Major Crimes Mysteries

The Family McCoy

Chapter 18

Dr. Joe waved to everyone as they were coming back from the McCoy's funeral.

"Hey-Hey, it is our favorite head shrinker!" Flynn yelled out to him. It used to irritate him when they first started to call him that, but in the years they had been doing it, he realized they meant nothing bad about it and actually meant it with a sense of affection.

"I know you all are working a tough case that included the death of several children. I am here if any of you need to talk." Joe told the group. I am going to hang out in the office with the blinds shut. You just find me, and we can chat." With that, he stood up and moved into the office and closed the blinds.

None of the detectives stood up to talk to Dr. Joe. While this case was disturbing to them, they usually spoke amongst themselves. While it was nothing against Joe personally, he didn't walk in the footsteps of the detectives, and they discussed their feelings on cases between themselves.

Andy looked around at the group and stood up. He walked to where Dr. Joe had officed himself and opened the door. He looked back at the group and walked in. He sat down in front of Joe and took a deep breath in. "Listen, Doc, I am doing fine with this case. Am I angry that babies were killed? Yep, but I have bigger problems that I need your help with.

"What's going on, Andy?" Joe responded, already knowing where the conversation is going.

"You know how Sharon almost died a couple of years ago?" Andy told him. Joe nodded his head acknowledging the fact. "Doc, she is having nightmares since it happened. Bad nightmares. I am totally bruised up. I can't sleep well anymore because she will strike out in her sleep. This has been going on since she left the hospital, and she won't talk to anyone about it. She doesn't even go deeply into it with me. It is causing a strain on our marriage." Andy told him and then quickly added, "Don't get me wrong, Doc. I love that woman. My love for her goes so deep, I didn't think I had that amount of depth to me." Andy sat back and took a deep breath in and out.

Dr. Joe could tell that this was a man who loved his wife but was at the end of his rope and needed help. "What does she say when you talk to her about it?" Joe asked already knowing the answer.

"She minimizes it, Doc. I ask her to get help and she blows me off. She tells me she will think about it, or she will flatly tell me she doesn't need help." Andy responded to him. "Do you think there is another way for me to approach her? Does she not value us as a couple? Is she done with our marriage? She has no desire to get help no matter how much it is hurting our marriage. That is all I can assume."

"Let me talk to her, Andy. Maybe I can get her to come in and talk to me. Anyways, I don't think it has anything to do with your marriage. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to decipher how Sharon thinks of you. The woman has pure love in her eyes, but you know how strong Sharon is." Andy nodded his head in agreement. Dr. Joe continued "I am sure that health scare brought a lot into perspective to her. You can liken it to post traumatic stress disorder. Research has shown that what Sharon suffered through can trigger a post traumatic stress disorder. Given Sharon's personality, that amplifies the need for treatment and her ignoring her symptoms.

"But Doc, you know Sharon. She is all about mental health treatment. Hell, she has even been through it when she has used excessive force. She didn't think twice about it." Andy responded.

"Huge difference between being forced into treatment by your command or not having the stigma of it being related to a police officer related incident and something that you perceive as a weakness. Didn't you tell me that she had apologized to you for all the problems she was putting you through before her heart attack occurred?" Joe continued. "This is Sharon having to show a nick in her armor.

Andy shook his head in agreement. "I just can't stand to see her in such pain and not know what to do. It makes me feel weak.

"Let me talk to her and at least get her into my office. If I can do that, I think it will be a small win." Joe told him.

Andy shook his head. "I'll leave it to you, Doc. Hopefully, you can get her to come on board with it. Rusty has talked to her. I've talked to her numerous times. She'll say she'll do something about it and then back off. Last night, she had a doozy of a nightmare, so I'm hoping with our conversation and now you. She'll bite.

Andy stood up and shook Joe's hand before exiting the room. As he looked up, Sharon was staring at him from the office. He gave her a nod and slow blink. Sharon just smiled at him and looked back down at her paperwork.

As promised, Joe exited the conference room he was using as a temporary office and headed straight to Sharon's office. He gave a light rap on the door before entering the room. Andy watched him sit down at the desk wanting to be a fly on the wall. He wanted to hear that Sharon planned on sitting down with him. He wanted to hear that Sharon planned on getting to the bottom of these nightmares. He wanted his old Sharon back or at least an updated version of her that didn't make them fearful to go to bed each night.

As Dr. Joe walked in, Sharon looked up from her desk and smiled. "Hey Joe, how are you?" Sharon asked him.

"I should probably be asking you the same question, Sharon. How are you first?" Joe asked her.

Always the stoic, Sharon looked at him and smiled, "I'm fine. This case is a doozy. It is really tough on us." Sharon continued to divert the conversation until Joe stopped her.

"That's funny you feel that way. I have talked with everyone associated with the case. The majority of detectives were working their way through it. There were two people who expressed concerns, but it wasn't about the McCoy family, Sharon. It was about you." Joe said to her.

Sharon immediately knew Andy had spoken with Joe, but who was the second one? The moment the thought hit her; she knew it was Rusty.

"Tell me about these nightmares you are having." Joe asked her.

Sharon immediately tried to minimize them, but when Joe gave her a look in her eyes that he knew she was trying to blow the smoke over him, she broke down.

From his desk, Andy watched Sharon start to cry. He wanted to rush in and take her in his arms and tell her everything would be ok. He knew he couldn't do that, and she needed to work through the nightmares.

Dr. Joe proceeded to tell Sharon about how Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was common in cardiac patients who went through similar situations that she had gone through. He encouraged her to sit down and talk with him in his office.

Sharon finally relented and the two set up a meeting to sit down in a couple of days. She smiled at Joe when he walked out the door and then turned to Andy to smile at him. He smiled back at her and put his fist over his heart to tell her she was in his heart.

As Dr. Joe walked out the door, Sharon wondered if it was PTSD she would be finally getting a handle on or something else that could totally destroy her life and everything she held dear.

EOC