A/N -

Hypnophobia: Also called Clinophobia/Somniphobia is the irrational or excessive fear of sleep. (thanks Wikipedia)

I apologize if some information in this is a bit off, I'm trying my best here. :P

Please, Enjoy~

Matthew sat in his office, scribbling down some notes on his notepad. He stuck the end of his pen under his upper lip as he thought. The whole page was full of earlier observations from his patients. His current occupation always had him busy, always thinking. Matthew was a psychiatrist for both children and adults having trouble coping with earlier tragedies. It made him happy to help them, feeling and healing their pain. The human mind was a beautiful thing that could easily be corrupted and not so easily fixed. For him, it was a natural calling. His brother used to be one of his patients, having an issue with bullying in school. After a few months of counseling, he had him back to his usually bright and enthusiastic self. He would never forget his brother's goofy smile as he walked out his office door.

Now all he had to do was write down a few more notes on his last patient and then he can take a lunch brake. He could almost taste his special blueberry pancake lunch he saved from that morning. His eyes focused back on the words he was writing, and his hand began to move.

Not even five minutes later, when he was about to finish his work, his phone rang. Matthew cleared his throat and set his pen down before picking it up and setting it by his ear. "Dr. Williams speaking." He answered.

On the other end his secretary spoke with a cheerful tone. "There's a Mrs. Irunya Braginsky here to see you, do you want me to send her in?"

Matthew raised a brow, turning his wheeled chair so he could glance over at his schedule hanging on the wall. In neat cursive writing over the three o' clock spot was the same name mentioned. He nodded, and leaned back over his desk. "Yes, please send her in."

"Ok, she will be there shortly." The woman hung up without another word, signalling for Matthew to do the same. He hung up and picked up his pen to finish the last few words on his observation. In his mind, he wondered what the woman would be like, he hadn't seen her yet after talking to her on the phone. She had told him something about her son and how he was behaving strangely and acting lethargic. He could already guess that it was probably something about school, as his brother had that problem as well. But he knew that he couldn't rule out some of the other possibilities, or else he may misdiagnose the poor thing.

Matthew quietly got out of his chair, and walked over to his bookshelf full of folders and thick hardcover books. His eyes skimmed over them, inspecting each letter, until he landed on the "B" section. He bent over and looked through them closer, taking a moment before pulling out a thin manila folder. A small smile spread across his face when he read the name. "Ivan Braginsky" He had made a new folder after the boy's mother called, keeping to his neat and organized tendencies.

A sudden knocking sound drew his violet gaze over towards his door, causing him to close the file and stride over to his desk. "Come in." His voice wasn't so loud, but it was heard and that's all he was aiming for. There was a short pause before his knob turned and the wooden door creaked open. A deep blue eye peeked inside, before the door opened a bit more to reveal a busty woman with short silvery hair. She had a meek smile on her face as she entered, a small shadow following after her.

"Good morning Mr. Williams." She glanced down behind her and whispered something quickly, turning back to face the Canadian.

Matthew nodded his head and smiled. "A good morning indeed, how are you doing Mrs. Braginsky?" She strode over and sat in the chair sitting in front of his desk. The small boy that came in with her followed close behind, hiding behind her chair. Matthew looked a bit puzzled, but shrugged and peered at the woman in front of him.

"Just fine, thank you. I'm sure you know why I'm here, right?" She smiled, trying to hide her nervousness. The blonde male nodded in understanding, blinking over at the back of her chair.

"You can come out Ivan, I'm not going to hurt you." His voice was gentle and had reassuring properties.

The shadow behind Irunya's chair shifted and a soft whimper came from it. Matthew's lips pulled into a soft frown.

"Oh, I'm sorry about him, he's just very easily spooked." Irunya turned around to face the small boy, speaking in hushed Russian.

"That's ok, take as long as you need." He watched them interact, getting a quick glimpse of the boy's face. He was pudgy with dark purple eyes and beige hair. Judging by the way he acted, Matthew could guess that he was very shy like himself.

Irunya held her hand down for the boy to grasp it, a light frown on her face. "It's ok Ivan, Mr. Williams won't hurt you."

Matthew tilted his head as the boy gripped his mothers hand and inched forward nervously. He was taken aback by the sheer severity of his health. Ivan's eyes were wide with fear, dark circles rounding them like a raccoon's, and his skin was a pasty white, deathly even. The poor thing looked as if he had seen a ghost. He stared up at Matthew with huge terror-filled eyes, a frown on his face. "M-mama, I see the thing again..." Ivan whispered, his eyes focusing past Matthew's head. This definitely drew his attention and raised a few red flags. What did the boy mean by "thing?"

He played along to see if he could get any more information. His head swiveled to look at the light-green wall behind him. He looked back at Ivan with a questioning brow. "What does this... thing look like Ivan?"

Ivan's eyes didn't move from where they were, his frown deepening. "What do you mean? Can't you see it? It's right there." He lifted a pudgy finger up to point at the clearly empty wall. Matthew glanced over there again, and shook his head.

"No, but could you describe him for me?" He quickly glanced over towards Irunya and made a gesture for her to go back into the other room for a minute.

Irunya nodded her head quickly, understanding shining in her eyes. "O-ok... I will be back Ivan, you just tell Matthew here what it is that has been bothering you." She stood up and waved towards her son, who was too preoccupied with the wall to notice. Her face pulled into a worried frown and she left through the door. It made a click, and Ivan quickly glanced over, frightened by the sudden sound.

Matthew stood up from his chair and knelt by the boy's side. "It's ok Ivan, there's nothing coming to get you."

The Russian boy kept staring at the wall, unsurely moving his vision over to Matthew. "He doesn't like me..." He frowned sadly, looking down at the ground. Matthew leaned closer and set his hand on his shoulder gently.

"Who doesn't like you?" "He must be hallucinating, that would explain the dark circles around his eyes." He looked down at the ground where Ivan was currently facing.

Ivan looked up with a frown. "The thing, he doesn't leave me alone!"

"Have you told him to go away?" Matthew whispered.

"Da, but he doesn't stop! When I try to nap like Mama tells me to, he always claws at my blankets! I-I try to be a good boy and nap, but he wont let me!" A tear formed in the corner of his eye and his breathing quickened.

Matthew pulled him into a hug for comfort, rubbing his back. Ivan hiccuped as more tears began to roll down his face. He picked him up and carried him over to the small table sitting in the corner of his room. There were colorful toys and sheets of paper decorating the whole area. He had a small section for children to help them feel more comfortable while they were here. Sitting him down in a plastic red chair, he made sure that Ivan was comfortable.

"It's ok Ivan, he wont get you. I'll make sure of that." He lifted the boy's chin with a finger, smiling in an effort to make the boy cheer up the slightest bit.

Ivan sniffled, but did not seem to look any happier, forcibly looking down at his boots. "He doesn't like it when people are nice to me. He said that he would hurt me if I tried to get away from him." He mumbled, sinking deep into the pinkish scarf wrapped loosely around his neck.

Matthew looked a bit confused and concerned, but he smiled none-the-less. "Well I'm not afraid, he's just going to have to get through me." He fixed a loose piece of hair hanging in the boy's face, trying to get his attention.

Ivan looked up at him with dark depressed eyes. "But if you can't see him, he wont go after you.."A moment of silence followed. Matthew slowly blinked, taking in all of the information he was given.

"This one may take a while." "We don't have to talk about him anymore if you like, Ivan." He offered, seeing as the boy was shaking violently and looked to be on the brink of crying again.

The Russian boy played with the end of his scarf for a moment, nodding his head slowly. "Mr. Williams?"

Matthew tilted his head. "Yes? You can call me Matthew by the way."

"Erm... Matthew, can... can I please go home? I don't really like it here." He seemed a little uncomfortable, which Matthew could easily understand.

He nodded his head. "Yes, you can go home for today."

Ivan reached his hand up, opening his palm for Matthew to take. He did so with a small smile. He led him over to the door and opened it, taking him through the hallway and back to the waiting room. Ivan's mother Irunya sat on the end, a health magazine in her hands.

"Mама!" The little boy called, letting go of Matthew's hand to race to his mother's side. Irunya looked up from the article she was currently reading and to her son, a smile lighting her face. She scooped him up in a hug and stood up with her purse slumped up over her shoulder.

"How was your first visit to Mr. Williams?" She asked, her enthusiasm radiating like sunlight. Ivan didn't answer, looking a bit unnerved with the word "first" being mentioned.

"He did very well, I hope to see him very soon." Matthew peeked over the woman's shoulder to wave to Ivan, who ignored him. He could also understand that, not every child enjoyed their first visit to his office as the first few visits were filled with pain and memories. There must always be a little pain before the healing can begin, even for little kids like Ivan.

"Thank you Mr. Williams, we will be back in a week to try again." She nodded. "Say goodbye to the nice man, Vanya."

"Do svidaniya..." Ivan said, sounding a bit detached.

Matthew waved again, watching Irunya leave through the door again, her doing the same. He let out a long sigh and smiled towards his secretary. "Do you have his medical records from his doctor? I might need to take a look at those before lunch." He wouldn't be able to eat until he read into his new patient a little further.

"I'll print them out for you, go have lunch, you look like you need it." She nodded towards him as she spoke. "I'll have them on your desk in a few minutes."

"Thank you, Elizabeta." Matthew turned around and retreated back to his office to eat his lunch in peace. "Hopefully the next visit will be more productive. I really have to get him comfortable here if I am to help him through this..."

A/N Translations: Do Svidaniya (до свидания) =Goodbye