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“Reprogramming her memories. Creating a whole different scenario for her. Has she asked about her birth? Seemed curious?” Children often did, and Sloane seemed very attached to her dolls. She’d explained to Vivi how each had been born during one of their play sessions.
Beatrice shrugged. “Once or twice, maybe.”
Vivi flipped the pages of her notebook and ran through her bullet list. “We’re going to use a multi-pronged approach, recreating and acting out a much more gentle and safe scenario for her, reinforcing it with stories about her birth that would be considered normal. Nothing upsetting. I’ve already downloaded a track of sounds in the womb and she and I listened it to it this morning. We discussed what it was like to be a fetus inside your mother.”
“How will that help?” Cal asked.
“When brain cells fire at the same time, they wire together. Through sound and story, we’re going to get new ones to fire and wire in a different way. We’re also going to use Maggie and…” She glanced at her notes. Sloane had one friend, a younger girl who belonged to Jon and Jaya Wolfe. “Neptune Star, to model safe, relaxing sleep. I’d like you to contact her parents and fly her in to stay a few days.”
The couple glanced at each other. “Anything else?” Cal asked, as if she were a kid with a Christmas list.
“Sloane is too young to hypnotize and the virtual reality units might cause more anxiety, so we’ll start with these simple, basic exercises. The two of you will write out a happy, peaceful story about her birth and memorize it, telling it to her on a regular basis. While her hand-eye coordination is still poor, she’s demonstrated a love of coloring and I can coach her to recreate her birth visually, once she’s heard the tale from you a few times. This will embed it more deeply into her subconscious. She may also find it easier to use drawings or toys to express trapped emotions she’s working through over the real event. I’ll need to see her daily for a while.”
Cal stood and clapped his hands, rubbing them together. He was obviously anxious to leave. “Sounds good. We done here?”
Vivi kept the evil grin off her face, forced her eyes to remain impassive. There was so much more she planned to do to him. “Sit back down, Reese. Your time isn’t up yet, and we have a lot to discuss about your PTSD.”
He tensed. Maggie licked his hand. “I really need to run.”
She pointed at the seat with her pen. Beatrice grabbed his hand and gave a tug. “It can wait. Let’s hear what she has to say.”
Vivi bit the inside of her bottom lip.Gotcha. “Let’s start with when Rory, who was still performing wet jobs for the CIA, came after Beatrice.”
Cal dropped into the chair and glared at her. Maggie laid her head in his lap. “You can’t be serious.”
She was going to break him like she had that pencil. “How did you feel when your wife was being tracked by an assassin? When she came to you for help? You were in the middle of a divorce, correct?”
“How do you even know about that?”
Beatrice sighed loud enough to echo in the room. “You’ve been talking to Rory, haven’t you?”
“The two of you have experienced more trauma between you than most go through in an entire lifetime. You’re surrounded by a bunch of folks you call family who are also carrying heavy loads when it comes to what they’ve encountered and lived through. This isn’t only about helping Sloane sleep better, it’s about creating a home life, no matter how abnormal, that isn’t also dysfunctional as she grows. Hiding her away from the world because there is actual danger is one thing.” She pinned her focus on Cal. “You accuse me of wanting to place my husband in bubble wrap, and claim it won’t work, but that’s exactly what you’ve been doing with your daughter. What will happen when she’s old enough for school? When she wants to join the soccer team? Go for ice cream with friends? Date?”
The terrified look returned. He eased back in his chair, as if creating distance from her could buffer her statement. Maggie rose and leaned against his legs. “She’s never dating.”
Beatrice hid her smile. “We’ve learned to take things one day at a time. We’ll figure all that out when it happens.”
Vivi shook her head. “That’s a nice, safe plan. For now. That girl comes from strong, intelligent, and courageous stock. She’s surrounded by people who take chances and risks every day. You better confront your fears about her growing up now, because she isn’t going to be a wallflower. She’s going to challenge you at every turn, and you can build all the compounds you want to hide her in—it won’t work.”
They both reared back, the accusation hitting them like a physical blow. Beatrice’s eyes were hard, her voice low when she spoke. “That’s not why we’re building the new headquarters.”
“Isn’t it?” Vivi challenged.
Maggie whined and pawed Cal’s knee. He petted her and stood, pulling Beatrice with him. “We’re done here. Thank you for your time, doctor.”
He’d be back. Despite his and Beatrice’s reaction, they’d come around and realize Vivi had hit the nail on the head. More than once. She pounded it into the ground. “I expect your written version of a peaceful birth on my desk before noon tomorrow, and fly in Neptune for the weekend. I’ll see Sloane in an hour. Any questions?”
Cal blinked, a deer in headlights. “Are you always such a hardass?”
Vivi stood, closing her notebook. “Yep, just like you with your teams. If you want us to succeed in stabilizing your daughter’s mental and emotional well-being, step up and do the work.”
He grunted, leading Beatrice to the door. “Keep the chairs,” he said as he ushered her through. “You’ll need them.”
He might have been psychic, or knowing him, had prearranged her next visitor, who stuck her head in as they were leaving. “Got a minute?” Dr. Thorpe asked, her face bright. “It’s about Rory.”
Reining in her ‘hardass’ self, Vivi pasted on a smile and motioned for the woman to enter. “Everything all right?”
“Better than,” Amelia said, sitting on the edge of the chair Cal had just vacated. “He’s resuming his therapy tomorrow.”
