Chapter 553 - RECOGNITION AND ACCEPTANCE

Note: This is a work of fiction. Treatment for PTSD patients vary from one person to another. Do not think that what the doctor is using in this novel will be applicable to everyone in real life.

"What are you doing?!" Chris bolted right out of the door and ran towards the doctor to get Rissy away from him. "What have you done?!"

"I'm starting to see how she will respond to me." Doctor Nelson stated calmly.

"How can she respond to you if she's sleeping?! Look – "

"Okay. Stop it now." Cayenne stepped in between to calm down Chris who was holding Rissy in his arms now. "You are not the doctor here and he knows more than what you know. Why don't you go back inside and let him do his job?"

"I won't leave her here." Chris resolutely disagreed even if it was Cayenne talking to him.

"I need to talk to her alone or I won't be able to help your girlfriend. It's your choice." Doctor Nelson sat on the chair without batting an eyelid. He was expressionless as if he didn't really care. In truth, he cared for the woman in front of him. He could remember how his daughter looked like when he visited him at the hospital after she was rescued.

Hesitation reflected on Chris' face and he looked towards Cayenne who only rolled her eyes at him. "I brought a doctor here to help but if you won't cooperate, that's not my problem anymore. I have done what I can to repay what she has done for my brother. Stefan and I still have something to do. We'll go ahead."

Stefan wrapped his hand around his wife's waist and gave Chris a smirk. "It's your choice." He then turned to look at the doctor and nodded his head faintly. "We'll leave the other guards here. They'll send you home once you're done."

"Thank you."

Without further ado, Stefan and Cayenne turned around and left the place. Rissy's parents were watching them through the large windows and they knew what was happening outside. They were all worried.

"I'll bring you to her other room." Chris muttered before carrying Rissy back inside the house. "Why did you have to bring her outside if you just wanted her to become unconscious?"

"Because it would less suffocate her if I tell her that I am a doctor when she has more space around her."

"Will this be alright?"

"Trust me." Doctor Nelson stated with firm conviction. "Just lay her down on the bed and leave us."

Although Chris stepped out of Rissy's bedroom version 2.0, he didn't leave. In fact, he was just leaning on the door. The doctor knew it, too but he didn't care as long as no one would touch the woman on the bed during the first healing process. In fact, part of this healing process was to recognize the traumatic incidents as part of life. She was able to overcome this before with the help of another psychiatrist who now passed away. So, it only means that she will be able to do it this time, too.

"You were labeled as weak." The doctor started talking while reading some children's book he found on her mini library. "Many kids hated you because you didn't have enough money to share to them or enough food to share to them. Other children started to outcast you. They bullied you and they never played with you again. You grow up into a fine woman and many were envious of your beauty. You didn't notice it because you are focus on your work. Then, you were kidnapped. You think you are weak again because they were able to take you away. They defiled your body. You thought you were helpless. You thought you are filthy and that the man you love will never love you again. You thought that he would leave after knowing what happened."

Rissy still had her eyes closed but her tears were falling on the side of her face. Memories kept flashing across her mind from she was young and bullied until she grew up and was raped. She could see them clearly as if she was a soul, watching herself getting tarnished and defile. She could see the bruises and wound inflicted in her. She felt the pain once again. The nerve-wracking pain that she wanted to push on the back of her mind.

'Stop! Stop it!' she wanted to scream for help. She wanted someone to reach their hand and grab her. She wanted someone to catch her because she was falling down to the darkest pit of helplessness and fear.

"Butt you are not really weak." Doctor Nelson mentioned. "You are one of the strongest women in the world. You have the kindest heart to forgive those who bullied you. You have the burning passion within you to be dedicated to your work and to your students. You didn't just teach them how to do well in class but you honed their characters. You help them build up their confidence. You are not weak! You are not a push-over! You are not a coward! Instead, you are the purest soul on earth. When you love, you give your everything; your heart, your body and your soul. You are not filthy. And you don't have to fear anyone leaving you. You don't have to hole up yourself in a dark room. You have to face your reality because you are brave to do that. Outside the room, beyond the walls that you built around yourself, is a beautiful world where many people love you."

Rissy still continued to cry in her sleep but doctor Nelson didn't have the slightest intention to stop her. One way of releasing all the pain, the anxiety and fear is to cry everything from deep within.

He kept on talking, instilling in her mind that she's a strong person with the kindest heart and purest soul. He kept telling her that many people were looking forward to see her again.

It seems like he was talking to her physical body but in truth, doctor Nelson was targeting her subconscious. She was targeting the weak part of herself which was hiding deep in her mind. To treat a person with PTSD, you must make them realize that things happen for a reason. You have to make them accept it and move forward.. As long as someone denies recognition of these things, they will be haunted for the rest of their lives.