Lilah reached her destination with utter trepidation at what she would find. These fears always filled her everytime she entered or approached the safehouse as she may be asked to help piece together the emotions at which her patient would be feeling and she may be asked to carry out some requests for him. Lilah was especially nervous today as she would have to explain her encounter at the graveyard to her patient and hope that it didn't set of a chain of depressive thoughts for him or bring back unwanted memories. She was nervous as she took things into her own hands as her patient wanted to make Carla pay for what his Tony did to him as she was the closest thing to him. Lilah obviously was sceptical about how this would work as a few months ago she began to weave all these lies about her family and true intentions towards the Connors. She became more like a mole herself in getting information for her patient and was worried about how this could effect his mental health and future mental capacity for making decisions. She wanted to provide the proper psychological help her patient needed to make him look more positively about the situation but it was getting increasingly hard when he wanted to know near impossible things about the Connors. Lilah would try and explain this to him, but every time he wanted to go deeper and get the revenge he deserved, the only way to stop this was to reveal Carla's true struggles over the past 6 months to him which she didn't like to do as it would lead to some serious questions which she couldn't answer as trust wasn't formed correctly in the beginning, she would also be breaking confidentiality which she wasn't thrilled on, but she hoped that she was good enough at her job to allow her to continue working alongside her patient. Lilah always thought it was important for her patients to trust her so that she could carry out the tasks for them as they were unable to deal with the strain of the outside world she would construct them in a manor which was not obvious to the people her patient wanted information about to help him come to terms with everything that has happened.
Lilah approached the doors of the safehouse which was littered with security staff. She was here today because she received a call that her patient was finding it hard to express his emotions and that a counselling session may help him come to terms with what he was feeling. She hesitantly reached for the handle and grabbed it, her hands clammy with nerves. Lilah approached the receptionist and handed over her ID she was then followed by security guards in case things got out of hand. She approached the room, her heart beating fast, she peered through the visor of her patients room and saw him curled up in a ball with a light blue blanket draped around his shoulders. She opens the door. She hovers in the doorway for a bit before making her presence known.
"Liam?" she questions
"Don't call me that, I'm Dylan now" he huffs
"I'm sorry" She apologises
"Don't worry just having a bad day" he says downbeat
"I heard, what's up then?" she asks cautiously
"I want to see her" he replies looking directly into Lilah's blue eyes
"I know you do but you know the reasons you can't" Lilah says sternly
"I'm better now, I've healed" he says hopefully
"I'm sorry but I cant see that myself, you know is there is anything I can do-" Lilah says before being cut off
"You will do for me, I know the drill Dr Sandringham" he rolls his eyes sarcastically
"Please call me Lilah, I know you well enough so we don't need to do formalities" Lilah states
"Do you want to know what's bothering me?" Liam asks her
"Sure" she smiles back at him
"Why can she live a normal life and I cant?" he asks her
"Trust me Li-Dylan she really isn't but I guess you want to hurt her?" Lilah questions gently
"What do you mean? Is she ok?" Liam asks her impatiently
"Woah its almost like you care" Lilah laughs slightly at this
"I do care you know, I love her" Liam states
"I can see that, but remember they think your dead but don't worry I planted that seed for you and made them question, like you asked" Lilah explains
"Good make her think" Liam smiles
"Who called you?" Liam asks
"Your guard, he noticed you were very secluded" Lilah says truthfully
"Please tell me the reasons why I can't see her" Liam begs
"Dylan, I need you to understand that you can't expect yourself to heal from this it's a process-" Lilah starts to explain
"I've been here for almost 12 years now, I need to get my life back" he persists
"I know you do, that's why I am here to help you do it, but you know what you need to do to get to that destination of being free from this place" Lilah says
"Please, I'm begging you, let me go!" he pleads
"I'm sorry but you know the drill, you need to accept that you are not Dylan and that you are Liam and once I am satisfied that you have achieved that then I can start the next stage of the process" she says apologetically
"How is she have you spoken to her?" Liam diverts the conversation
"Yes, she wasn't best pleased about the messages you told me to leave on the grave, we had a row but I think that I've made her interested enough to keep hassling me" Lilah explains
"Good, is she ok is she still with Tony?" Liam asks
"She's move on, put it like that" Lilah replies quietly
"Lilah what's going on?" Liam persists
"Ok I will tell you but I need you to promise me one thing" Lilah explains
"Ok anything" he asks
"I need you to promise me you will accept the help I am offering and get better" Lilah says
"I will" he promises
"Ok well Tony died Liam" Lilah says bluntly
"What? How, what happened?" Liam asks
"He locked Carla in the factory and tried to burn her alive, she freed herself, he then perished in the factory" Lilah explains looking for a reaction
"Why didn't you save her then?" he asks
"Liam it doesn't work like that, he escaped from prison after confessing he attempted to kill you" Lilah states
"Right, but she's ok now?" Liam asks
"No not really" Lilah says
"What happened next, please" he replies
"Well she fell in love with Peter Barlow, but he was with that Leanne, blond hair-" Lilah explains before getting cut-off
"The prostitute that ended Carla's marriage?" Liam asks
"I guess so I don't really know the ins and outs" Lilah states
"Right continue" he sighs
"Well she couldn't have Peter and he didn't leave Leanne for her so she entered into a relationship with Frank Foster" Lilah replies
"Right, I'm guessing she's still with him now?" Liam sighs again
"No, um this isn't very nice and I really don't want to push you-" Lilah says gently before being cut-off
"Please I can deal with it, I promise" Liam begs
"They were going to get married and the night before the wedding she broke it off because she loved Peter, he then attacked her, raped her" Lilah trails off
"No, you're lying!" He exclaims pacing around the room
"I promise you I am not lying" Lilah states
"I know you're not but why would he do that to her?" Liam asks
"I don't know but soon after the attack she had an affair with Peter before her trial they then eventually got together and he helped her through so much" Lilah replies bravely
"Good for her, then what happened?" Liam asks
"Frank was murdered and obviously they were both suspects, none of them did it and eventually Frank's mother was arrested for the crime" Lilah explains
"She hates courtroom dramas I remember when her brother got sent down" Liam says recalling information from the past
"Anyway they were pretty settled from then, until Peter started an affair with the babysitter for his son, it started on their wedding day" Lilah explains
"Poor Carla" he sniffs "I wish I could've been there"
"I know you do, want me to continue?" she asks and he nods
"Well Peter was having this affair behind her back, she found out she was pregnant" Lilah states to gage his reaction
"She was pregnant that is something I never imagined, she kept it right she has a child?" Liam questions
"No…" Lilah trails off "The babysitter was murdered and she was a suspect again because the affair was revealed, she lost the baby"
"Another death in her life" he sighs
"Anyway the marriage broke down then soon after she entered a relationship with Nick Tilsley, it was going strong they were going to get married then she cheated on him then left Weatherfield" Lilah says
"Oh, well mistakes are made I guess" he shrugs
"So she returned then had a kidney transplant, she then ran Underworld again, then an incident happened where the factory caved in and killed her sister's fiancée-"
"Wait she only had a brother though" Liam replies confused "What's her sisters name?"
"Kate Connor I think, met her briefly" Lilah prompts
"No, she can't be, so Johnny's her dad?" Liam asks
"I think so, I can't really remember" Lilah says truthfully
"So I slept with my third cousin? Or something?" Liam winces at the thought
"I don't know maybe" Lilah shrugs "Any way she developed psychosis then had to be sectioned, and Peter helped her through it again"
"Oh, I guess everything got on top of her and she needed help, she was never one to accept outside help" he remembers briefly
"You seem to know her very well" Lilah says
"Yes, well I love her" Liam sighs
"I know, I have a picture of her now, if you want to see, we took it in the Rover's" Lilah explains
"I don't know…" he trails off
"I'm not going to force you to look at it but why don't you want to?" Lilah asks carefully
"I guess I'm scared of doing the wrong thing, going for revenge" he says
"Why do you want revenge?" Lilah questions
"I want the nearest person to Tony to suffer and that was Carla but now that Tony's dead I don't know what to do, any suggestions?" he stifles a laugh
"Recover?" she questions
"I think you're right, screw revenge. I want to get better" Liam exclaims
"Well that is really good progress for today, I am very proud of you, I don't mean to be patronising" Lilah says
"Thank you for everything Lilah, I mean it" he smiles genuinely
"Whenever you need me, get your guard to call me day or night. Do you need me to stay for a while longer? She asks
"I'll be alright you get off" Liam reassures her "Seeya soon Lilah"
"Bye Liam" she smiles exiting the room
Lilah returns to the staff room to type up her notes for her session with Liam today. She was pleased at the progress he was making and as well as the decisions he made. Lilah saw a breakthrough today as her patient finally recognised himself as being Liam and not Dylan. This made Lilah proud as she managed to get him to admit who he really was without feeling angry or betrayed by her. She was also impressed with how he dealt with Carla's life story as well and how he said he loved her after she informed him of Tony's death which was another major sticking point in his recovery. She finally believed she was on the right track with Liam and that he would become stronger over time even if it has taken a little over 12 years to get to this place today.