Chapter 2: She isn't here
After exiting Tina's office Joshua was greeted by the same men that escorted him there. One of them looked at Joshua and in a deep voice said "follow us." Feeling a little intimidated, Joshua followed them down the hall in front of Tina's husband's office. He knocked on the door and in an instant heard Edward yelling through the door "Give me a second please!" Joshua waited outside with the nurse escorts for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally Edward opened the door and with a welcoming tone said "Why hello there Joshua, please come in."
Joshua slowly stepped in as Edward held the door for him. Joshua was in shock, scanning the office up and down and seeing nothing but what seemed to be a literal dump. Edward dismissed the escorts and shut the door. "Welcome my dear Joshua please excuse the mess and have a seat." Joshua walked up to his seat and sat down trying to ignore the smell of mold. After getting somewhat comfortable Edward spoke again in a welcoming tone that was sickening to Joshua. "Joshua my dear patient, would you like some water, coffee, or tea?"
Joshua looked around the room trying to locate Edward and saw nothing but his coat sticking out from behind a filing cabinet. As to not seem rude Joshua replied in a soft tone "Water is fine thank you." Edward quickly emerged from behind the cabinet with a cup of coffee in one hand, a bottle of water in the other, and a pack of cookies under each arm. After sitting down and getting all the beverages and snacks on the table Edward and Joshua had some small talk. "Tell me Joshua how was the talk with my wife? Did she help at all?" Shyly Joshua said "we didn't discuss much, just some introductions and a few breathing exercises."
Edward raised his eyebrow at the mention of breathing exercises. "Breathing exercises huh? What for?" Said Edward with an almost mocking tone leaning closer to Joshua. "Nothing much, just a little panic attack I guess you can say." Joshua looked down at the cookies and began to eat one. Noticing that Joshua didn't want to continue the conversation Edward changed the subject.
"How about this, let's just focus on introductions as well?" Joshua, relieved at the suggestion, nodded yes to Edward. A smile formed on Edward's face and with great enthusiasm said "Alright then Joshy I'll go first, just to make it easier for ya!" Edward winked at Josua and stood up, seeming like he was about to start a musical number. Edward took a sip of his coffee and then took a deep breath, before he even started talking though he grabbed a cookie and ate it. After an awkward moment of hearing him chew loudly he took another sip of coffee and another deep breath.
Finally Edward started to speak in the most medieval voice I have ever heard. "I dear Joshua am 27 years old. My wife Tina and I have been married for 5 years. I like football, food, and beer." Edward spoke almost like he was performing Shakespeare. Joshua enjoyed his theatrics and let out a soft giggle. "YES!" Edward yelled with victory. "I made you smile and laugh now it is your turn Joshy.
Joshua, amused by Edward's performance, did the exact same thing he did. Joshua took a sip of water and then a deep breath. Before saying anything Joshua took a cookie and ate it, chewing loudly and awkwardly. He finally swallowed, then took a sip of water and one last deep breath, and with the most medieval voice he could make he said "I am Joshua. I am 15 years old. I lost my mother when I was 5. I can't sleep that well at night. I also love food and football but my favorite drink is Fanta."
After taking his seat he and Edward laughed almost uncontrollably. They both grabbed a cookie and toasted with it. After eating their cookies and calming down Edward finally asked "So you can't sleep that well at night?" Joshua with a stuffed mouth replied "Yep, haven't been able to sleep since I was a baby. My dad told me stories of how he had to stay up almost all night because I was awake."
Edward thought for a bit and replied "Interesting have you ever thought of taking a sleep study?" Joshua swallowing the cookies in his mouth said in a confused tone "A sleep study?" "Yes a sleep study, it's when people watch you sleep to see if you have any abnormalities. If you want we can do it tonight. Joshua thought for a moment and agreed. Edward using a more professional tone gave more details about the sleep study. "So we are gonna put you on a bed. We will be monitoring you using a few machines which will be attached to you. We have you go into a deep sleep for a few hours and then we wake you up."
Joshua, not against the idea at all, agreed once more to the study. "All right enough of that doctor patient stuff." Joshua looked up at Edward with a confused look. "I said today we would focus on getting to know each other better." Joshua smiled and said "You're not like the other doctors." Edward smiled and said "Of course I'm not like the other doctors. I believe that a good relationship with a patient is the key to helping them. My wife thinks the same."
Joshua had a quick flashback of Tina and him almost kissing. Feeling bad about it he debates whether or not he should tell Edward about it. Before he could think of what to do Edward offered Joshua a cup of coffee. Joshua agreed and as Edward walked to his little kitchen behind the cabinet Joshua continued thinking. "If I told Edward I'd lose my friendship with him. I don't want that. He might end up hating me for ruining his marriage. The best I can do is just make sure it doesn't happen again." Thoughts kept leaving and entering his mind as he tried to think of the best solution.
After making up his mind on what to do Edward came walking back with 2 cups of coffee and 2 more packs of cookies. As he placed them down on the table he said "Hey we have 30 more minutes let's make it count." Joshua, forgetting about what had happened today, smiled and agreed with Edward. Edward of course still had to do his job so in a personal way started asking Joshua more about himself.
"Hey Joshua I know today isn't supposed to have a doctor patient thing so why don't we talk like friends instead?" Joshua hesitated for a bit but agreed. "Sure I don't mind what would you like to know about me. "Well" Edward said in a hesitant voice. "You mentioned earlier that you lost your mom when you were 5." Joshua looking at him sadly replied "Yeah I did. If you read my file it should state that I lost her in a car crash."
Edward looked at Joshua for a bit. "Do you really believe that?" asked Edward in an empathetic tone. Joshua looked up at him and nodded no. "No I don't believe it because I know it isn't true." Edward, intrigued by what Joshua has to say, leans closer while taking a bite into a cookie. "What do you believe then?" Joshua took a deep breath and began explaining.
"My mom didn't die in a car crash. I killed her." Edward choked on his cookie in shock of what Joshua had said. "Go on." Edward coughed. "My mom and I were home alone. It was night and my dad was on a business trip. I remember my mom tucking me in and everything going dark. I then started dreaming and saw a dark elongated figure in my mind. It spoke to me telling me to do things. I was afraid and woke up but it felt like I was still dreaming. I heard the figure's voice again. For a moment I couldn't feel my body then everything went dark again. I saw myself killing my mom. Then all of a sudden I woke up in the car. She crashed it trying to get to the hospital. A branch stabbed her straight in the area where I had stabbed her." Joshua looked down with sadness.
Edward was completely in shock while hearing Joshua's story. He didn't want to seem rude and he most definitely didn't want Joshua thinking that he thought that it was crazy. Joshua sat sniffling with a few tears rolling down his cheek. Edward brought him a box of tissues and offered him a cookie. Joshua wiped his tears and took a bite. They both lifted their coffee cups and made another toast.
After finally calming down the alarm buzzer went off. "Well Joshy it's time. I'll see you tonight for the test." Said Edward in a chill relaxing voice. "I'll see you tonight Dr. Edward." replied Joshua with a much happier tone. As Joshua walked away Edward stopped him. "Joshua…please call me Ed." Joshua looked at him with a big smile and said "Thx Ed and please call me Josh." They hugged each other and Edward walked him to the door where the two nurse escorts were waiting.
"Bye Josh. Don't worry they will take you to your father for now." Said Edward as he waved bye to Joshua. "Bye Ed see you tonight." Said Joshua as he waved back. The two escorts then took him to his father Mike who waited for him anxiously.
"Dad?" said Joshua shyly. "Josh? You're finally out of there, how are you feeling?" His dad was so worried he didn't even let Joshua reply and kept going on asking him about his health. "Dad!" Josh interrupted. "I'm ok but we have a sleep study tonight." Mike looked at his son and agreed to it. "As long as you want to do it, of course we can do it."