That evening she receives a call from Annie. She has made sure to check in on her now and again. She’s been recovering beautifully.
“Hi Annie, how are you?
“Hi Tanya. I’m alright thanks. Are we still on for tomorrow?”
Tanya could kick herself for forgetting that Annie had asked her to join her therapy session this week. A lot has been going on with Kupa. She still can’t believe her daughter would go through something like that and not tell her. Granted, she’s not the world’s best mother but after the little talks they’d been having she thought they had hit a milestone.
Tanya assures Annie she’ll be there. She’s just not sure what state of mind she’ll be in. She thinks back on the conversation she had with Kupa after the church incident.
Tanya had asked what happened and the conversation had been
“I already told you. He tried to rape me.”
“Yes, you already said that. But why didn’t you tell me Kupa?”
The teenager had shrugged with indifference; a defense mechanism to mask her true feelings.
“I don’t know. I wanted to. But I came back home and you were talking to Annie and we’ll I just got over it.”
Tanya sighed,
“If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it now Kupa. You are my daughter, I’m always ready to listen to you. There’s no need for you to feel like anything else is more important than that. Ok?”
That conversation might or might not have helped, she’s not entirely sure. They are still yet to meet with Pastor Charles and Tapiwa. Dylan is still angry. Nevertheless Tanya knows he will handle himself in a godly manner.
Tanya drives to meet Annie at her doctor’s office. She’s a little nervous even though she is just joining the meeting to show support.
Annie’s already there. She looks well, her injuries not so evident anymore. They hug and walk into the building together. They exchange pleasantries and it’s clear that both women are unsure of what to expect but both are positive that Annie will get the help she needs.
They get into the doctor’s office and wait for their appointment. The doctor is a woman which is a great relief for Annie. Some of the tension in her shoulders disappear.
Annie also introduces Tanya and makes it known that she needed her support just to be able to sit in the room for the session. The doctor has no problem with it.
“So Annie, essentially what we are trying to do is solve a problem. Whatever it is, it has interfered with your life and needs to be rectified. Please share what’s been going on, what’s on your mind. Speak freely. Start anywhere.”
Annie takes her through the whole thing and exactly what happened. She gets nervous when she gets to the part about how she almost died in the hands of a man she thought she loved.
“I’m sorry, I can’t quite express myself clearly. I’m having panic attacks when I try to talk about it. I wake up in a sweat and choking. It’s hard to forget…”
Tanya has tears in her eyes. A lot of things are going through her mind. Although she had no idea that Annie was having these adverse reactions to her trauma, she can relate. This is exactly how she felt as a young girl, hiding from her father and wishing the beatings would stop.
The therapist notices and speaks directly to Tanya.
“I understand you’re here just to support Annie but is there something you’d like to say as well?”
Tanya clears her throat,
“Uhmmm, I just…. Well this triggers a lot of memories for me also. I grew up in an abusive home. Maybe that’s why Annie feels comfortable to have me here. She knows I’ve experienced it.”
She’s not sure if it helps the actual patient to be supported by someone who never talked about their trauma, but the doctor said to be honest.
The doctor seems completely unfazed by all their information and still wears the friendly expression she had on when they walked in. Tanya doesn’t know her from Adam but she’s earned her respect and trust.
The doctor puts her notebook down and says,
“Annie, to have gone through this and survived shows just how you’re going to conquer it altogether. We’ve made progress and I hope to see you in our next session. I have a little task for you, homework if you want to call it that. Get yourself a journal and write in it every night. I want you to jot down your feelings, your whims without thinking of how it might hurt your relationships or damage someone you love if they knew what you thought about. Is that alright?”
Annie nods and looks like herself again.
“And when you feel yourself on the brink of an anxiety attack, take a deep breath and tell yourself you’re alive and well. Repeat it till you calm down. That ought to do it.”
Tanya thanks the doctor and as they head out she smiles. She’s never had therapy before. All she’s known are the counseling sessions at church. Those have been very helpful and she thinks maybe therapy outside of church may be good for her mother. It would be place where they can speak freely without the fear of church members finding out about their life issues.
She’s just found a place to convince her mother to come to. All things work together for good after all.
