A Familiar Prison

Chapter 15

"Gwendolyn Pinkerton?" The therapist came to the door and waited for Gwen to stand up. "Hello. I'm Piper. Come on in and make yourself comfortable."

"Hello. It's Gwen, please." She walks in and takes a seat. She takes a look around and sees all the books and smiles to herself.

"So, what I'd like to do is to get to know about you a bit. Why don't we start with that gentleman out there with you? Want to talk about him?"

"Sure. That's my husband, AJ. We've been together for four years, married for just over two now." Gwen says with a smile. "He's fantastic to me. He compliments me, and I him. He's been wonderful and so supportive throughout all of my... ordeals."

"That's sweet. He seems like a great guy."

"He is. He's been with me through more than you can imagine." Gwen stops abruptly.

Piper senses the hesitation. "Why don't I tell you a little about me first? I'm originally from San Francisco, but moved here about 5 years ago to open up my own practice. I'm married with three kids. Do you two have any kids?"

"No, we don't."

"Okay. Now, why don't you tell me what's been going on?"

"Well, the chaos actually started a few years back- I was kidnapped by this deranged lady who called herself 'Granny.' I was able to escape, barely. This past Christmas, this 'Granny' and her husband 'Grandpa' then showed up to our house. AJ left to get groceries, thinking they were my actual grandparents he just hadn't met. They then chased me around my house, and I was able to escape again, but AJ showed up after I left, and they held him hostage until I was able to return some time later. During that time, they had their great-grandchild show up. AJ and I were able to escape, but with fire damage to our house, and all three of them supposedly perished in the fire. We're staying with friends right now. We also got into a car accident last week too. I was unconscious for over 6 hours, and I had a major nightmare during then. But I've been having nightmares even before the accident. The accident just added more drama to the nightmares. I just want them to stop." Gwen seemed to be disengaged during the explanation, just robotically rattling off the events. Piper took note of this.

"That is a lot of traumatic events in a short amount of time. You're having these nightmares because it's your mind's way of working through everything. You seem to disconnect when talking about these events."

"I don't want to keep thinking about them and rehashing them. I just want to get over them and live my life with my husband. He didn't do anything to deserve any of this, and he's suffering because I'm having these dreams."

"You do know you're suffering too, right?"

"Yes, I do. I just— I just want it to stop. These nightmares are taking a toll on everyone around me, and I just want them to stop. I just want to turn off that area of my brain, be able to have normal dreams, not nightmares that terrify me from ever sleeping again."

"You're terrified to sleep?"

"I guess you could put it that way. Each time I sleep, my mind starts this horror film I can't get out of. There are times I've dreamed of them kidnapping AJ, beating him, and even killing him. I just don't know what to do to get it to stop."

"Here's what I want you to try. Each night before you go to bed, write down everything that happened that day. Get everything you can out of your mind. If/when a nightmare does occur, I want you to re-write the nightmare. It's called imagery rehearsal. Write down all you recall about the dream, and re-write the dream. I'm not going to prescribe medication just yet, I want to see if we can organically reduce these nightmares. You are suffering from PTSD, which is very common with all the traumatic trials you've faced."

"Okay. I'll do that." Gwen seemed taken aback. She was wondering if it really was that simple.

"If you do need anything else, feel free to call us and we can get you in sooner, but I think seeing you once a week should be good."

"Thank you." Gwen stood along with Piper, shook her hand, and exited the room. AJ stood when he saw Gwen exit. Gwen stopped at the desk to make a new appointment for the next week, and they left.

"So, how did it go?" AJ asked.

"Honestly, I'm skeptical. She diagnosed me with PTSD, and given what all we've been through, yes it's possible. But she wants me to start a daily journal, and write down any nightmares I have and basically rewrite them."

"That's... unconventional."

"I'm willing to try anything at this point, so I'll do it."

"Okay. We'll get you some pens and notebooks."

"Thanks." Gwen was worn out. AJ knew the session must have taken a lot out on her. They headed back to Kevin and Katie's house to hunker down for the evening.