A week has gone since Ivy was awake. She was beginning to look forward to her sessions with Phyllis as it thrilled her to know what flowers will there be in the vase. At the same time, she wanted to also find the confidence back to speak again in order to be able to tell Phyllis about her sleep paralysis. The rain lately had made her nightmares in her paracosm to be of repetitively killing the waves of humans in hysterical that she had Ray to accompany her sleep every night.
With Ray around, he accompanied Ivy with Daisy to her therapy session on a rainy afternoon.
“You are?” Phyllis asked as it was her first time seeing Ray while previously it was only Cassandra else Jin or Ryu.
“Ray, the eldest of the brothers.” He said as Phyllis smiled and shook his hand. “Glad to finally meet you, Ray.” Phyllis greeted as Ray smiled and send Ivy to her.
“Hello Ivy, how have you been?” Phyllis greeted expecting a response but Ivy walked in with Daisy on a leash quietly. Phyllis could only stand by the door and smile empathetically.
“Dr. Phyllis, could I ask you something?” Ray asked before Phyllis stepped inside.
“Yes? What is it?” Phyllis asked as Ray eyed the door. Phyllis then closed the door leaving Ivy inside.
“Ivy, from the night I arrived, had been having nightmares and sleep paralysis. I had been accompanying her to sleep. Previously, I have no idea if you’re aware whether she had these symptoms but I felt that you need to help her out.” Ray explained as Phyllis nodded.
“Thank you for telling. She has not been opening up much but then she had gradual improvements and it’s way better than I expected. I expected her nightmares to happen too and please do continue to keep her company at night in sleep. Her sleep paralysis happens because of insecurity if you want to put it that way. Rest assured, I will work out something today for her to express herself.” Phyllis smiled as Ray nodded.
“Another thing. Nick. Have you heard of him before?” Ray asked as Phyllis tried to recall for a moment.
“The other survival in the accident?” Phyllis questioned as Ray nodded.
“Yes. He may not have as bad of symptoms as Ivy but he had been secluding himself and shying away from crowds. He couldn’t last an hour outside and we are worried that he might suffer from depression as he had a history of this and nearly committed suicide. I am wondering if… it would be alright for you to also consult him. It’s up to you if you want to consult together with Ivy or in a separate situation depending on their condition?” Ray asked.
“Who has he been taken care of? When you said we, who do you mean?” Phyllis asked.
“He had been with Marcel, Jason’s assistant if they are in Landsfield. As things have gotten busy in the office, I volunteered to take care of Nick in Manes at our grandma’s house. In fact, Nick had better improvements there as he would tend to the garden in a mini glass house at my grandmother’s place.” Phyllis smiled and nodded.
“Sure, let us schedule a separate session for them first. Could you head to the counter and let my receptionist know please?” Phyllis said as Ray smiled and nodded.
“Thank you, Dr. Phyllis. Thank you so much.” Ray said. “Let me head in first. We will talk later.” Phyllis said before entering her office.
During this session, Ivy went looking for the vase the moment she stepped into Phyllis’ office and saw a vase of very vivid indigo-blue flowers waiting for her.
It was a flower of remembrance; Forget me not. She stood adoring the beauty of them in the vase. When she heard the door open, she turned around to find Phyllis smiling at her.
Ivy reached out to touch one of the flowers, wanting to puck a petal as she turned to look at Phyllis again.
Phyllis understood her gesture as she nodded. “Yes, please. Go ahead and pluck one.”
Ivy took the flower and sat by the couch beside the vase facing the window. The vivid blue color and the recent rain made her miss Jason, even more, that day.
“I have heard updates from Ray on the improvements of your little gestures. That’s really great, Ivy. Keep it up as it would help you slowly regain that confidence in you to speak again.” Phyllis told her as she held onto Ivy’s hands. Ivy was still twirling the petal of the flower as she turned to look at Phyllis and smiled.
“Are you able to tell me about your week?” Phyllis tried asking as Ivy nodded slightly.
“How would you like to tell me?” Phyllis didn’t want to push her to speak as she put a blank paper with oil pastel in front of her.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Why don’t you color and draw for me?” Phyllis asked as Ivy instantly went into action and drew on the blank paper with the oil pastel. Phyllis was proud of Ivy’s progress as she wondered what would Ivy be drawing for her.
However, as she observed what Ivy was roughly drawing, Phyllis began worrying again. At first, Ivy took many bright colours to colour the blank paper from orange, yellow, red, pink, and blue. Then Ivy surprised Phyllis when Ivy colored the entire paper black. Phyllis took notes but let Ivy complete what she was doing. When the paper was entirely black, Ivy took a pencil and carved a figure of a man from behind with long hair wearing a long robe.
Coupled with what Ray had told Phyllis earlier, she knew Ivy was expressing her paracosm to Phyllis. She took a closer look at the picture and that’s when she caught Ivy writing “Evil Jason” at the bottom before sitting back in the chair and caressing Daisy’s fur.
“Ivy, it must have been tough on you…” Phyllis sympathise as she held her hand. Ivy paused caressing Daisy as she could feel Phyllis’ sincerity.
“Ray had told me… I guess you manage to find your way back to your paracosm?” Phyllis asked as she observed Ivy’s eyes blink several times.
“The imagination world you have changed according to the events in life. So…” Phyllis took up the piece of art she drew earlier.
“... it’s not surprising you see an evil Jason.” That was enough to make Ivy turn to face Phyllis as though wanting to say something but instead Ivy’s shocked face slowly turned into disappointment.
“Ivy, you ought to stay strong and pull this. You’re very close to the end. The only way to restore it is to stay brave like you are and live every day meaningfully.” Phyllis gently patted Ivy’s hand.
“There’s only you yourself to be able to pull yourself out from the world you’re in now. It’s tough but slowly Ivy. Slowly, you will get there. This flower…” Phyllis took the petal she plucked and held it onto Ivy’s hand.
“...is a flower of remembrance. We live on to remember the beautiful and meaningful past to fulfill our bright future and live on to pass the memories and lessons we learned to others with whom we cross paths. Time flows but we can’t stay stagnant at one spot for long Ivy.” Phyllis advise as Ivy understood what she meant so well that she let her tears flow freely once again.
Each time, Ivy could feel her burden being lifted up a little bit. Phyllis was glad of another successful session as she gently patted Ivy in her arms.
“Ivy, if you’re ready sometime in later sessions, we could have a hypnosis session if you want to. It could help you get over the fear and trauma of the accident and perhaps also help you fight the evil in your paracosm.” Phyllis explained as it did spark something in Ivy but she still wasn't ready. However, she made an effort to nod in agreement and Phyllis smiled in surprise.
“Alright, that’s enough for today. Head home and have a good rest. Your brother must be waiting anxiously. Let us update him on a great session alright?” Phyllis said as Ivy nodded and stood to walk out when Phyllis looked at the flowers in the vase with an idea.
“Ivy…” She called out as Ivy turned around and watched Phyllis wrap the flowers up and pass them to Ivy.
“Here. Bring them home. I promise I will change a different flower each time you come.” Phyllis said as Ivy reached out to the bouquet and smiled before walking out of her office.
As Ray finished sorting out Nick’s matter with Phyllis’ secretary, he drove Ivy home before he packed up. Ivy sat by the balcony with Daisy while holding onto the bouquet as she listened to the sound of the rain.
“Welcome back, my friend.” She said in her heart.
It reminded her of the times when she tried to cope with her grandma’s passing as compared to her now. She knew Jason would tease her about being weak now that she was surrounded by family. She wanted to laugh but instead, she longed to hear his voice teasing her which led her to let a tear slip.
She remembered the days she sat by him on his house’ balcony, watching the rain and randomly talking about life lessons. If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t have survived the first year of college with the bunch of friends who often take advantage of her. Even worse, she might have destroyed her friendship with Andrew and Sandra.
It made her miss those times and the most was when they were in his weekend emcee gigs where the back seat of the car was the safest haven she had ever felt with him. Despite the times when he was so drunk and throwing up yet he was worried about looking for her father. He was as though the only refuge she had back then.
It was proven when that one time when he flew in to see her only to save her from a dangerous after party from her spike drink. She regretted ever striking the deal with Nancy to leave him before the second year of college. She wondered if she didn’t, would they both still be dead?
If she didn’t, would Jason still be alive? Even if they didn’t end up together, at least would he still be alive?
As she pleaded in her heart for an answer, only the silent sound of the raindrops was heard.
Ray stepped down with his luggage as he noticed his sister was seated by the balcony. Peter was in the living room taking occasionally worried peeps at Ivy. Ray walked forward to Ivy with a blanket as she quickly wiped her tears away while holding onto the bouquet.
“Here, don’t catch a cold… Let me put them into a vase for you?” Ray asked wanting to take the bouquet from her as she nodded. She waited for a while for Ray to return and place the vase by the side table before sitting next to her.
“Sis, I am leaving for Manes today. I will try to be back soon again.” Ray said as Ivy looked at him with a surprised face that slowly turned into disappointment.
“Don’t worry, I will get Ryu to accompany you to sleep every night, alright?” Ray comforted her as he gently combed her hair while she rested on his chest.
“If you’re tired, rest. If you’re in the mood to do something, make sure you walk in the park. Daisy needs some walk too else she will be fat. So, will you?” He tried teasing her as she smiled.
“I love you, sis. I hope to hear your voice when I am back for the next round.” Ray said as Ivy looked into his eyes as though trying to ask him when would he be back with her stares.
“Let me sort some stuff out first alright? I will try this weekend. Are you sure you will speak by then, Ivy?” Ray teased as Ivy’s eyes literally turned into smiles as she rested a little while more on Ray’s chest while they enjoyed the sight of the rain that afternoon.
Peter watched from a corner at ease, knowing that Ivy wasn’t resenting the entire family at least. It didn’t matter to him if Ivy held grudges or resented him as what mattered was her getting better and healing regardless of how or who was helping her.