But every attempt to answer dissolved before it could become action.
“It felt crowded and empty at the same time,” he said. “Like every road in my head was jammed, but no one was actually driving.”
Dr. Whitcomb asked what he had noticed before the episode.
Headache.
Repetitive thoughts.
His mother’s voice becoming impossible to filter.
The mug breaking.
Shame.
Anger.
The belief that he had to finish the confrontation even after every part of his body wanted to leave.
“You stayed because walking away felt like losing,” she said.
Noah nodded.
“Yes.”
“What would leaving mean now?”
He looked down at his hands.
“Choosing myself.”
“That is the new association we want to reinforce.”
She referred him to a rehabilitation psychologist named Dr. Celeste Mercer, who specialized in trauma, identity, and neurological recovery.
Noah resisted.
Not strongly.
“Another appointment.”
“One intended to reduce future emergencies.”
“That is manipulative.”
“It is accurate.”
He agreed.
Dr. Whitcomb also extended weekly monitoring for another two weeks.
Noah complained.
She ignored him.
Then she asked whether intimacy had caused increased pain or any neurological symptoms.
Noah looked suspiciously pleased.
