"Is she going to be able to walk again?"

"Most likely, yes she will."

Tyler stood in the waiting room with Dr. Banning at the hospital. He hadn't left the building in the twenty-four hours since he brought Olivia in. He panicked when she said she couldn't feel her legs. Carrying her to the car, though she fought him about it, had his mind racing.

"Well, what happened then? How could she just suddenly not feel her legs? She fell in the shower. Is it a nerve thing?" Tyler started spouting out questions.

"I've talked with Ms. Pope a bit and we have a good theory on it. I've got a couple of doctors already speaking with her to confirm. In the meantime, why don't you go get some rest and come back tomorrow morning? Tomorrow we can discuss with Ms. Pope how to treat her and go from there." The doctor shook his hand and turned back to the elevators.

Liv laid in the bed upstairs flipping through the tv channels for something to do since Tyler didn't grab her phone. Watching the news all through the night, she'd been getting more exhausted than she ever had before. Hearing the knock on the door, she muted the tv and told them to come in.

"Ms. Pope, I'm Dr. Kent," he stepped in and closed the door behind him. Shaking her hand before pulling the chair up next to her. "I'm the hospital psychiatrist. Dr. Banning did your intake yesterday and thought I might be of some use in your situation."

Confused, Liv looked him over while trying to find the reason a psychiatrist would be useful. The grey hair and beard of the probably late sixties black man eased her a bit. This wasn't some new doctor who thought they could come in and diagnose her with some new issue in a matter of moments. Still, she didn't want to see another person who would possibly call her crazy or tell her how she should feel.

"Is Dr. Banning chicken of telling me I won't walk again?"

"Do you think you won't walk again?"

"Dr. Kent, I'm not one who is new to the reverse psychology babble of psychiatrists. I've been seeing mine for quite some time and another before that. And one before that. I may not have seen mine for a while, but the tactics are still the same. The only thing I want to know is will I walk again or is this paralysis indefinite?"

"From what Dr. Banning has told me, you will walk again. But that's not why I'm here."

Raising a brow at him, Liv turned the tv off, now more curious with his appearance in her room. "Then why are you here, Dr. Kent?"

"Ms. Pope, Olivia, may I call you that?" He waited for her to acknowledge it and saw her nod. "Olivia. Do you know why you suddenly lost feeling in your legs?" Shaking her head, no, he continued. "Well, it seems that your brain has lost connection to some motor functions. This time with your legs, and feet."

Looking down at her covered legs, "so you're saying I'm losing my mind?"

"In a sense, yes. Dr. Banning gave me your chart to review. With the little information you were willing to give and what your friend that brought you in gave, I can reasonably say your mind is shutting down."

"But I'm not crazy."

"No one says you are, Olivia. You are not crazy. You are sleep deprived. Your insomnia has started to affect your mind which is causing your brain to, let's say, short circuit. Your lack of sleep is causing the neurons in your brain to stop sending signals to your feet. When exactly was the last time that you had a full night of sleep?"

"43 days ago."

"Really? Interesting. Did you know that the world record is 11 days? One more day and you'll have quadrupled the length."

Liv rolled her eyes at the statement. "I'm not trying to go for the record here."

"That is one that no one should be trying to beat. In all honesty, I'm actually surprised you are still alive. Typically, around the 48th hour people start to hallucinate. Then around 72 hours the auditory hallucinations begin. You've managed to stay awake and functioning for 43 days. I must say, I am in awe of your ability to do so. Though I am questioning. How are you able to?"

"I keep myself busy. I'll go for runs or work or clean. My old job would keep me busy all night."

"You said old job. What is it you did?"

"I was a legal assistant to a partner at a law firm in D.C. I would check in with the other offices all over the world. It helps when everyone is in a different time zone."

"And now what do you do?"

"Nothing. I run and I clean."

Nodding his understanding, Dr. Kent got a bit more comfortable in the chair. "Olivia, why don't you sleep?"

"That's not in my chart? I thought you read it?"

"I did. I know you have somniphobia. But I am asking why. Why do you have somniphobia? That's not something someone just has. There's most always a reason as to why. I'd like to know why and when you started having it."

"It's not something I'm fond of discussing," Liv told him annoyed and crossed her arms. "I don't see why we need to talk about it."

"I see your comprehension is lacking. That's another sign of sleep deprivation. What did you do this morning?"

Liv gave it a moment of thought. "I don't remember exactly. I'm sure I went on a run."

"Hmm. It's possible you went on a run yesterday morning. You've been here since yesterday. And it was yesterday afternoon that you couldn't feel your legs. Those are two other signs of sleep deprivation: memory loss and loss of time." Dr. Kent saw her close her eyes for a minute before she jumped awake again. "Is that common?"

"Is what?"

"Blackout sessions. You were awake having a conversation with me then you closed your eyes. Did you fall asleep?"

"I don't think so. I could hear you."

"But you jumped awake. What gave you somniphobia?"

Liv looked over at him giving him another full look over. He's a psychiatrist. There's probably nothing he hasn't heard before. Talking about it with him is not going to do any harm. Edison is dead and he's not coming back. I killed him. I saw his body. I made sure they put his body in the ground. I can tell him. He's not going to laugh. He can obviously see this isn't a funny matter. He's only trying to help. I don't need help, but this is his job. Don't make it harder for either of us.

"My fiancé was murdered in front of me."

Letting out a slight gasp, Dr. Kent tightened his hands together. "I'm sorry to hear that. That's tragic. How long ago was this?"

"Four years," she told him. Pulling a pillow from behind her, she put it on her lap and held it tight as she went on to explain. "My ex-boyfriend broke into our apartment and slit his throat while we were sleeping. Stephen was trying to grab my arm while he bled out. I woke up and Edison was sitting there holding the pocket knife in his hand. I tried, but I couldn't save him."

"When you close your eyes, and you fall asleep, what is it you see?"

"I see the entire night happening all over again. Every detail. It's like it's happening right then. My mind just replays it over and over again. Like it's a punishment."

"What kind of therapy have you done for this?"

"General therapy. Talk therapy. Verna's had me walk through all the emotions of it."

Watching her eyes tear a little before she quickly wiped at them, he stopped his thinking process to watch her reactions. "You're not an emotional person, are you?" Liv shook her head. "But this event causes the pain." She nodded and laid her head back on the bed. "You said it's been 43 days since you last slept. Then you do sleep but there's a way it has to be done, isn't there? What is it?"

"I need someone to be in bed with me. I have a select few people who know about this problem and that can help me sleep."

"Where are they? Why haven't they been there for you?"

"I don't want them to be. I shouldn't need to rely on someone else to get my sleep. It's cruel to upend their lives for my own wellbeing."

"What about your friend that brought you in? Is he one of the select few?"

"He's Stephen's identical twin brother. I could never let him be in the same bed as me. I'm positive that would only make the nightmares a reality when I woke up. I can't do that."

Giving it some thought, Dr. Kent sat quietly in the chair letting her go on. Hearing her say identical twin got his mind going. "Olivia, what if I told you I could help you sleep?"

"I don't want you in the same bed as me either."

"Not at all," he laughed. "That would be breaking ethics. I think we can work together and make your somniphobia a thing of the past. Would you be interested in making that happen?"

"I've already tried sleeping pills. Those haven't done anything but make it worse. I still have the nightmares during those."

Nodding his agreement with her, he moved forward to the edge of the chair. "You don't seem concerned that you might not walk again. Is that because you've accepted you might not or are you possibly hiding your emotions of it?"

"Walking and running is not everything in life. I'm fortunate to be able to walk. Others aren't as lucky. I'm still alive and that's what matters, I suppose." Poking at her legs, she still couldn't feel them. "If I were interested in getting rid of this stupid phobia, would it be a temporary fix or permanent?"

"Ideally, it would be permanent. But the mind is a tricky organ. You could convince yourself of one thing and five minutes later reverse it. Especially in your current state. The friend that brought you in, he isn't an emergency contact. Do you have someone that I would need to call? Maybe a parent or a sibling?"

Shaking her head, she lied knowing he would need to call Jerry. "Nope, just me."

"Though I am still amazed at your ability to be awake and coherent after all this time awake, I don't think you are in the proper condition to agree to the treatments I have in mind to treat somniphobia. I am going to suggest that we have that conversation tomorrow when you've gotten some sleep. Are you sure there's no one I should call for you? None of the people that can help you sleep?"

"No, I haven't seen them in six weeks. I don't want to worry them."

"Alright. Olivia, what I'd like to do is have you sedated for the night. That will give your mind a chance to reset and begin again. Allowing you to get the sleep that your body needs, it may not be the immediate response to get your legs moving again but it's a step in the right direction. Would that be okay with you?"

"Sedating me over night? I'm concerned that the nightmares will still be there. There's no avoiding them. I know they will be."

"Sadly, as with many cases, it has to get worse before it can get better. What do you think?"

Thinking about it for a couple of minutes, she played with her fingers while staring at her feet. "Are you positive that you could get me to sleep like a normal person again?"

"Nothing is ever a hundred percent. However, I am ninety five percent sure that we can decrease the number of nightmares and get rid of the somniphobia."

"Okay. Get me the sedation."