Matthew C Cox Blog

This is part three of a true story told to me by one of my accounting clients. If you missed the first two posts, you may click here to read my recent posts.

I changed the names in this story to protect identities.

---

“Would you like to talk about the recent attack?”

“Yes, I would. But this one was different. I’m not sure where to start.”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?”

Tommy nods and Amy waits.

“The attack wasn’t much different from the others. I dreamed about my past. It frightened me. I called for you.”

“I understand.”

Immediately, Amy realizes she doesn’t understand. Tommy initially said this attack was more severe than previous attacks. However, it sounds like the others. What made this attack more severe than the others?

Suddenly, Amy is uncomfortable; she realizes Tommy doesn’t want to talk. She momentarily loses her composure until her training and professionalism kicks in. She thinks of a question to help him continue.

“What happened when you called for me?”

Amy knows the answer. She shows up in Tommy’s mind and the attack ends. 

Her uncomfortable feeling becomes a flash of fear. She knows she has no control over her appearance in Tommy’s subconscious during an attack. Still, she is afraid she didn’t help this time. Is this what he meant when he said it was more severe?

Even as she processes this thought, Tommy answers.

“You didn’t help me.”

Amy feels helpless. She asks another question.

“What happened then?”

Tommy hesitates. Then, with determined resolve, he dives into the story, knowing that once he starts, he can’t stop.

“I kept calling for you. You didn’t come. I thought about killing myself. I called for you again and someone else appeared. She claimed to be your mother.”

Amy’s face goes white and she shifts in autopilot mode as she attempts to disconnect from the emotions of the discussion. She asks the next question.

“When did this happen?”

“I met her last Tuesday morning at 2 AM.”

Amy stifles a gasp. Professionalism takes her forward.

“What did she say?”

“Amy is busy right now. The angels just came and took me away. Maybe I can help you. I’m her mom.”

Amy shifts in her seat.

“What happened with your attack?”

“It quit instantly…” 

Amy relaxes.

“…and since I knew I would be seeing you soon, I asked her if she would like to tell you anything. She said you were worried about what to do with the things she left behind and she told me to tell you what to do with her rings and dresses.”

Tommy describes the property in detail, along with the instructions.

Amy takes copious notes. Tommy isn’t sure if she’s writing personally or professionally and it doesn’t matter to him. His memory accurately describes the messages.

When Tommy stops, Amy asks one more question.

“What did this woman look like?”

Tommy tells her.

“Have you had any other attacks since then?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“That’s all the time we have for today. Thank you for coming in and I’ll see you next time.”

The next time Tommy visits for his appointment, he starts by meeting with one of Amy’s co-workers. I tell you about that meeting in my next post.

Tags: angels, nightmare, PTSD, therapy

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 9:14 am and is filed under Personal Peace of Mind. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.