Sam watched Koji pick at his lunch. The younger boy picked apart his peanut butter and jelly sandwich only to roll the bits into balls. Soon there was a line of sandwich balls on Koji’s plate.

“Not hungry?” Sam asked softly.

“Huh?” Koji paused in mid roll.

“Those ’re nice balls y’ got there, but y ’re not eatin’.”

“Oh. Okay.” Koji popped his most recently made ball into his mouth.

“Y’ don’t have t’ eat if you’re not hungry.”

“No. I’m…It’s just…”

Sam sighed. The group session hadn’t gotten any easier for Koji. That damn Dr Brown wouldn’t quit until Koji gave her an answer about the voices. Not that it had been much of an answer. Sam knew that Koji had just made something up in order to get Dr Brown to leave him alone. The boy probably hadn’t believed a word of what he had said. Why couldn’t Sam have protected Koji better? He had just let Dr Brown continue to force herself onto Koji.

“I’m okay Sam,” Koji insisted.

“Y’ sure? Cause y’ look pale and group was…”

“Don’t want to talk about it. I’m fine.”

He was lying, he had to be, but Sam decided not to push it. What was the point? If Koji didn’t want to talk about it, then he wasn’t going to talk about it. And besides, pushing him on it would be as bad as what Dr Brown had been doing. At least the guy was eating the little balls of sandwich.

~~~~~~~*~~~~~~*

After lunch, Sam was going to have to have his private session with Dr Brown. As if group hadn’t been bad enough. He didn’t get why the good doctor had such an interest in him. Wasn’t she supposed to be a supervisor? What made him so special that she came away from her paperwork for him?

Sam sat across from Dr Brown in her office. At least he wasn’t stretched out on a couch like some kind of cliché. Dr Brown sat behind her desk, her hands folded in front of her. Sam, meanwhile, sat on the other side, slumped in a leather easy chair. At least the chair was somewhat comfortable.

“You know Samuel,” Dr Brown said, smiling at him, “while it’s admirable that you want to protect your friends, keeping him from reality does more harm than good.”

Sam stared at the smile. Surely Dr Brown thought that her expression was comforting, even supportive, but Sam always saw something self-satisfied about it. Maybe doctors were just like that. Maybe she just enjoyed helping people, but somehow Sam had his doubts.

“So don’t protect him?” Sam muttered.

Dr Brown’s smile widened. “You misunderstand. By all means, protect him. But instead of playing into his sickness by acknowledging the voices, protect him by bringing him back to reality. Okay?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Good. Now, I have a suspicion that you didn’t sleep well last night, despite your answer during group. You had another dream, didn’t you?”

Sam hesitated. Honestly, he didn’t want to answer. He definitely didn’t want to have a discussion about it. Of course, Dr Brown wasn’t going to let him just sit there in silence. Even if he didn’t answer, she’d continue on with questions and comments. It was easier just to admit it and move on.

“Yeah, fine,” Sam finally admitted.

“Samuel, you must be willing to fully admit to the problem in order to address it and fix it. Don’t give me such a dismissive answer. Did you have one of your dreams last night?”

Sam sighed, his eyes narrowed. “Yes.”

“That’s much better. We’ve talked before about your dreams. You understand why they concern me, don’t you?”

To be honest, he wasn’t sure he did. That wasn’t him being thickheaded, that was just being honest. They were just dreams. Sure, they were really vivid and in the middle of them, they felt incredibly real, but wasn’t that true of other people’s dreams?

“You’ve been here for quite some time,” Dr Brown continued, “Surely you’ve come to realize the danger in your dreams.”

Danger? Was she serious? It wasn’t the first time Dr Brown had expressed so much worry, but they were just dreams.

“Samuel, you’ve admitted that your dreams feel very real. You said once that they feel more than just dreams. That they feel almost like memories. And I know you don’t remember much of anything from before about three years ago, but I want you to think about that for a moment. How could a dream about a being with wings possibly be one of your memories? Do you have wings?”

“No.” What a stupid question.

“Of course not. And you don’t honestly believe someone could have put some sort of spell on you, do you? A spell to perhaps steal your memories and hide your wings?”

Sam opened his mouth to answer then stopped. The sane answer was “no” But, what if. It was insane, without a doubt, but now that she mentioned it, Sam couldn’t help wondering. It would explain the unease he felt in his own skin. It would definitely explain why the dreams felt so real. It could even explain why he felt like he was being watched, even when staff members weren’t around.

“Samuel, you aren’t seriously considering this, are you?” Dr Brown sounded disappointed. “I thought we had come further than that. Honestly, who would do such a thing? Even if it were possible?”

“How would I know?” Sam countered. “Y’ said y’ self it could’ve stolen m’ memories. And I know it’s crazy, but so ’m I.”

“No, no. We don’t call ourselves that.”

Sam just snorted. “So tell me somethin’. Why couldn’t it be possible?”

“Very well. Because reality is set a certain way, and that way has no place for so-called magic. The supernatural simply does not exist.”

“But how d’ y’ know?”

“Because I’m a woman of science. Science teaches us to believe in what we can prove by a method of experimentation. We collect data. We prove it through what we touch, see, hear and even taste.”

“And Koji’s voices? He hears ‘em don’t he?”

Dr Brown smiled slightly. “Yes, in a sense his voices are ‘real’ but only to him. They aren’t a part of the collected reality. They are a symptom of a disorder. And they cause him pain, we is the biggest reason we treat him. Your dreams lead you to live in a fragmented reality. You’re unable to deal with the world around you. If you want my honest opinion, I believe you’d choose to escape completely into your dreams if you could. That simply isn’t healthy. Now do you understand?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Oh, look, our time is up. My, how quickly it goes. I believe you have time to spend in the rec room before dinner. I’ll see you later Samuel.”