Where Life Takes Us

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One

W A D E

My mom and I sat across from Dr. Patel in her office while Audrey distracted Charlie with toys in the other room. We figured it was time to pay her another visit so we could figure out what we could do to help Charlie feel comfortable talking again.

"As much as I wanted to, I didn't wake her up when I heard her. I was worried I'd scare her if I tried to get her to talk while she was awake," I told Dr. Patel, remembering how I felt when I heard my sister's voice for the first time in so long.

Dr. Patel nodded, folding her hands together. "You did the right thing, Wade. Pressuring Charlie to talk will only hinder her progress. It might intimidate her if she knew she was being closely observed whenever she spoke to the point where she could stop once again. It would take her a while to come back from it."

"But her talking in her sleep is a good sign that she's on her way to getting better, right?" I questioned.

"Yes, Charlie's showing great progress. You make her feel united by going to appointments together and happy whenever you spend time together with her as a family, which might have had something to do with her talking on the family outing. Her mood check-ins during every appointment have been proof of that," Dr. Patel described. "What we need to do is show her that it's okay to relax and to depend on her family for support. This will help her feel safe enough to forget the danger and trauma that she associates with not speaking."

"Besides therapy sessions, are there other ways that we can encourage Charlie to keep talking without intimidating her? We're in the middle of looking for a new place to stay, so we're a bit worried about causing her any stress during this time. It's a big change for her and the kids," Mom explained, looking over at me.

Dr. Patel slid a few pamphlets about traumatic mutism across the desk to me and Mom, as she answered, "As of right now, the best thing we can do is avoid overreacting or appearing over-excited whenever Charlie speaks. It's important to normalize her talking and show that nothing's changed to remind her that it's okay for her to talk again. It will also make her feel better knowing that she isn't treated differently whenever she speaks. Then we'll observe her progress and see our next steps from there."

__________

That night, I sat at the dining table in Aunt Olive's house where my family and I were staying while we looked for a new place. Everybody went to bed early after we spent the rest of the day talking about which houses we liked so far, so I was the only one awake.

I never really slept late but ever since the nightmares came back, there were nights where I was scared to go back to sleep. I had another one that night, which wasn't as bad as the others were.

But it shook me up a bit to the point where all my tossing and turning meant I wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon. Instead, I got out of bed, headed into the kitchen and dining room, and went on my computer searching up things about Charlie's condition.

"Wade, what are you doing awake?" Mom's voice said out of nowhere, making me jump in my seat.

She gave me a curious look, as I asked, "How did you know I was here?"

"I came upstairs from the basement to review some applicants' resumes when I noticed only the pillows and blankets were left on the pull-out bed. Also, the light in here confirmed that it was you," Mom explained, giving me an amused smile as she took a seat across from me at the table and turned on her laptop.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I looked down and stammered, "I, uh... couldn't sleep, that's all."

Technically, I wasn't lying. I just didn't want to tell her that it was because of a nightmare. She'd get worried and ask about it, which was just another thing for us to think about.