Kendall laid down on his hotel bed. He could see and awkward tension between Dr. Mulligan and Etta, but he wasn't sure why. He could see the older man avoid making eye contact with Etta and he could see the man shift uncomfortably. He turned to look at Etta and she smiled at him. She sat next to him on the bed and he wished the two psychologists weren't in the room because he wanted to be alone with her.
"Dr. Marks is really good. She'll talk you through the whole thing and then, hopefully, you can get past this. I believe you can."
"Thanks. Can you be here?" he asked and Etta hesitated. "I feel more comfortable when you're around." he said and she nodded.
"Okay. Are you ready?" she asked and he nodded before she turned to Dr. Marks.
"Kendall, I want you to close your eyes and take deep breaths." Dr. Marks said as Kendall obeyed her request. "I want you to try and relax and clear your mind. Let go of all the stress. Imagine yourself in a big, open room with white walls. Are you in that room white room?"
"Yes…" he said as he continued breathing. He seemed to be in peace and he was smiling and Etta wondered what he was seeing in his mind. She imagined he would be thinking about Katie and how much he loved her and always protected her. It was admirable how much he cared for his younger sister. Perhaps it's that way because he had to put on a good face for his sister. Protect her from the harsh reality of their parents' divorce.
"Good. Now I want you to sit in that room and just breath. Don't think of anything. Let the warmness of that room engulf you and bathe in it." Dr. Marks said as Kendall's breathing became more rhythmic and steady. Etta watched with curiosity as she wondered what was to come. She had heard stories of patients using hypnotherapy and she wondered if it would work for Kendall. It had to work for him, because she couldn't stand for him to be tortured anymore. "Okay, Kendall, I'm going to ask you to go to the night you saw your mom arguing with you dad when you were five years old." she said and Kendall tensed up a bit. "What do you see?"
"My mom….she's mad. I hope she doesn't see me. I just wanted to play with my toys some more. I wasn't ready for bed." Kendall said and Etta knew he was going back. I stand at the top of the stairs hearing her. She's whispering, but I can tell she mad. I want to go down and tell mom and dad to stop fighting. 'Jack, what are you doing here? I want you to leave.'" Kendall said and they knew he was quoting his mom.
"Who said that, Kendall?" Dr. Marks asked before he reached out and held onto Etta's thigh. She jumped a little, but relaxed as she didn't want to snap Kendall out of his memory. His grip wasn't tight, though. His hand just rested there as his breathing changed.
"My mom. She's crying. I don't want her to cry. Why is dad making her cry? 'Jack, leave, please!' Who is Jack? My dad's name is not Jack. Dad…?" Kendall trailed off as his breath hitched. "Dad's not that tall…"
"What's going on, Kendall?" Dr. Marks asked.
"He's not dad. This man…he doesn't sound like dad? Who is he? 'Is Kendall my son!'" Kendall yelled. 'Yes…' Who is this man and why is he saying I'm his son? Mom is crying. Why is she crying? Where is dad?" Kendall asked as he tightened his grip on Etta's thigh a bit. "She's walking away from the man. Who is he? 'Jack…what we did was a mistake. I've regretted it ever since it happened. Please, I'm happy with my husband. We're happy. Let us be happy.' Mistake? What is she talking about?"
"Kendall, I'm going to ask you about the man. What do you notice about him? What do you see?" Dr. Marks asked and Kendall began breathing heavy.
"He's tall. He has blonde hair. I can only see the back of it, though. He's wearing a suit. He talked funny. He didn't sound like mom or dad. 'It's not right to keep me from my own son! He's my fucking son!' He said a bad word. 'Keep your voice down. You'll wake Kendall.' She still thinks I'm asleep. 'What do you want me to do? You kept my own son from me. You gave my role as a father to some man you don't even love.' She didn't love dad? 'I love him! I didn't at the time when you and I…please just leave. I'm begging you, Jack. Just let me go and forget about Kendall. He already has a good father.' Dad? Where is dad? 'Does he know about us and how you seduced me? Does he know how you wantonly begged me to fuck you because he wasn't good in bed? Does he know you talked about him behind his back that night we fucked? Does he know that Kendall is my son?' 'No, and he'll never know. Please just leave, Jack. If you really cared about me, you would leave. Please, don't come back.' Mom? 'I will hate you forever for this. If that bastard you married treats you two like shit…don't come looking for me…' No!" Kendall shouted as he tightened his grip on Etta's thigh. She winced as his finger began digging deeper into her flesh and she hoped her leg wouldn't bruise too badly.
"Kendall?" Dr. Marks asked. "Kendall, what's wrong?" she asked as Etta looked as if she was going to cry. He was hurting her, and she knew it wasn't on purpose. She could see Dr. Mulligan with a conflicted and anguished look on his face. It was as if she wanted to pull Kendall off her and shield her from Kendall's grip. "Kendall…I'm going to count backwards from 20. As I count I want you to walk back into that blank white room. Okay?"
"Ah…" Etta whispered as she felt Kendall's fingernails dig into her thigh. She felt the involuntary tears flow from her eyes and she bit down on her bottom lip in order to stop herself from screaming out. She had heard of bad things happening to the patient and even the therapist if the patient weren't brought, gently, from hypnosis.
"For goodness sakes, Lisa, bring him out of it. He's hurting Etta." Dr. Mulligan harshly whispered as he edged closer to Etta.
"Kendall…20...19...18...17..." Dr. Marks counted, but stopped when she heard him let out a scream that caused her to jump. "Kendall?"
"I look like him." Kendall said and Etta was relieved it was Kendall. "That man…looked like me…I saw him. He didn't see me, but I saw him…" he said as he began hyperventilating.
` "Kendall…" Etta said as she turned his face to look in her direction. "Look at me. Breath." she said as she tried to get Kendall to follow a steady breathing pattern. "Okay…" she said and he stared at his hand on her thigh and pulled his hand immediately when he saw the bruises on her thigh. "It's okay…just look at me. Look me in the eyes. Breath…"
"Okay…" Kendall said as he continued to breath. Just then, he reached out and held onto Etta. She held him and rubbed his back as he tried to calm down. She looked over at Dr. Mulligan and gave him a slight smile letting him know that she was okay.
"Dr. Mulligan…" Dr. Marks began. "We can talk in the hall. Give them some time alone." she said and, reluctantly, Dr. Mulligan went into the hallway.
"Etta…who is that man? My real dad?" Kendall asked and she sighed. From hearing how Kendall voiced his father in the memory, she now understood how Keith was created. He was a manifestation of how Kendall saw his real dad. A manipulative, cruel, angry man. Suddenly, he reached for his phone.
"What are you doing?" she asked before she saw him dial his mother's number.
