Joel walked into the waiting room and awkwardly, it felt very familiar to him. He has never been here, but it might be the resemblance between this doctor's office and the doctor's office he went to as a child. It made him feel rather peaceful and he sat down, after he informed the receptionist that he was here. She told him to relax, and that the doctor would be with him in a few minutes.
He took a magazine and paged through it, without really concentrating and was halfway reading an article when the door opened and the doctor signaled for him to come in. She was a petite lady with blond hair and the bluest eyes he had ever seen. He felt mesmerized when she smiled at him and asked him to sit down on the couch opposite a wing back chair in the middle of the room.
"What brought you to me Joel?"
He blushed a little but then smiled and said: "I'm not sure where to start. I feel rather awkward being here, but I haven't been feeling quite like myself. "
"You shouldn't feel awkward. I've helped many of my patients deal with serious problems. Whatever it is, I will do my best to make you feel as comfortable as possible. Tell me more about yourself. Let's start with your childhood."
Joel started telling her things that he had forgotten about himself, and she made him feel so relaxed and comfortable that he just kept on talking until he told her about the accident. She made notes while he talked, and after quite a while she stopped him, and told him that their time was up.
"I would like to see you again Joel. You are showing classic symptoms of post traumatic stress, and I would like to help you deal with it. In the meantime, try and relax more."
She walked with him to the door and asked the receptionist to schedule another session for the following week.
Joel felt a little better after his session with Doctor Madison. He decided to go home for some much needed rest and after taking two pain tablets he fell down on his bed ready to catch up on sleep. He fell asleep almost instantly and woke up a few hours later from the phone ringing next to his bed. He sighed when he saw that it was Jessica.He met her only a few days after the accident in a coffee shop and they exchanged phone numbers. They had been out on a few dates, and it went very well, but these days he was not even in the mood to talk to her.
"Hey Joel, I haven't heard from you in a few days. Is everything okay?"
"Sure, I just haven't been feeling myself lately. I took the day off to rest."
"Oh my, would you like me to bring you some chicken soup? It always makes me feel better."
She babbled on and on, up to a point where she irritated him. He didn't want to be rude to her, but he also only listened to her half-heartedly. He assured her that he just needed some sleep, and that he would be fine.
That seemed to keep her quiet, and when he finally put the phone down, he was wide awake, but also a bit irritated. At least he was able to get a few hours sleep and realized that he was hungry. He phoned the Chinese restaurant and ordered a take away before going to the living room to switch on the television. He found a movie that he hasn't watched before, and it was just getting interesting when the doorbell rang.
He paid the delivery guy and grabbed a beer from the fridge. He was just about to take his first bite when he noticed that there was a fortune cookie in the bag.
"Let's see what is in my future..." he laughed and opened the first one.
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid of standing still...
Was the universe telling him to do something different with his life? He had been feeling quite miserable in his boring job at the bank.... perhaps what he really needed in his life was a real change. It made him feel weird to believe what the fortune cookie said, but it was enough to make him think a bit more about the topic, and he decided to talk to Dr Madison about this when he saw her the following week.
-To be continued-