Adjusting his glasses, Haru sat upright before questioning Lucinda. Thinking deeply about what to say to ease her into talking, he started, "So, let's start with our names first. You already know mine, what's yours?" he asked.
Lucinda breathed deep, reminding herself it was just a therapy session and she could trust the person to help her. "Lucinda Hayashi," she replied, her voice cracking a bit in the process.
Haru was surprised that she'd agreed to talk. "A lovely name, so what's really going on? Want to share a bit about why you came to therapy?"
Lucinda starred at the paintings on the wall like she could bore invincible holes through them, she looked back at Haru, telling herself she'd already talked, so there's no turning back or regretting her actions on opting for therapy. "I think I'm going crazy," she said, fear laced in her voice, her heart picked up the pace, her eyes burning red with a tinge of water lacing the rim, she looked so broken and her weight had come down, carrying this burden alone wasn't easy for her, having to always smile for her loved ones to never worry about her.
Haru didn't say anything, but gave her an encouraging look to keep talking. She felt awkward as she rubbed her right arm, blowing air in her cheeks before speaking, "I keep having these weird dreams where I see the same person over and over again. The last time I hallucinated at a train station, I was lucky enough that the security officer had seen me on time, and whenever I get close to her, I always have my life on the line and before she disappears, I always watch her lips moving with no sound coming from them." She narrated out with a cracked voice on the verge of crying, and her hands were trembling.
Haru held her hands down, squeezing them a bit, to get her to stop trembling. "You're not crazy," he said slowly, word for word, looking deep into her eyes, making sure she understood. The way he behaved with Lucinda, he'd never done it with his other patients. He'd always kept his distance if it was a woman and just waited till they finally talked. If it was a male, he usually joked around with them and for married couples, he kept it strictly professional with them.
He took out his handkerchief from his breast pocket and used it to wipe the tears from her eyes. He looked into her eyes; they had this honey brown look that drew him into an abyss. Quickly remembering that he was engaged, he retracted his hand back like he'd gotten a jolt of electricity. He remembered this was a therapy session and not a console the patient moment.
Clearing his throat, "sorry for that, I don't want to tag what you're going through as night terrors, but for now I'll have to monitor you and all I can prescribe is tylenol for the effect of headaches that come with hallucinating and I'll see from there if any other symptoms get triggered by the migraine, then you'll need drugs heavier than tylenol," Haru explained while scribbling on his notepad. He got up and walked towards his desk, he stretched out to open the desk drawer on the right, on opening it, he took out a blue rectangle pad, he quickly wrote some words and wrote down the pharmacy address and also wrote down the date of her next therapy meeting which was scheduled for next week on the 18th....
Lucinda got up and thanked Haru, returning his handkerchief back. She took the prescription paper from him before walking out of the office, feeling hopeful about her therapy session....
She walked to a park and bought noodles from a mobile noodle shop. Sitting down to eat her warm, steamy noodles, she immediately received a notification on her phone from Yuri reminding her to pick up her snacks. Lucinda chuckled, thinking she could use her day off to explore a bit. However, knowing Yuri, she gets grumpy when she doesn't get her snacks on time. Finishing up her noodles, she thanked the shop owner before dropping a tip and walking out. This was because she felt so generous today.
Once she had reached the supermarket, she got everything Yuri wanted, but when she stepped out, she was bumped into, making her fall on the ground with the items on the ground. The prescription paper she held onto flew out of her hands, and she quickly stood up and chased it without dusting her dress, but she wasn't able to get it. The person who bumped into her left a while ago without helping her out or even apologizing. 'At least Yuri's snacks are safe if not she'll have my head on a stake this evening, I'll check any pharmacy for the drugs,' Lucinda thought, using it as a consolation price to herself for what had happened.
***
Yuri was outside sitting on the steps waiting for Lucinda, wondering why she was taking her time to come, 'should I call her?' Yuri thought standing up to pace around for the fifth time that day, worrying for Lucinda. When it reached 5:30 pm, Lucinda wasn't yet home, Yuri was a bit pale, so she carried the house keys and ran to the road to catch a cab to look for Lucinda, when she saw her walking down the road, lost in her own thoughts.
Yuri ran towards her and enveloped her in a warm hug. "I thought you'd been kidnapped. I was already thinking about how my baby would miss me and she'd be lonely without me to protect her from the bad guys," Yuri said taking the waterproof from Lucinda's hand and hugging it to herself after releasing her from the hug.
"Are you talking to me or the snacks I just bought?" Lucinda asked, massaging her back slightly after experiencing the fall back at the supermarket.
"It's obviously the snacks. How else did you think my treasure would stay safe?" Yuri replied puffing up her cheeks and walking ahead of Lucinda to open the door. Lucinda couldn't help but chuckle knowing that this person was part of her family and always made her feel welcome.