Having had seen Happy's state the previous night, Paige would have never imagined seeing their mechanic in an any more devastating condition. It had never occurred to her, that in the two weeks that passed, their friend had suffered mentally; in additional to the physical harm, and it was the mental damage that scared the prior waitress the most. The physical injuries had been fixed with the gauze, the tape, even the goddamn Band-Aids. The scars would eventually heal. They'd been prepared for that. But the supposed mental experts, Toby, the behaviorist, and herself, the EQ expert, had neglected, in the rush of the previous day, the potentiality of what would happen next. Knocked off their game. Distracted so much with keeping Happy alive, they barely considered the consequences her ordeal would have on her brain, but one look at their mechanic determined that both the physical and mental would both largely remain a problem.
The shifty, glassy look the younger woman's eyes held almost broke her heart. The strong, confident look the mechanic's eyes usually possessed was gone. Now replaced with a mix between determination and vulnerability. Happy, in her rush to get away, now leaned heavily against the wall behind her. The adrenaline from the sudden action had long since disappeared, as evidenced in her shaking form, which was hunched to the left side in an effort to stabilize herself with minimal pain. Her left arm was pressed against the wall to maintain balance, while the other arm was wrapped around her torso. A slight shift in position revealed that Happy's stomach wound had reopened. The crimson liquid had seeped through her shirt and was now dotting the floor with its volume. The silence that had blanketed the room previously, was replaced with an even more anxious silence. The only sound was the laborious breathing of the team, as the geniuses rapidly composed a game plan.
"Back up now. Slowly." Toby had instructed quietly, practically pulling Walter backward, his eyes not daring to move away from their shivering friend. A rapid hand jerked in Paige's direction, gesturing for her to do the same. Only Sylvester had had the sense to stand back, preferring to assess the situation from afar.
"It's PTSD. Post-traumatic stress syndrome. It's a uh severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma." Toby recited. "Resulting in intrusive memories like the flashback, Happy must be experiencing right now."
"I know what PTSD is Toby." Walter bit out.
"I wasn't talking to you! And you know I think best out loud!" Toby snipped back defensively. "We have more important matters to worry about anyhow… If we don't get a handle on this situation, she's only going to cause more harm than good." he had murmured, casting another furtive glance at the mechanic. Walter had nodded something in agreement, and then had turned to face Paige.
"Paige, you're going to have to talk her down." Walter instructed. Though she cared for her friend dearly, facing her without knowing the reaction she would get worried her a little. Before Paige could put the filter between heir brain and her mouth; she had questioned why it was her that was being chosen, rather than the trained psychologist.
"Why do I have to talk her down?" Paige had asked nervously. "Toby's the trained psychologist." She immediately wished she could take back her words and inwardly cursed herself for her presumed selfishness. Happy was hurt and scared, but she could not help but worry for her own safety as well.
"PTSD heightens anxiety, meaning emotions such as irritability and anger increase. Combined with her diagnosis of Anger Dissonance Syndrome are going to make her extremely touchy and combative." Toby spouted off quickly, knowing Happy didn't have the time for lectures, but somewhat understanding Paige's need for reassurance The stricken look on Paige's face showed that he hadn't made a very good start. Toby had frustratingly tried to explain further before Paige had the chance to object, but Walter jumped in to justify his instructions.
"From what we've gathered in the previous events, she was taken by men. Most of the injuries judging from the depth of the wounds and by the variety of weapons and the methods in which they were used, could only mean they were caused by several men. Combined with the childhood, well if you want to call it that… The point is Happy's very uncomfortable with men, especially now. It would be easier rationalize with her and get her to calm down if someone she doesn't associate with all the pain goes to talk to her." Walter simplified
Paige swallowed. She could not think of a reasonable objection, and looking at the mechanic she realized that there wasn't much time for excuses. "What do I have to do?" she asked.
Sylvester who had been quiet throughout the whole exchange spoke up. "Approach her slowly. She's 42% less likely to react aggressively. An additionally 10% less if you maintain eye contact. Don't touch her, unless she lets you, otherwise there is an 63.5% chance of her lashing out destructively." Sylvester said. Paige had nodded trying to collect all the information being delivered.
Steeling her nerves and remembering the advice that her coworkers gave to her, Paige slowly made her way around the couch.
"Hey… Happy." Paige murmured quietly. She talked as if she was talking to Ralph on one of his bad days. Happy did not respond. She never even looked up. Even as she drew closer, only a couple of steps away, the mechanic made no indication that she had even acknowledged her presence. It was highly likely she hadn't. Happy was clearly still stuck in her own world, and it was obvious that she was still dealing with the pain. Paige could see that Happy was barely holding it together. She was shivering, wavering back and forth, and not even standing straight. Yet she refused to sit down, apparently not wanting to put herself in a vulnerable position. Putting up that familiar tough front. Something that Paige had witnessed, when she ever had the 'pleasure' of seeing one of her previous confrontations.
"Happy?" Paige hesitantly asked and forgetting what they'd told her, brought her hand to Happy's shoulder. Almost instantly, the hand supporting the mechanic had flown from the wall, in an attempt to rebuff the advance. It had been successful to a point, having roughly removed Paige's hand from her shoulder. Unfortunately, it had also severely impacted her equilibrium, and without Happy or Paige herself supporting her, the mechanic tilted sharply to the right. Her immobilized leg had failed to support the additional weight and the combination of events effectively ended with the mechanic sprawled out on the floor. Paige was down next to her in seconds, effectively blocking the boys' view of them from the other side of the couch.
"Are you okay?" Paige asked and then mentally berated herself for asking. She had not received much of a response anyway, only a pained cough. Their mechanic had managed to slightly curl herself into a somewhat fetal position. Happy's knees were drawn up to her chest, both eyes were tightly shut, and her arms were wrapped around her torso. Around the same area which had been rapidly oozing blood for the last several minutes. Paige swallowed the lump in her throat. She needed to get bandages on that wound before the blood loss became something they couldn't handle. She put her hand on Happy's shoulder again, refusing to give up on helping her friend. The mechanic did not flinch away this time. Whether she was genuinely accepting the touch or too locked up with the pain to do anything about it, Paige did not know, but she was glad that she was making some progress. She could feel the smaller woman shivering under her touch and began rubbing in circular motions on Happy's shoulder in an effort to calm her down. It was something Paige's mother had done many times when she had been upset. Something, given Happy's traumatic childhood, she had probably never experienced that touch of reassurance.
"Look, Happy. You obviously need help. I know you think you can deal with this alone and you probably don't even trust any of us right now. But, you won't be able to keep this up alone. Toby, Walter, Sylvester, and I, we just want to help. We're not the men who took you. We're your friends." Paige murmured quietly as she tried to comfort Happy. "We're here for you. Toby, Sylvester, Walter, and I. We're all here for you. We just want to help you. You won't be weak for letting us help."
The mechanic only shrunk further away. Paige felt a rock forming in her stomach, the geniuses on the other side of the couch had to have made a mistake. She only was making this situation worse.
"I… It-t hurts." Happy bit out in a gravely, pain-filled voice. Paige almost jerked her hand away in shock, but had managed to pull herself together in time. That was progress. Progress was good; she just had to keep her talking. Maintain eye contact, that's what Sylvester had instructed
"I need you to open your eyes for me Happy." Paige said softly.
She could see the struggle it took, for Happy to pry her eyes open, but she was hesitantly relieved when the orbs weren't glassy with the past, but glassy with pain instead. Paige hoped it was a sign that Happy was no longer caught in the thralls of her flashback.
"G-good. What hurts?" Paige asked nervously, unsure how comfortable Happy was with her presence.
"It-t hurts. Everything h-hurts." Happy said, barely able to get a coherent sentence across. "They keep on... They keep on making it hurt." The mechanic's voice grew cloudy and slurry as she struggled to talk with Paige.
"We need to let the boy's help you. They have all the aid necessary to make it stop." Paige comforted, purposefully ignoring the acid that came rose in her stomach, when Happy kept on mentioning a "they". How could so many grown men do this to someone half their size? She slowly helped Happy into a sitting position and tried to get a better look at her eyes to see how hard she fell, but the younger women refused to look at her again, instead preferring to look at her feet.
"They keep on making it hurt." Happy murmured again, sounding hopelessly lost, the complete opposite of what Paige had come to expect. "Make them stop." Happy drew in a ragged breath and tried to say something again, but this time Paige quieted her. The mechanic was obviously talking in circles and going nowhere fast. Right now Paige was only concerned on making it better, but she also realized that Happy needed some empathy. She wrapped her unbroken arm around Happy's shoulder and gave her an awkward one-armed hug.
"It's okay. You're safe now. It's okay." She whispered. Happy shuddered against her and she drew in another strained breath. It had taken a couple more strained gasps on Happy's part, for Paige to realize she was crying. Silent tears streamed down her face, mixing with the clotted blood of her injuries. Upon this realization, Paige gripped her tighter and rested her head on her companions.
"It's okay. You're safe." she said again. They sat there for a minute as Happy continued to cry, but Paige knew they could not sit there forever. Happy still had a serious wound that needed to be addressed.
"We're going to stand up now okay?" Paige asked, not really expecting an answer, not really waiting for one either. She gave Happy a minute to recover, to pull herself together, before slowly pulling the mechanic to a standing position. They awkwardly shuffled back to the front of the couch, back in view of the boys. Happy had avoided their eye contact as Paige put her back down on the couch. The boys looked hesitantly at Paige and then back at Happy when they received the affirmative nod from the waitress. The men had the decency to ignore what they had heard, to pretend it hadn't happened at all. Sylvester dove behind the couch with a set of wet wipes to clean up the blood on the floor. Toby and Walter, having apparently discussed something beforehand, approached Happy slowly with the first aid kit and slowly began redressing the wounds. Happy had sat stone-faced on the couch, her eyes tightly shut, struggling to keep herself grounded in reality, when Toby and Walter began to remove the worn bandages. As the time ticked by and the pile of bandages grew on. Paige. Paige never moved from Happy's side.
Perhaps the greatest faculty our minds possess is the ability to cope with pain.
