Broken

f i v e

Chris watched as Melissa played with the water.

“Melissa, it’s time to go back in now, we can come out later if you like. We have to start our session for today.”

She nodded her head and stood back up. She followed Chris back inside.

“I already bought everything I need for the session so let’s begin.”

Chris moved the chair which was originally in the corner, in front of the coffee table. He made sure that Melissa was comfortable on the couch before sitting down on the chair.

“Alright, Melissa, this is your time, we can talk about anything you want.”

Chris waited patiently for Melissa to say something but nothing came out. She just sat there while looking at her hands and fiddling with her fingers.

“I understand that you are uncomfortable speaking and that’s completely okay but we should have some way of communicating. How about this, I get you a pad, maybe you can write down your thought’s instead of speaking them.”

Melissa nodded her head. Chris told her to wait while he left to get something.

~*~

“Here, this is a notebook. You can write in this.” He gave her a notebook which was a sea blue color and a pen. She slowly flipped through the pages. “It’s new,” Chris said. She nodded her head.

“I’ll ask you something and maybe you can write it down. If you don’t want me to read it, it’s fine.”

She nodded slowly.

“What would you be doing right now if you weren’t here?”

Melissa didn’t say anything. She looked at the book in her hand. She opened the first page in the notebook and began writing slowly.

She finished ten minutes later.

“Are you finished?” Chris asked as Melissa was closing her notebook.

She nodded.

Chris didn’t bother asking Melissa if he could read it, he just smiled.

“Your aunt told me a little about you, how you love being outdoors and visiting new places, is there any place you’ve always wanted to visit but never got the chance?”

Melissa quickly nodded and opened her book once again and began writing the thoughts that were clouded in her head.

Chris watched intently as she wrote in her notebook.

She put her pen in between the two pages in her book and closed it.

“Done?” Chris asked.

She nodded and smiled. She takes her book and passes it to Chris.

“You want me to read it?” Chris asked, very surprised that she actually wanted him to read it.

She nodded.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to if you don’t want,” he said to make sure she was okay with Chris reading her thoughts.

She nodded once more and held it out for Chris to take.

He took the book from her hands gently and put it with his papers.

“Is it okay if I give it back to you tomorrow, I’ll read through it tonight.”

She nodded again and he smiled once again.

“Alright, so I think that’s all for today, why don’t you relax for some time, I’ll come and check on you soon and then bring you dinner, okay?” He got up from his seat and held out his hand for Melissa to pull her up. She accepted and let Chris lift her up from her seat.

Chris could see Melissa blush very slightly when she let go of his hand.

“I’ll see you later,” and then he was gone.