Mychaell looked once again at Genevieve, she had cried so much that he doubted that she would have any tears left after this all. But that was not the thing that concerned him, the vacant stare, right before she almost hurt herself. Her snapping out of some kind of trans, it was concerning. So there were not only the night terrors, there was something really wrong with her. He sighed as he looked at her peaceful face, she was once again sleeping which gave him time to think about all of this. The door that connected the back of the house with the apothecary opened up, and Rycharde marched in.
"Where and how is she?" that were the first things out of his mouth. The frantic look in his eyes didn't leave even when he saw her sleeping.
"She is fine, but I have some questions." Mychaell replied, Rycharde deflated as if he knew what he was going to ask. "And I think the rest of the crew should hear it as well. Because after what I have seen and hear, I know one thing. You are not going to do this on your own." Rycharde nodded slowly, as if he was trying to accept the gravity of Mychaell's words. Which he knew that it wouldn't be easy, he always knew that Rycharde was a proud, and independent man. Not quick to admit that he needs help or was wrong about something. He once took pride in the creating of not one but two organizations that were fighting corruption, from which, now, only one remained. Jessica, or someone else from the crew, had overheard him, through the open door, because they were standing inside the door opening of the office. "I know that she has night terrors, and I think I also know why she has them. Jessica already told me that there were cases of people that tried to hurt themselves when they are in one. My first question is, has this come to pass?" Rycharde lowered his head in shame, but nodded. "And that is part of the reason why you aren't around as much." Again he nodded. Mychaell's gaze went to the others just outside the office, and they were sharing glances with each other. Maybe some of them don't know what a night terror was, and they were lucky in that regard.
"A night terror happens when a person relives their traumatic events, while they are fast asleep. It appears that the person in question just woke up after a nightmare, and are having a panic attack afterward. But they are still fast asleep." Jessica said, probably noticing the same thing. "And just like with people that have a panic attack they can do some strange things that can lead to harming themselves." Rycharde sighed loudly.
"Do they really need to know this, I can handle the night terrors. They have being drastically reduced, since she is here. Now they happen once a week." Rycharde said loudly, which was good to know.
"But what about the episodes when she is wide awake?" Mychaell asked, and right at that moment all the blood vanished out of Rycharde's face. "I was busy investigating some information, about our good friend Mister Dixton, when I heard her talking to herself. 'It is my fault that my adoptive parents were killed, that the others that I loved were killed. That a mission failed, that his father left, everything is my fault, and she needed to pay the price for those mistakes.' She was practicing with a knife, and those words drew my attention. Which was a good thing, because she already had the knife pointed at her heart." Jessica gasped. "She was not really there, her eyes didn't seem to move, and she kept repeating herself over and over. I had grabbed her arm before she could do anything, but I believe that I was just in time." Now he focused his attention on Rycharde. "Has she done this before?" And at that moment Rycharde broke in tears. Mychaell was shocked, about the sudden outburst. But this also meant that he had asked the right questions, and he already had his answer. Mychaell stood up from his chair, so that Rycharde could sit. He was able to see, from the corner of his eye, that Jessica was crying as well. She didn't have a pleasant past either, none of them had. But he always figured that Jessica's past was darker, not that she ever said anything about it. And he didn't want to course her more harm by asking.
"It has indeed happened, in the same way that you just described." Rycharde said, he sounded so defeated. "The first time, I was, just like you, just in time. I had gone away from the apartment, for a couple of hours. And when I opened the door, she was standing inside the kitchen with my gun. It was if she was in some kind of trance, repeating those words. And at one point I could hear not her, saying those things, but Justin. Which makes me sick to my stomach, my son, my flesh and blood." He shook his head. "After that, I stayed home, to keep an eye on her. I also made sure that everything inside the house that could be a danger to her, was locked up. The only thing that worries me is that window, but the main thing about those trances is, that she doesn't remember them. It is just like with the night terrors, she has no recollection of ever doing it. And I kept it hidden from her, mainly because I feel guilty." Mychaell now noticed that Genevieve's eyes were opened, how much of this had she heard? But Rycharde hadn't noticed a thing. "I am the one that left her with Justin, all because I didn't want her to be separated from the only family she had known. You see, Alia, my beloved younger sister, found Genevieve in the alley way behind the apothecary. She probably had lived on the streets for many years, and was hiding there from people that picked orphaned children up, abused them or even sell them. Alia and her husband Meak were trying to have children for years, but they were unsuccessful. That all changed when she found Genevieve, they took her in and treated her as their own. Which was again something I didn't want to break up. But Justin had other ideas, if what Genevieve told me is true, and I do not doubt her at all, then he killed his own aunt. Who has helped with raising him, after his own mother left him." Mychaell walked over to the bed and sat down. Genevieve had sat up, again something Rycharde hadn't noticed, and he wrapped an arm around her. Her cheeks were covered in tears, but she placed her head on his shoulder. She was so strong, it was painful to see her like this. The same could be said about Rycharde.
"Rycharde, you know that I respect you, and we all care for you. You have saved us in many ways, let us help you. Because you are not able to do this on your own." Mychaell said. Mychaell's gaze went to Genevieve, who slowly nodded. Again he wondered how much did she hear, somewhere deep down he hoped that she caught it all. If not, he would tell her, when they were alone. "I know it is not your fault, and a lot of the things you suffer from are done to you. But Rycharde needs his life back, and so do you. Being coop up in that apartment is not helping anybody." Rycharde now caught on that Genevieve was awake, but he said not anything to her. "During the day, you will work either in the apothecary or at the back of the house with Rycharde and myself. During the night, one of us will go with you and Rycharde." She again nodded, he then looked up to face the rest of the team. "Is there someone who thinks he, or she, is not up to the task? It will not be easy, and it will be emotionally tasking. I will not think less of you, none of us will." Jessica put her hand up, and he expected as much. She then looked at Genevieve, was she going to explain herself? She didn't have too, but he was not going to stop her either.
"I have being where you were, and I already had trouble to climb out of the black hole myself. I can not give you the support that you need," she said, and Genevieve gave her a soft smile. "I am however talking about the night shifts, I will keep an eye on you when you are working up front."
"Which will not happen that much, in the first couple of days." Rycharde said. "She is not a citizen."
"Then it is about time, you get your act together and arrange it." Mychaell said, without a hint of emotion. Yes, he went through a though time. And yes, reaching out for help is not easy, but it was highly time that Rycharde picked himself up. He now focused his attention to Genevieve. "I am sorry that I didn't ask you if you're alright with all of this first. But this needs to stop, you are a strong woman, and smart too." She took his hand, he looked at it. It was not the first time that they made skin contact, but this time it felt different.
"I will be fine," she said. But there was not much emotion inside her voice. He nodded and motioned to the others that they could go. Rycharde stood up as well.
"I need to sort out the files," he said.
"I have already done that, but there is a list with information about Mister Dixton." Genevieve said, Rycharde smiled at her.
"That is the Genevieve I know," he said before he left the room. He closed the door behind him, given them some privacy. Mychaell's gaze went back to his hand, she was still holding it. Was he going to say anything about it? Nope, he was not.
"How much did you hear?" He asked instead. She took her hand of his, and it directly felt empty. But she didn't give him a direct answer, which was fine. "Do you want me to tell you everything." She nodded, and he told her the whole story.
"I can't believe it, I can't believe that I am willing to hurt myself." she said, she sounded desperate. "I made a promise to do my best to survive, to live." She shook her head. "What is happening to me?" He shrugged.
"I do not know, and I know, that you aren't doing this on purpose. Your brain, is trying to process the trauma. And this is me guessing, because I never being there, but I think that those episodes are simply your brain malfunctioning, just like a computer does." In his mind this made a lot of sense, he hoped that she thought the same thing.
"I don't want to hurt anybody, I do not want to be a burden." she said, her voice broke. He wanted to hug her, but then remembered that she might have a flashback to what happened to her.
"You are not a burnden, not to me. Not to Rycharde, not to anybody. Do you hear me?" He said and she nodded, but not with enthousiasme, which he didn't expect her too. "Are you alright with me hugging you?" She nodded and he wrapped his arms around her holding her tight. "You will never be a burden to me."
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