Block The Sun
Prologue
"Chloe, if you want my help, you have to talk to me."
Chloe scowled in resentment into the emerald green eyes of her so-called psychologist, Graham. "No," was her stony reply. The alarm in her heart sounded for the hundredth time that day, and warned her. Don’t cry, don’t show emotion.
Graham sighed, and settled into the back of his plush leather chair, preparing himself for another hour-long appointment of awkward silence. Five minutes ticked slowly by on the clock. Ten minutes. Fifteen. This was already the third time he’d seen Chloe since she’d finally consented
to register with his firm, but she had yet to open up to him. That’s OK, he thought to himself. Give her time. Be patient. But Graham was running out of patience. It was only his second year as a registered psychologist; he shouldn’t have been assigned to Chloe’s case. It was
too emotional, too federal. And yet, here he sat, across from this beautiful sixteen year old girl, who seemed engulfed in an aura that could only represent pain. Running his fingers through his dark brown hair, Graham was surprised to find that a tuft of it fell easily through
his fingers. A bolt of panic swept through him. He’d just recently overcome a battle with leukemia, and his hair had grown back in all its thickness. At least, until now…swiftly, Graham reached for the baseball cap on the corner of his mahogany desk, and slapped it onto his head, vowing to make an appointment with his doctor for later that week. In this vain preoccupation with himself, Graham had completely forgotten about the young girl curled up into the chair on the other side of his desk. He might have gone on to checking his current reflection in the computer screen in front of him had he not heard a small sob escape from Chloe’s chest. Six years of university training
pounced to the front of his brain, warning him that crying was a sign of a soon-to-come significant breakthrough. Be patient, be patient.
"Chloe?" he attempted gently. He knew he had to choose his words carefully, or this window of opportunity would slam shut.The girl in the chair lifted her blonde head, and her sparkling blue eyes met those of Graham. She nodded slowly, as if in answer to a question, and the tears she’d been suppressing for over a month spilled over her cheeks. Only this time, she didn’t fight to hold them back, didn’t rage against the pain in her heart. This time, she fell victim to a higher power than herself, finally allowing herself to be rescued from a personal hell. Graham leaned forward, and his chair squeaked against the wood of the floor. Then tension mounted by the seconds, and Graham was aware that
Chloe was about to open up to him, about to explain.
"Chloe?" he repeated. "Sweetheart, let me help you."
Chloe closed her eyes one last time against the harshness of the reality she was about to face. And then, without a glance over her shoulder, she took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak.
