Another two weeks of sessions passed before Justin made anymore real progress. Once again, he walked into her office looking emotionally shattered. It was obvious that he had been crying. Kristeen was pretty sure that she still saw tears falling from his eyes as he waited. She brought him some water and tissues, and he thanked her quietly.
Leila knew immediately when she saw him that the nightmares were back. This is what they did to him. They tore him apart inside and out.
“Justin, how are you today?”
“How do I look?” he growled.
“Tell me about the nightmares, Justin.”
“They’re so real. I make myself wake up to get away from them, but they’re still there when I open my eyes. They whisper to me in the dark.”
“Okay, Justin, I want us to try something new. I want you to close your eyes. Tell me about the nightmare as if it’s happening right now. Don’t censor yourself. Say whatever is happening.”
Justin looked at her with scared eyes. “I can’t.”
“Nothing is going to happen. I am right here, Justin. Nothing can hurt you. If you get too scared just open your eyes and you’ll see that you’re in my office.”
He took two deep breaths and slowly closed his eyes. It wasn’t long before he opened them and stared at Leila. “I can’t,” he cried.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I’m only trying to help.” He closed his eyes again and began to shake in fear.
“Tell me what you see, Justin.”
“It’s dark. I’m cold. The small amount of light in the room doesn’t matter much because my eyes are practically swollen shut.” He continues to cry, almost choking on his sobs. “I’m going to die here. I’m never going to get home. It’s been days. I’m bleeding and I can’t think straight because my head is throbbing. I’m going to die. I think I might already be dead.” Justin’s eyes flew open and he looked around for some sense of security. His face was bright red and his breathing was labored.
After several minutes of silence, Leila cleared her throat and leaned over to Justin. “Why were you in that room? How did you get there?”
Justin’s tears hadn’t stopped. Leila wondered if she was pushing too hard. This might be too much to handle right now. There was a reason he was suppressing this for so long. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
“They took me there.”
“Who is ‘they’?”
“The two men. They ran my car off the road and then drugged me. I fought.” He buried his head in his hands. “I fought so hard, but I couldn’t get away.”
The site of this emotionally ravaged man in front of her, brought tears to Leila’s eyes. She tried to quickly compose herself, but it was difficult.
~~Flashback~~
The young man woke to darkness. He couldn’t move and quickly realized he was trapped. They had locked him in some sort of metal box. He screamed and screamed but no one came. His breathing quickened and he thought he might die right there.
Days passed, he wasn’t sure how many, but it seemed like he would never get out of this confined hell. Suddenly, he heard noises in the room. ‘Hello?’ he managed to squeak out. The lid of the box quickly opened and the light from a window nearly blinded him. He felt arms on him as he was dragged from the box. With a quick drop to the floor, he wasn’t sure if he should be thankful to be out of the box or fearful for what might happen.
‘Stand up!’ the voice demanded. Justin tried to pull himself up but his legs would not support him. The man dealt a harsh kick to Justin’s stomach causing him to cry out.
‘Please, why are you doing this?’ His question went unanswered. The man dragged him to his feet only to knock him back down again with a blow to the head. This continued several times before the man seemed pleased with what he saw. He walked swiftly out of the room and locked the door behind him. Justin stayed on the floor a while longer to recover. His body was on fire. He curled into the fetal position and cried until he fell asleep.
~~~~
Leila placed her hand on Justin’s and tried to calm him down. “It’s okay. You’re safe here in my office. No one can hurt you here.”
“I’m not safe. They’re with me. They’re in my head. Whispering. Sometimes I close my eyes and I can feel myself in the box.”
Justin suddenly stopped crying. He wiped the tears away from his face and stood up. “I have to go.”
“No, Justin, you don’t have to. Please stay.”
He turned around and smiled at her. “Really, I have to go.” He put his jacket back on and walked swiftly out the door.
