Chapter Ninety

Clarissa read over the papers that Thomas had given her, wondering if acupuncture would really help John with his recovery. "Do you think he'd agree to go?" She asked, taking her reading glasses off as she looked at her husband.

Thomas pulled his pajama shirt on, crawling into bed and picking up his book from the bedside table. "I think he'd at least to give it a shot. He's always looking for ways to help his recovery, I noticed he was actually praying the other day when I walked by his room."

Clarissa raised her eyebrows, shock clear on her face. "John was praying? Our John?"

Thomas nodded, laying a hand over his wife's. "I didn't believe it either." He chuckled, shaking his head at the thought. "I never thought I'd see the day that John Bender would actually be down on his knees praying for help."

Clarissa smiled, kissing her husband on the neck. "I'm so glad Claire found him."

John looked up at the building, swallowing at the thought of the new treatment. He held Claire's hand as they walked inside, happy that most of the family had stayed home. He looked into Claire's eyes, letting her choose a seat in the waiting room first.

Claire leaned over, kissing his ear to try and calm him. She felt the earring in his piercing, the metal cuff just above it. "It'll help." She whispered, looking over at her parents as they filled out the paperwork for John to go through the treatments. She watched as her mother wrote the word addictions under what they were hoping to treat, her heart aching with the memory of John's thrashing body as he'd been loaded into the ambulance.

He nodded, his head snapping up as his name was called.

"Johnathan?" The woman smiled as John and the Standish's stood, waving them back to a small room with pillows and a small blanket in it. "If you'll lay down on the table, and remove your shirt?" She picked up a disinfectant wipe, noticing the tension in John's muscles as he laid face-down on the little massage table. "Alright, so what we're going to do, is I'll wipe your back down and place a few small needles in the pressure points in your back." She ran a finger down John's spine and over the back of his ribs, pushing on the pressure points to try and loosen him up. "Then I'll let you be alone with your family for about an hour with the needles in, and let you go into what we call 'Zero Sleep.'" She gave John a short massage, running her thumbs up and down either side of his spine, smiling as some of the tension left his muscles. "Then we'll take them out and let you go on your way."

John nodded, feeling her run the disinfectant wipe over his skin. He reached for Claire, holding her hand tight as he heard the packaging for the needles open. He closed his eyes as Claire ran her fingers through his hair, barely feeling the first needle go into his skin.

Claire watched as the needles were placed along John's spine, noticing that with each one there was a change in John. He seemed to become more docile, his body relaxing as he seemed to be falling into the Zero Sleep already. She smiled as John's breathing became deep and steady, knowing that the treatment was starting to work.

The therapist smiled, placing the last needle right above John's hips. She rubbed little circles on his hip bones, feeling the last of the tension leave his body as he hit the Zero Sleep. "Alright, I'll let you all sit with him. He can still hear everything and he's still awake but his body will act like he's asleep. He might twitch from time to time, but it's only the toxins in his body balancing out."

Clarissa nodded, settling back into her plush chair to read the book she'd brought. "Thank you." She smiled, looking up as John's legs twitched.

The woman waved as she ducked out of the room, letting them relax as John finished his treatment.

Claire smiled as she watched John's treatment run its course, leaning her head against the massage table as she began to relax with him. She listened to his breathing, taking comfort in how calm he was. She closed her eyes, listening to the soothing music floating through the room until she fell into her own Zero Sleep.