A/N: So, this chapter addresses some pretty sensitive things and involves things that I simply Googled so they might not be the most accurate. Please forgive me, I write for the story, not always for the accuracy. Also, I'm craving Spaghetti-O's. Dude.

Enjoy

"So, I heard you've been eating. That's really good. Gotta get that strength up. You're a growing kid, gotta keep them bones fed." Dr. O'Heare says the next time they meet.

Again, like the last session, Stiles doesn't speak and just listens as Dr. O'Heare talks, asks a few things, continues to talk, eats his scone, drinks his tea, talks, and finally, after the hour is up, he gets up and thanks Stiles, telling him to call or text if he needs anything, anything at all, and leaves.

"He's a pretty funny guy, I like him." His father says as he enters the living room after the doctor's left. "Do you want a snack?"

Stiles nods, a little more enthused about getting something flavorful to eat than talking about the weird doctor.

"That rug in the front reminds me of when I went to Germany about two years ago, to meet with this pair of siblings who'd just lost their sister. They'd been triplets so you can only imagine how hard it was for them to lose her. Anyway, they used to always sit together on this special rug they had in their room that they used to play on when they were still triplets, it was like their memento of her. It was sad but it was also sweet."

Stiles didn't talk, but he did listen as the doctor continued talking.

On their tenth meeting Dr. O'Heare, 'I know it's spelled funny but it's just 'hair' with an 'o' in front of it. It's so weird how accents work, isn't it?' brings with him a present for Stiles.

"Your father has told me how much you've been liking the fruits he's been getting you so I decided to get some fruits I thought you might like. I've got dragon fruit, lychees, longan, and a sapodilla. These are some sweeter fruits since he said you like strawberries and bananas and peaches. I'll just leave them in the bag until the end of our session, yeah?"

Stiles feels a little excited about the prospect of more sweet fruit but he just doesn't get it. What is with this doctor?

"What do you want?"

Dr. O'Heare stops and closes his mouth since he was about to launch into whatever long winded story he had this time and gives him a small smile that's gentle and kind. "Honestly, I don't want much. I don't want everything and I don't even want to make you talk. I simply want what you want. If you don't want to talk, that's fine, I can wait until you do want to talk. If you don't want to look at me, that's fine, I can do the looking. There's only one thing I really want, and that's for you to get better. It's not about your father, it's not about your friends, it's not even about those people. It's about you. Only you."

"Why?" he croaks, still confused.

"Because you're worth it. Not only do you matter to a bunch of people but you matter as a person, as a human being."

Human being? No, that's not true. That's so far from the truth.

"No, I'm not human. I don't deserve to be a human. I am nothing. Nothing. I'm nothing." Stiles mutters, his head tilting down and his mind going numb as he closes in on himself. "I have nothing. I deserve nothing. I have nothing. I am nothing. I am not human. I don't have a name. No name. I'm nothing."

He's whispering, his words barely audible but Dr. O'Heare immediately knows what's happening and starts talking back, counteracting each word with another word, a random word that doesn't make sense in the context.

"Frogs, frogs on logs. Butter, butter in gutters. Flags, flags in bags. Stars, stars on cars. People, people in steeples. Dials, dials in aisles. Vials, vials in piles. Stiles, Stiles has files. Stiles, Stiles goes miles. Stiles, Stiles has smiles. Stiles, Stiles has styles. Stiles, Stiles is Stiles."

"Stiles is Stiles." Stiles finds himself muttering and his head snaps up and he stares at his doctor with his eyes wide, his one good eye seeing the gentle expression on the man's face. "How'd you do that?"

"Have you heard of EMDR?" Stiles shakes his head, "It's supposed to be eye movement desensitization and reprocessing which involves watching rapid movements or flashing lights to distract from the feelings you might be facing when thinking about a traumatic event. However, because of the damage to your eyes I went with audio, instead of visual. By breaking through your words, I was able to plant my words which broke your memory flashback. Thankfully, I caught it quickly before you were emotionally spiraling which is harder to pull you back from."

The doctor pauses and looks at Stiles seriously, reading the attention and whatever emotions may be on his face. After a bit, he nods and leans back on the couch but turns his body to face Stiles fully. Stiles can sense the shift in attention and automatically focuses on the doctor.

"Stiles, you have what's called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This means that there are things such as words, situations, movements, or even smells which can send you back to a memory which has been so deeply traumatizing to your mind that it goes into defensive mode to ward off these memories. So far, I have identified three, now four words, two situations, and two movements which sets you off into these episodes. Each trigger entices a different reaction, however, all of them so far have been defensive until this one. This one I am most concerned about. This trigger suggests that you have a certain level of belief in the words that were spoken, meaning they were said enough times that you started to believe them.

"Have you ever heard someone say, 'if you make that face long enough it'll stick that way'?" Stiles nods, "It's the same with words. If you say something enough times you'll start to believe it. That's why people are always trying to reinforce positivity, because words have power if you let yourself believe them. Actions, which are sometimes accompanied with certain words, are different, they garner an instinctive and necessary response in the body in order to protect itself from harm, it's a survival mechanism. It's like learning a new move in karate. You learn to read the signs of the other person's body and you train your body to react accordingly to counteract those offensive movements with defensive movements. You get what I'm saying?"

Stiles nods, his attention fully captured.

"Now, in order to break these habits that the body has become accustom to it needs to be exposed to these words and actions in an environment that isn't about survival. I'm not going to lie, it's going to take a lot of work and it's going to be scary and hard and draining on you, but now it's about survival of a different kind. By allowing yourself to continue reacting to these triggers in a strongly defensive way you could not only end up hurting yourself but others around you. If you don't allow yourself to heal you'll remain injured in a way that no one else can heal which is very unhealthy for all parties.

"Stiles, you need to allow yourself to heal. Right now, you're stagnant, and I understand that your physical body is still healing and it hurts, but the sooner you allow yourself to start healing on all levels the sooner you'll be able to walk again, talk again, laugh and sing and dance again. You have to make an effort or you'll remain in this state long enough that it'll start hurting others. Do you think you can do that?"

Stiles doesn't want to listen to this, he doesn't want to hear that he's still hurting others. He's already hurt them so much, how much more is there left for him to do?

Dr. O'Heare claps his hands suddenly which makes Stiles gasp and jump, his whole body twitching violently in his seat but it breaks his train of thought.

"Well, I think that's enough for today. Today was a very, very good day Mr. Stilinski. So very, very much got done, I'm quite pleased to say that you're doing rather well. Now, this isn't something you'd expect a psychologist to say but, don't think too hard or obsessively over what we talked about today. Certainly give it some thought but if you find it difficult to the point where you're shutting down, stop thinking about it and refocus on your breathing and your surroundings, keep yourself in the present. If you'd like you can talk with your father or that big friend of yours, Derek, about the session we had today and they can help you stay focused and in the present. However, it's your decision, I'm bound by my doctor-patient confidentiality. Although, with your permission, I can give some pointers to your father and friends to help you through this. That's for another time though. Just think on it, not too much though. I'll see you in two days then! Call or text if you need anything, anything at all."

And with that he's up and out of the door, leaving behind the bag of fruits which he'd set on the coffee table at the very end of the session. His father comes in looking a little perplexed.

"You guys ended early. Did something happen? Oh wait, am I supposed to ask?"

Dr. O'Heare must've texted his father that they were done. Stiles goes to shake his head but pauses, then looks up at his father.

"I have PTSD." He says simply.

His father sighs and gives him a small smile as he touches his shoulder. "Yeah you do kid, you've got it something fierce. But it's not really surprising for what you've been through. You've just got to learn to work through it and eventually, with a lot of help and a lot of work, you'll get back to smiling and talking and laughing. I know you will. You know how I know?"

Stiles frowns and shakes his head and his father leans down to eye level and says, "Because you survived. You've always been a survivor, ever since you were little, and you've always overcome everything that's gotten in your way and this is no exception because you're strong. So strong. You've been strong for me after your mother died, and now it's my turn to be strong for you. We'll get through this, I know it."

And Stiles wants to cry. He wants to smile. He wants to. He can't yet, but he wants to. Maybe, eventually. If, after what he's done comes to light and they still accept him, maybe, just maybe, he'll allow himself to smile again.

A/N: Now, I know there are a ton of inaccuracies even though I actually did quite a bit of research on this. These coping methods are real and even though I haven't had anything even close to what Stiles went through, I use word association to pull me out of really bad downward spirals that happen when I think about certain events. I never went to a therapist, I can't afford that, so I don't know their methods of working through traumatic situations. I'm just a master at Google. Kind of.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I'm already working on the next chapters. I promise that I won't abandon this one. It'll just take a bit for me to upload everything. Thanks for enduring guys.

~hearts~