CH 3 - Dr. Greene
Dr. Evelyn Greene, Bachelor's Degree, Northwestern University in Psychology and Sociology, Master's Degree, John Hopkins University in Counseling, Practicing License from The National Board of Certified Counselors.
Worked in Moroi Family Therapy from 2013-2014. Traveled across Europe 2014-2018 to different high-impact zones and Dhampir communities. Worked directly with Dhampir soldiers with extensive PTSD from 2018-2020 before moving back to American Moroi Court in early 2021.
New Patient Summary:
Dimitri Belikov, 25 years old - former Guardian to Ivan Zeklos and family 2015-2018. Former Guardian at St. Vladimir's Academy 2019 - assigned future Guardian of Princess Vasilisa Dragomir. Fallen/MIA during Strigoi invasion St. Vladimir's 2020.
Former Classification: Dhampir
Former Classification: Strigoi - Confirmed
Current Classification: Unknown. Restoration; first documented of his kind. Speculations of ancient Moroi element, Spirit, root cause of restoration to Dhampir. Unconfirmed.
Incarceration 2021.
Released from incarceration 2021.
Person of interest: accomplice to prison break of murder suspect Rose Hathaway. Orders to apprehend on site and bring in for questioning.
Pardon: indoctrinated by Queen Vasilia Dragomir 2022.
Current position: Guardian to Lord Christian Ozera.
Session 1:
Dr. Greene is well-versed in Dimitri's unique case. Despite the little information she's been given in his file, she has taken time to research and gather new information to help her gain a better understanding of him. She is extremely curious to find out more, but only asks the standard 'get to know you' questions she uses for all her patients until they are comfortable enough to open up to her.
She invites Dimitri to ask any questions about her to take the pressure off of him so it feels more like an open dialogue rather than him being under a microscope. It's clear from her research that his previous 'treatment' consisted of questioning from Guardian council members and was solely focused on the physical effects of his transformation and none of the emotional or mental strains that resulted from it. Dr. Greene explains some high-level goals that could be achieved during these sessions, but specific goals related to his growth will be determined later.
Session 3:
Dr. Greene has still learned little about the details of his experience. Things she has learned: Dimitri Belikov is polite, composed, reticent, and conflicted. His past references describe him as disciplined and resolutely committed to his duties as a protector of the Moroi. But even in their short conversations, Dr. Greene can already see discord in that role.
Dimitri talks about his family. When asked about his father his tone is harsh. Dr. Greene asks if he would like to further elaborate. His only response is, "No."
Session 7:
Dr. Greene cautiously asks Dimitri specific questions about his time as Strigoi. She eases into the questions, starting by asking him to describe the feeling of the restoration process—but even thinking about that day brings him notable distress.
Session 10:
After the third session, Dr. Greene assigned Dimitri to log daily journal entries to help him express and align his thoughts. His first entries started out as a log of his daily tasks. Occasionally, he writes intrusive thoughts down, considering discussing them with Dr. Greene. Today he has brought his journal with him, a bookmark on a specific page. He hands the Moroi his booklet as he sits on the sofa across from her.
Dr. Greene opens the page to find a list of names.
Emil Lambert - Dhampir, Guardian St. Vladimir's Academy
Lindsay Combs - Human, Missoula, MT
Eric Garcia - Human, Hamilton, MT
Jessica Lee - Human, Hamilton, MT
Claudia Espinoza - Human, Hamilton, MT
Ethan Davis - Human, Lincoln, MT
The list goes on and on covering almost a whole page. As Dr. Greene reads each one, Dimitri quietly says, "I brought a list of people I could remember killing."
Dr. Greene starts to say something but Dimitri uncharacteristically interrupts her. "I know you didn't ask me to, but it was all I could think of in my journal entries since we started talking about my time as Strigoi."
Dr. Greene swallows, worried about what an exercise like this could do to his progress this early on. She nods in understanding, focussing on remaining objective. "I see."
Dimitri's gaze is on the floor, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together tightly. "There are—" He stops.
Dr. Greene gives him a moment, waiting for him to pick it back up. When he doesn't, she leans forward, trying to catch his focus. "This is a safe place, Dimitri. When you're ready, you can tell me."
He looks to his right and she sees the wetness forming in his eyes. He takes a sharp inhale through his nose and as he breathes out he says, "There are more, but I can't remember how many."
He finally turns to look at her and for the first time, Dr. Greene feels a pang of fear in his presence. She is seeing more than the downtrodden Dhampir, more than the warrior; she's seeing the killer.
She's spent years around Dhampir and recognizes the emotional toll a kill can have on them. No matter what training they are put through, most of them aren't prepared for taking a life, even for the sake of protecting an innocent's or their own. But this is different. These lives weren't lost in the name of protection.
Dimitri starts talking and doesn't stop. He's frantic. Going on about how in the early days it excited the monster to find out who the people were, going through their things, hoping he got caught with a chance to do it again. But as it grew more lustful and more brutal, the curiosity left and the only thing that satiated it was blood. Manic and afraid, he says over and over and over he can't remember the faces. When he finally tells her, "I can only remember the taste of their blood," Dr. Greene fights back a flinch.
The gruesome words only stop when Dimitri is unable to catch his breath and he's clutching his chest. His cheeks are wet with spilled tears and his eyes are wide in panic. Dr. Greene pages her assistant, telling him to cancel her next two appointments, and spends the next hour helping Dimitri through his panic attack.
Session 11:
Dr. Greene notices Dimitri has started growing a beard. He admits it's another point of reassurance. For the longest time he found himself running to find his reflection, whether it was in the middle of the night after another nightmare, or in the gym locker room after overhearing a Guardian's conversation—his eyes. He needed to see his eyes. Make sure they were still brown…and not red. But he dreaded this each time, fear and anxiety building up so much before, that when he finally found his reflection he was on the verge of panic. The beard helps him in public places, a quick way to check himself when he's in an anxious situation, a reminder that he's changed.
Session 13:
Dimitri and Dr. Greene evaluate some of the techniques she's provided him to help reduce his daily anxiety. Some are more effective than others and they walk through specific instances so she can offer alternative methods.
Dimitri has become extremely logical. Dr. Greene recognizes this as a coping mechanism—hiding his emotions so he doesn't feel too much. She instructs him on small ways to get back in touch with his emotions. It will be hard, but she assures it is necessary; emotions are one of the main things that separate mortals from Strigoi, and embracing them will help him prove to himself that he isn't that detached being.
Through this, they continue examining specific roots of his trauma.
Session 16:
Root 1 - Rose Hathaway.
Rose is sitting to Dimitri's left on the small sofa. She lightly bounces on it a couple times, and remarks on the plushness. Dimitri looks nervous, similar to how he did in his earlier sessions. Rose makes another few comments about the room, the fish tank, the little fountain in the back and she asks him if it makes him have to pee after listening to it for a full hour. He gives her a look and Rose peers over at the bookcase, the top filled with Dr. Greene's diplomas.
Rose's eyebrow quirks as she asks, "Family practice?"
"Yes, I observed many families during my clinical studies while deciding what I wanted to officially specialize in."
"You have a family of your own?" Rose glances down to the empty ring finger of the doctor's right hand.
"No," Dr. Greene confidently replies. "Was engaged once, but we weren't the right fit."
"What, he couldn't handle the big, impressive brains of a therapist?"
"She," Dr. Greene corrects, without further explanation.
"And I'm actually a counselor. Therapists typically treat personal and relationship needs, I focus on mental, psychological, and substance abuse, though I do have a license to practice both."
"Where's your fancy piece of paper for that one?"
"Somewhere in one of my drawers, I suppose."
"You didn't wanna put it on display with all the others?"
Dr. Greene looks over to the shelf Rose has been eyeballing since she settled down. "Frames are expensive, and I still have student loans to pay off."
Rose eyes her curiously.
"Besides, four look fine up there, but five, people might start thinking I'm overcompensating for something."
Rose snorts, a mischievous glint in her eye solidifying what Dr. Greene has already hypothesized.
"Have you been to therapy before, Rose?"
"Yeah, at school. After my friend was killed by a Strigoi in front of me," she says bluntly.
Dr. Greene adjusts in her seat, her words losing their lightness and taking on a sympathetic tone. "I'm sorry for your loss. That must have been a difficult time for you."
The small finger of Dimitri's left hand lifts off his leg towards her then slowly inches back down.
"Listen, I'm not here to unpack my shit. I'm here for him. So let's move on."
"Understood." Dr. Greene refrains from taking notes today, already knowing how Rose will react to that.
There's a short silence that Rose again breaks. "So are most of you shrinks earth users," she looks over at a small plant in the window. "Growing bored of studying living things that don't talk back?"
A splashing sound catches Rose's attention across the room and she sees small waves topple inside the fish tank. The fountain in the back stops making noise and Rose turns to see small droplets now hovering around it instead of a steady flow. An instant later both bodies fall back to normal as Dr. Greene replies, "Water. Does that matter to you, Rose?"
"No," she shrugs.
"I don't think one specialization over another would grant an advantage or a calling to this profession, though I haven't spent any time around a Spirit user like your charge, Vasilisa. Their connection to the mind might speak otherwise."
Rose's eyes dart to Dimitri as she quietly says through her teeth, "You two talk about Lissa?"
"Of course," Dr. Greene answers for him. "She was instrumental in his restoration. Someone very important to Dimitri, and to you I understand."
Rose's gaze is trained on Dimitri a moment longer, making no effort to hide her distrust of the doctor. "Yes," all humor and teasing is gone, only a distinct severity remains. "She is."
"I assure you Rose, these meetings are completely confidential. Nothing, and I mean nothing, leaves this room."
The Dhampir finally turns her focus back to the doctor, her harsh looks converting into something sweet, yet it's clear it's just a thin veil draping over a wickedness primed below the surface. "I'm sure they are."
"Especially seeing how 'my charge' is the reigning Queen of our society. You know, privacy is very important to her when it comes to specific aspects of her personal life," Rose continues. "It would be a shame to see someone as accoladed as you finding themselves without the means to practice again."
Dimitri sits back into the sofa, dreading ever agreeing to this.
"I understand your reservations, but I don't think the Queen would be against these conversations, especially when we are actively working towards finding out what's best for Dimitri."
"And you think you're what's best?"
Dr. Greene looks over to him as she says, "That's for Dimitri to decide. Not me."
Dimitri subtly nods, feeling uneasy under the spotlight. Rose finally notices the uncomfortable turn the conversation is taking—she would be fine to spar with Dr. Greene for the next 45 minutes, but she is right. That wouldn't be productive for her friend. This is his time, she is a guest.
"Fine," she leans back and reaches into her pocket, pulling out a pack of gum. She offers one to Dimitri and when he declines she unwraps a stick and pops it into her mouth. "So what's up?"
From then on Rose joins every other session.
Session 21:
During their solo session, Dimitri finally decides to talk about his father. Dr. Greene recognizes him accessing deeper feelings he's harboring and sees an opportunity for him to safely handle an emotional breakthrough. She asks if he would be comfortable continuing this conversation in their future session with Rose.
Dimitri agrees.
Session 22:
"Earlier this week, Dimitri was uncovering some connections from his past that related to his more recent traumas. We had a breakthrough during our discussion and he would like to express some of these thoughts with you, Rose."
Rose perks up in her seat and pats Dimitri on the shoulder. "Congrats Comrade! That sounds like good news."
Dimitri swallows, his expression unsure. He looks to Dr. Greene, and she offers some support. "Only when you're ready."
Rose looks between them, her smile fading a little as the mood in the room shifts. Dimitri takes a breath, steeling himself, and decides he's ready. It's what he wants. It's what she deserves.
"I was telling Dr. Greene about Randall."
"Oh," Rose says, and Dr. Greene is a bit surprised by how Rose already seems to know about his father.
"I realize now, he is one of the reasons I hate so much what I became; because I feel like a part of me became him. He was selfish, impulsive, manipulative, abusive," Dimitri takes a pause to turn and look at Rose, "and those are all the things I became when trying to convince you to be with me in that state."
Rose's complexion pales a little, her hand gripping her knee tightly. She isn't sure what she expected to talk about in these sessions, of course it wasn't going to be good, but this…it was the lowest point of her life and she feels a surge of disgust being reminded of the pathetic girl she became.
Dimitri continues on. "After witnessing what he did to my family, I vowed to never be like him. My entire adolescence and adult life I fought for control over any selfish compulsions that went against the Guardian code, and as soon as I was turned…I failed. The monster that lived within me, that was passed down to me by blood, surfaced."
Dimitri leans forward a little, but doesn't move to touch her. "Rose, I'm so sorry for what I did to you."
Rose looks away and attempts to wave it off. "You don't have to apologize for that. It wasn't you."
"Rose," Dr. Greene's voice pulls the Dhampir's attention to her. "I understand that this is difficult for you, but I ask you to listen to him if you can. This apology isn't just for you."
His doctor has recognized that although a lot of the guilt Dimitri harbors is around Rose, there are many other factors of his trauma that he still needs to connect to. Rose is one of the few people Dimitri can actually apologize to—most of the others are gone. So even if what he's saying isn't something she wants to hear, it needs to be said.
Rose seems to understand this and after a moment of reflection, she nods, allowing Dimitri to continue. He brings up things she had locked away, never wanting to resurface again. Since the day he was restored, she only wanted to see him as a Dhampir, never that other being that she'd succumbed to so easily. He talks about the letters, ones she'd long since thrown into the fireplace and burned from her mind. Rose sits through it all, fighting the urge to run out the door. When he's done, Dr. Greene expresses how proud she is of him for getting all of this out in the open and thanks Rose for being instrumental in his progress. Rose nods again, unable to say anything in response, and leaves before Dimitri does.
It takes her several weeks to join him in a session again.
A/N: I'm going to be a bit busy tomorrow so I decided to post a day early. Thanks for all the comments on the first few chapters! This one is rough for Rose, but essential to their progression. Next week we'll get another glimpse into what Rose has been up to at Court ;)