𝔹𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔹𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕣𝕤

𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕪-𝕤𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟

(TW: mention of s*lf-h*rm scars. not graphic.)

About 15 minutes later, Medda walks into the nurse's office. I can feel her staring at me, but I don't return the eye contact. She comes over to me and squeezes my shoulder with a gentle "Hey..." I rest my head on her chest, holding back tears. It's embarrassing how this day played out.

Once we get into her car, we drive off in silence. At least, it was quiet for about two minutes. Eventually, Medda sighs, looking at me.

"So what happened?" I tense up. "I'm not mad, I just want to know so I can help you."

I swallow. "Dave says it's called overstimulation...everything just started hurting and I don't know why."

She nods. "I see." Another moment of quiet. "Antonio, you haven't been diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental  disorder, have you?" I blink in confusion. "For example, ADHD, Autism, ADD, and so on." I shake my head. "Didn't think so."

The rest of the car ride is silent. When we pull into the garage, Medda puts a hand on my forearm, which freaks me out because if you scanned my arm at the grocery store it would come out to a pack of Oreos. Trust me, I've tried it. She sighs.

"How do you feel about getting a therapist?" My eyes widen and I stay silent. "I had a feeling you'd be opposed to the idea...but it can help. A lot. Both Jack and Charlie have therapists, and it's been helping them a lot." Resting my head against the car window, I put my hands in my pockets to discover that Davey had snuck a fidget toy in there. I fight back a smile. "I know the idea of therapy is scary, but I think you should give it a shot. Of course, therapy isn't for everyone, so if you feel like it's not right for you after a while, you can stop going." I start biting my nails again. "I want you to at least try it out. Please?" I finally look at Medda. Her face is full of concern. I twist my face and reluctantly nod. I want to make her happy and I don't want to fight with her, so it's best to just agree. I learned that a long time ago.

Medda smiles. "Great! With both Jack and Charlie, I've met many therapists over the years and know what they're like. Let's head inside and talk about this later, I know you're not feeling well." When we enter the house, I don't hide in my room like I usually do. Instead, I plant myself on the couch. I watch my reflection on the black tv screen, not wanting to turn it on. I push the remote as far away from me as possible.

A few minutes later, Medda comes over with two mugs. One full of hot chocolate, the other full of tea. She hands me the one with hot cocoa as she sits now next to me.

"Are you feeling well enough to have this conversation right now? I know it's a hard thing to talk about, so I don't want to talk about it until you are ready." I think for a moment, then shake my head. Everything is starting to hurt again, I don't want to make it worse. Medda nods. "I'll leave you alone then." She places a light kiss on my forehead before heading up to her bedroom.

I pull the fuzzy blanket closer to my face, closing my eyes. A nap won't hurt, will it? Especially since I didn't sleep last night. Yeah, a short nap won't be the worst thing right now...