned about?" I asked.
She looked down and then looked at me.
"I'm afraid something else happened while she was being held captive..."
I was concerned? What else happened?! "Well, what happened?" I asked.
"She told me that while she was being held captive she hiked to Lovers Leap trail at Custer Park with David and supposedly they got to know each other and because of that David showed is soft side to her and from what she told me they were dancing and he asked her to kiss him and she did." She said.
I was shocked. Mayra kissing David?!
"What? No, that can't be that's absurd." I said.
She looked concerned as well. "I wish I could say so, but it's true. She also told me that she has developed feelings for him. I'm afraid she has Stockholm Syndrome."
I've heard of it before but I didn't know what it was.
"What is Stockholm Syndrome? Is it serious?" I asked.
"It's not that serious, but it's also not good. Stockholm syndrome is a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity."
"In other words?"
"In other words, fall in love with their captors." She explained.
I started to get confused and worried.
"How could this happen?" I asked.
"I understand how you're feeling mrs. Dominguez, I've had clients like Mayra's situation. How it usually happens is when a captor spends quality time with his captive they develop feelings for one another." She said.
I really need to talk to Mayra about this. It makes so much sense how she's defensive about the boys being locked up.
"How can we help Mayra to not get Stockholm syndrome?"
"There's no special treatment really. But we can continue to do psychologic visits and hopefully she'll start becoming her old herself again. The most important thing is that she needs a lot of love and patience and support from you and your family. This is 1,000 times more stressful for her than it is for you." She said.
"Don't worry, my husband and I will do what ever it takes to help her." I said.
"Speaking of support from you guys, she told me how her dad has been acting different than normal?" She asked.
I nodded. "Yeah, he's been super overprotective of her and basically treats her like a criminal if you know what I mean. Like he's not being a father anymore, he acts more like a cop." I said.
"Okay, yeah Mayra told me how she's afraid to tell him everything how she feels so that's why she closes herself off. Maybe if this can help her, talk to her and your husband and have a family conversation. And if not maybe you should talk to her." She said.
"Definitely. I'll talk to her and my husband. Anything else I have to do?"
She shook her head. "Nope, that should do it. If you or your husband have any questions, just give me a call."
"We will. When is our next appointment?" I asked.
"Since the next few weeks are the Holidays, We can schedule for the 5th of January on a Tuesday." She said.
"Yeah, that'll be perfect. Thank you so much Dr. Spendlove." I said.
"You're welcome and happy holidays!" She said. I saw Mayra come in with Lucky and said goodbye to him and dr. Spendlove. Looks like we'll be having a long talk tonight after dinner.