Hearts Incarcerated

Chapter 8

I sat in my office with a wide smile on my face, I had just called Jonah to set up the meeting between Jax and his family.

Everything was set for the next day, Friday.

Jax was my next patient, so I was on edge, excited to let him know he would be seeing his family, and it made my heart so full to know things were finally starting to fall into place for him.

It was about damn time, if you had to ask me!

My phone chimed and I quickly skimmed through the text, it was Ruby asking if I would be at the family dinner over the weekend.

I switched the phone to silent and dumped it in the desk drawer as Jax stepped in, I would respond to her later.

"Hi, how are you doing today?" I asked, my hands clasped on the desk, my attempt at remaining professional.

"I'm doing alright," he took a seat opposite me, "What about you?"

"I'm doing extremely well, thank you. I have some great news. Jonah will be coming in tomorrow afternoon, you'll meet your family, Jax."

His mouth stretched into an excited smile before he jumped to his feet and ran around the desk, throwing his arms around me in a tight hug, "Thank you so much, Indi. You don't understand how much this means to me!"

I smiled shyly, lifting a hand to one of his arms that were around me, not quite caring that this wasn't a very professional way for a therapist to be accepting thanks from a patient.

"You're welcome, Jax. I told you I would do everything I could to help you. Now, you have a place to go when you get released."

His arms tightened around me, "I'm excited! I haven't been excited for anything in years, I don't even know what to do about how I'm feeling."

He let go of me and returned to his seat, and I hated that I missed his arms.

I shook my head, hoping to rid myself of these ridiculous thoughts I was having.

"I'm happy that you're feeling good about something again. This is great, and do you now see that there is always a chance at a better life? This," I motioned around, "This isn't all there is to life, this isn't where you have to be forever."

He looked down at his hands, a smile still on his face, before looking up at me, "I might. It's still pretty scary for me. But I didn't think I'd ever see this day come, and now it's about to happen, I'm excited but terrified. What if they don't like me? What if my dads disappointed with me?" he scoffed, "What am I saying? I'm in prison, of course he's disappointed with me."

"Jax, your father knows exactly where you are and nothing changed when I told him. He still wanted to meet you, his wife still wanted to meet you. They were still so happy that they've finally found you. I highly doubt they are going to treat you any differently just because of the mistakes you have made. They didn't even hesitate to offer you a place to stay when you're released."

He shook his head, "And they have kids? I have siblings. What if I'm a bad influence on them? Oh, this is a lot, this is too much. I think we should leave this alone."

I frowned, leaning forward, "Jax, a second ago you were so excited. This is fear making you feel the way you are. You are scared. Don't let the fear win, Jax, it's not worth it. The fear will make you lose what could be the best choice of your entire life."

"I just... I don't want to get my hopes up only to have them crushed again," his grey eyes met mine, filled with pain and worry, tears glistening them.

My heart broke for the man in front of me, as it always did with all of my patients.

It never got any easier to see a person so broken, so convinced they were not worth of love.

"Jax, if you don't try, you will never move forward, you will remain stuck in one spot, all the time. You can't do this to yourself."

"I get it, Indigo, I do. But this isn't something I'm sure I know how to change."

"That's why you come to me. I'm here to help you work through it all."

"You ever had someone you couldn't help?"

I paused, thinking of the best way to answer him.

Of course there had been those I couldn't help.

Sighing, I leaned back in my chair, "Of course, I can only do so much. But it's important to remember that no one can save a person if that person is not a willing participant in their rescue. I can't save anyone who doesn't want to be saved. You have to want it, really want it in order for it to work out."

"I don't know if I do."

"Well, how about this? You meet with your family tomorrow, and then you decide after. If you still don't want any help, I'll stop pushing."

Slowly he nodded his head in agreement with me.

It may not have been a huge win, but it was definitely a step towards it.