Inside the tunnel, Dr. Moon sat down on Luke's footplate and clicked a pen before turning her attention to her patient.

"You mentioned in your last session that you have concerns about your friend, Skarloey." Dr. Moon said, as reminder of his last appointment with her the previous week.

Luke thought he'd rather kiss Satan than talk about his feelings; especially since he felt so guilty over what he said about Skarloey. But… he didn't want to risk allowing hidden feelings to destroy their friendship- hopefully Dr. Moon would be able to help him with this….

"Yeah, I did," He replied, forcing the words out of his mouth. Not that he didn't trust Doctor Moon, but he feared confirming what he had said. He felt so guilty for saying this about Skarloey; especially when the old engine had been so kind to him, but he knew that it had to come out if he had any hopes for the future. As before, he reminded himself that he would be helping to preserve their friendship for the long run; not destroying it for good.

"Could you tell me why you feel this way, Luke?" Asked Dr. Moon gently. "And please, take your time. Do not rush."

"Well," Luke hesitated in reply, trying to articulate his response into coherent words; and not the soupy mumbo-jumbo that was swirling round in his funnel right now "Skarloey is a great engine; I respect him a lot, and he's my friend. All the engines are," he smiled. Dr. Moon merely frowned and stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"But… he's been getting so angry lately, whenever things go wrong." He admitted.

"Could you give me some examples?"

Luke obliged, telling her about the aftermath of the gunshot incident he, Peter Sam and Sir Handel suffered on the MSR. Dr. Moon murmured under her breath as he talked, deftly scribbling notes into her notebook.

"This has never actually happened, but I… I worry that Skarloey might get angry with me… he and the others are always so concerned with keeping me safe and in the tunnels that"-

"I beg your pardon?"

"I said they try to keep me safe and in the tunnels." Luke repeated, feeling very confused.

Dr Moon tapped her pen against the page. "Sounds like imprisonment to me." She muttered. Then, she continued, "Was this voluntary, or enforced?"

"Erm… a bit of both…" the little engine confessed. "I need to hide, and they feel the tunnels are safest, as they can keep me hidden, but keep an eye on me at the same time. I can assure you, there's no foul play involved." Here, his eyes filled with tears, and he tried to blink them away. "I still don't understand why the other engines would protect a murderer…" he whispered, his voice cracking.

Dr. Moon felt terrible… she really, really wished she could have given Luke this one day to be happy…

"Luke, look at me," she ordered. The Irish tank engine obeyed, his eyes still moist.

"You did not murder the yellow engine. Murder implies there was intent, some motive, to take someone's life away; and to do so deliberately. This was a tragic accident."

Luke blinked at her, gratitude lighting up his eyes. He found it a little difficult to say thank you, so he instead smiled at her; which the doctor returned.

"Now, are you ready to continue?" She asked, cautiously.

"Yes. How long have we left?"

"40 minutes," She answered, looking at her watch. "Now, Luke, would you say that Skarloey is normally an angry sort of engine?"

"I'm afraid I couldn't answer that," Luke answered, honestly. "I've only known him and the others for 7 years, and I think my secret may bias Skarloey's emotions. But Rheneas or one of the other engines will be able to answer that. They've all known him for much, much longer than I." He said. "Rheneas is practically Skarloey's age, and they're both over 100 years old!" He said, his eyes wide. Dr. Moon couldn't resist chuckling, despite the dire situation she was trying to discuss with her patient.

So, she instead nodded approvingly at Luke's objective approach. "Well, I can look into that." She said. "Can I ask you another question?"

"Of course," Replied Luke obligingly.

"What makes you think that Skalroey finds you a 'burden'?" asked Dr. Moon, the tip of her pen hovering over the paper, ready to record Luke's next sentence.

Luke gulped, but ploughed on, allowing himself a chance to gather his thoughts together into something to say. "I already attempted to kill myself twice," he replied, his soft Irish accent speaking such dark thoughts sending chills down the doctor's spine. "And… I don't want to lie, but I have thought of a third attempt. But I haven't made any plans to act on it yet." He added.

"I'll need to watch that," she warned, writing this down. "I need to work out some coping mechanisms for you in which case. But, in the meantime, please try to talk about your urges with a friend. Please, don't wait for me to come back. It could be too late."

Luke gulped in fright, but he could understand why. "Okay, Doctor, I will bear that in mind." He replied.

"Thank you." Dr. Moon said, examining her notes before concluding, "I will need to teach you some coping mechanisms. And, also Luke, I normally find this a little early to decide what treatment to administer to patients, should they wish to proceed; but, considering your… case," she said, looking him up and down. "I am considering recommending giving you Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in the near future, if your depression doesn't deteriorate any further."

"Sounds scary," Luke huffed with a small shudder.

"It's actually very simple; I help you alter your ways of thinking, and this in turn will impact how you act. The aim of this is to get your mindset to 'rewire' from a negative setting to a positive one."

"Would it work?" Luke asked Dr. Moon doubtfully.

"It often does," replied Dr. Moon. "But," she added warningly, "It will only work if you are willing to engage. I am aware you are struggling with your feelings, and I respect that; but treatment options are very limited. I need you to work with me and trust me for this to work."

"I understand." Luke said solemnly. "And I want to get better, I really do. I'll try anything. I'll even give this a try."

"Good," Said the therapist. "I won't start on it yet. I just thought you should be made aware of the possibility of this therapy and work towards starting it. How does that sound?"

"Ok…"

"Plus, if you can think of any questions or concerns, we can address them together before I start the therapy." Dr. Moon added. "But, otherwise, we'll talk more on this later."

"Thank you," Said Luke gratefully. "It seems so… surreal, knowing that I'll be rid of these thoughts for good."

"You're welcome Luke. And it won't be easy- but it'll be worth it when one day, you can say you're OK, and mean it." She replied seriously, patting his buffer in a rare gesture of solidarity. "Any questions?"

"How does the therapy actually work?" Luke asked.

"Talking." Dr. Moon answered. "I'll be focusing on helping you break down your problems from bigger cycles- and you don't need to go into detail of your life before Sodor," She added with a wry grin. "The focus will very much be on what you're going through at the moment. It's a very successful therapy; though not for everyone with mental disorders."

"Right."

"We will discuss it in the near future, but for now, I have a few more questions I would like to ask you…"

"Certainly, Doctor."

Luke listened as she asked him some more questions; to which he answered as truthfully as he could.