19

Sydney had left word with the nurses to call him at home if there were any change in C.J.'s condition. If she got up for any reason they were to call him. At 8am the next morning, realizing he had slept through the entire night, he felt as though his suspicions were correct.

As he made his way in he asked one more time at the nurses station, just to make sure there were no miscommunications, as in a nurse just handling the situation and forgetting to call. He was pleased to hear that no such occurrence had taken place that night.

He knocked on the door and then slowly entered. He found Matt and C.J. sleeping peacefully in each others arms. The blankets were covering them both, but it didn't appear they had any clothing on as it was all in piles on the floor.

Sydney said to himself mostly, "That's probably the most peaceful rest either of you have seen in days."

At his uttering softly, Matt woke and turned back toward Sydney who motioned that he would be in his office waiting for both of them when they were ready. He then turned and left the two there.

Matt turned back to C.J., so many thoughts flooding through his mind. What if this were the last time he held her in his arms as her husband, after a night of making love to her as only her husband should. He vowed then and there to never give up on her. She would come though this, she had to.

C.J. stirred and then smiled before opening her eyes. She whispered, "Its been way too long since I woke up like this."

Matt smiled and softly told her after kissing her, "You have no idea how much I've missed being with you like this. I love you Mrs. Parsons-Houston."

He kissed her again and she said, "I love you." Her smile then faded and she said, "I guess its time to go do this, face what happened..."

As her voice trailed off, Matt could see the fear in her eyes. He told her, "I'll be right beside you the entire time. I won't leave you ever."

He stroked her face and she snuggled into him one more time before getting up. The two showered together, making love one last time before getting ready to go to Sydney's office for this last session of hypnosis.

They entered Sydney's office to find him sitting at his desk reading. He looked up and said, "Ah...good you're here. I was just reading over some things. C.J., are you ready for this?"

C.J. looked at Matt who squeezed her hand and said nervously, "As ready as I'll ever be." Sydney motioned for her to sit on the couch and the two did. He then took the chair facing them.

As he sat down he took his pencil with him and held it out. "Alright now, we are going to do this the same way we did it before. I'm going to put you under and we're going to go back to the day your father died..."

C.J. inhaled sharply which caused Matt to squeeze her hand again. He whispered, "I'll be right here and remember, the man who killed him is dead now. He can't hurt you."

C.J. said, "I know, its just scary. I want to remember, but I don't, but I'm tired of being crazy I guess."

Sydney then said, "You aren't crazy, remember? You're injured. Think of this session as an operation. You are going under, just not medically, and we are extracting something. There is nothing psychologically wrong with you. Someone has hurt you and we are going to undo that damage today. The only real difference between this and an actual operation is that you can eat whatever you want afterwards." He smiled and said that to try to relieve a little of the tension. C.J. needed to be completely relaxed and have full confidence in not only Sydney but what he was trying to accomplish if this were to work.

She nodded and turned to Matt, "Just in case...Matt I love you and being married to you has been..."

Before she could finish Matt kissed her passionately, so much so that Sydney turned away. Then he told her, "I love you and you and I will go back to our lives later this afternoon. You will come back to me. I know you will."

Sydney then held out the pencil. "Ok, C.J., the sooner we do this, the sooner this all ends. Look at the pencil and relax..." He took her step by step into a state of hypnosis the same way he had before. Matt was told to let go of her hand as she would need to concentrate solely on what she could see in her mind, no external stimuli.

Once she had taken the deep breath Sydney had told her to, he was sure she was under. So he started, "Ok C.J., we are taking a trip, back to San Francisco and back to when you are 9 years old. You are at home, your father is at home. Do you know what day it is I want you to remember?"

C.J. nodded and answered sleepily, "The day he died."

Sydney answered, "Yes, that is the day I want you to remember. Why are you at home?" Sydney figured that asking a couple of questions would help her mind relate the experience to her as if it were just happening, that was key in interrupting the previous psychologist.

C.J. answered, "I have a cold. I've been up since 4 this morning sneezing. Mommy and Daddy are talking about who is going to stay home with me. Daddy is saying that he is mad at somebody at work anyway. He says, 'They won't listen to me and let me choose who I represent and who I don't.' I can't make out everything, but one guy he just doesn't like and the other one he doesn't like because of me. He just said something about, 'What if he did that to C.J., what would they do?' I don't know what he meant by that."

Sydney looked at Matt who seemed to understand everything she was saying. So Sydney then pushed further, "So your father is staying home with you..." She nodded. He continued, "At some point a man comes to your house, do you remember this?"

C.J. nodded and inhaled sharply. Matt had to restrain himself from taking her hand again. She said, "There was a knock at the door, a loud angry knock. I came out of my room just before Daddy was going to open the door. He saw me and rushed over to me telling me to go back in my room, shut the door and try not to make a sound. He said to go in my closet even and hide. He said he'd come get me after the man left. I asked why and he just said it was business and this was a bad man he didn't want me to see."

C.J. seemed to stop and swallow a couple of times. Sydney figured it was because she was reliving this and it was scaring her. So he told her, "C.J. I want you to remember that you are safe. No matter what happens, no one can physically hurt you." She nodded and he continued, "Ok, so you are in your closet. What does your room look like?" She needed something positive interjected here and he knew that.

She answered with a smile, "Its pink and white with ballerina slippers everywhere. There is a blanket, lamp, jewelry box, and even curtains. I know Mommy and Daddy didn't really have the money for all of it, but they said Daddy is going to be such a good lawyer, that it won't matter how big their debt is now. They will easily be able to pay it all off later and I'm worth it."

Matt smiled for a second. He had no idea what C.J.'s life had really been like before moving to Texas and was more than happy to hear that her parents had loved her and treated her this way, that they viewed her that way. This was something she could hold on to for the rest of her life. Maybe getting past their deaths, she could then remember these wonderful things and instances in her life much better and be able to share them with their own children.

Her rapid breathing broke Matt of his thoughts. She was saying, "They're arguing. The man wants some test results...he's yelling. Its scaring me."

Sydney then told her, "Take a deep breath and just go slowly. Can you make out what they're yelling about now?"

She answered, "Something about family and how important it is. Daddy always says that, but I don't think they mean the same thing now. Its the context, that's what Daddy calls it, when whatever is being said doesn't match what you think it should you have to look at other things around it or the people. Daddy is saying he doesn't want to be his lawyer anymore and that test result will keep him from having to be his lawyer and that he already filed it." She then jumped slightly, "Uh oh..."

Sydney and Matt both caught that and Sydney asked, "What? What is it? What just happened, C.J.?"

She answered, "I dropped something, it made a noise. I didn't mean too..." She started to cry softly. "They're yelling again. That man is asking who is here and Daddy is yelling that no one is. I hear them come in my room and it sounds like Daddy is trying to fight him or something, saying I'm not here. The man, he keeps asking about me, but he doesn't know my name, just keeps saying daughter. Daddy is telling him its just my shoe, he says my shoe is on the floor when he knew it was on my bed. The man asked why I'm not wearing them at school and Daddy told him I was wearing another pair. I don't have another pair though."

Sydney then said, "Ok, does the man know that?"

She shook her head, "No, they just went back into Daddy's room again and are yelling. I'm scared, he's saying he going to kill Daddy and Daddy is saying he's going to kill him. The man wants some paper. I wonder if its the papers Daddy took to the bus station Saturday."

Sydney asked, "Your father took papers to a bus station? How do you know this?"

C.J. answered, "I went with him. He took me and Mommy out for the day since she got her story finished early for the magazine. We went sightseeing and then Daddy went and got a box, like a lock box. He told me all about hiding evidence in places no one would think to look before and said this was the way he would do it. He called it hiding in plain sight. The only bad thing about the trip was it rained and I got soaked, and it made me sick cause its winter time. That's why I am at home today."

Sydney then said, "Ok, so you know where the papers are the man wants. You're still in the closet. Are you thinking about going to tell the man where the papers are to protect your Daddy?"

C.J. nodded and then said, "I've decided I have to. I can't lose Daddy...I love him so much and he loves me. He protects me and takes care of me and teaches me. We have plans for when I grow up. I need him." She was starting to cry and then cried out and put her hands over her ears.

Matt was having a hard time watching all this. Ever fiber of his being wanted to reach out and take her in his arms, telling her she was safe and letting her cry the way she needed to. He just wanted to be in that closet with her and he didn't understand why Sydney wouldn't let him.

Sydney motioned for him to back up further as Matt had unconsciously moved closer to her again. He then asked, "What is it, C.J.? What just happened? Was there a noise? You're holding your ears."

C.J. nodded and looked terrified, "It was a loud noise, like I gun shot they show on tv, and...and then...and then something fell. I can't stay in here...I don't...I don't hear Daddy anymore." Then she inhaled sharply and her eyes widened.

Sydney asked knowing this was the first image he was going to have to deal with, "What do you see?"

C.J. was breathing rapidly again, in a state of panic as she tells them, "Daddy is bleeding, a lot, and the man his making him sit up. I can't see Daddy's face...he is sitting with his back to me, but I don't think he's awake. He's hurt I know it...oh no...no, no, no...the man...the man has a big gun and..." C.J. seemed to freeze at that point.

Matt looked nervously at Sydney who was staring intently at C.J. Did a little bomb go off in her brain, now that she remembered? Was it the image itself that caused her stop like that? Sydney didn't have those answers yet, so he needed to prod her. "Come on C.J. tell me...what is it you see. Remember, that you are safe here and no one can physically hurt you."

The silence was killing Matt and he didn't exhale until she said, "He shot that gun..." Her breathing was becoming irregular now. "Daddy...his head..." Then she seemed to sit upright and said, "I have to call someone to help Daddy. They have to help him, he can't die. I won't let him down, he's counting on me."

Sydney took a deep breath and then asked, "So you went to call the police, is that what you're doing now?"

She nodded again, "Yes and I'm taking the phone into the closet. That's what Daddy said and maybe if I stay in here, when I come out everything will be ok again." She started crying and then recounted what she said to police on the phone. "They said they are on their way and I can hear that man yelling still at Daddy cause he can't find that paper. I can hear the sirens and the man yells and then runs out. I'm getting out of the closet now. I have to let the police in and I have to collect some evidence. I won't let that man get away with hurting my Daddy. I saw him drop the gun in the hallway and went to get it. I put it in my backpack so no one will find it. Daddy told me that you can't trust everybody so I will wait and decide later who to give it to. I'll be a lawyer one day and I can go after that man myself. I just can't go in Daddy's room though, I just told the police where he was. They aren't moving fast enough so I have to yell at them. Daddy needs a hospital, now...why aren't they listening?" She then broke down in tears and began crying hysterically. Sydney looked at Matt who was in tears himself.