Time
Terri ground the plams of her hands together nervously; eyes fled repeatedly to the lead-encrusted windows behind the head of the company therapist.
She feared what this Boehm woman would say; Stevie's mental state wasn't exactly pristine. It was well-known to everyone in the company that he had, at least partially, regressed to a childlike state after an abusive childhood. There were flashes and moments of Stevie's "other self"; most of them, she was shy to admit, occurred in their bedroom with her. She reffered to this older, more cynical but loving personality as Michael, for the name he left behind legally.
Her aristocratically-featured therapist, peeling back the covers to multiple files, folded her hands over the top of her desk. "Mrs. Richards...I'm pleased that you chose to meet me here today."
Terri smiled faintly, "Yes...I was curious as to your meaning." She folded her gloved hands in her lap, "Why did you need to see me so desperately?"
The doctor took a deep breath and rose from her seat, "Mr. Richards...he's mentally non-progressive, am I correct?"
I shook my head, "He understand and takes in new information. He's just...wilfully slow."
The doctor gave her a sharp and piercing look, "Wilfully?"
Teri gestured weakly, unable to describe Steven's mental state, "He's not slow, really..it's that he has...how do you put it?"
"A psychological break," Dr. Boehm said, "Due to the abuse Mr. Richards suffered as a child, he's wilfully regressed into a childlike state to protect himself."
"I've known that," Terri proclaimed, "Always. It's something we've accepted and tried to be attentive to, but otherwise it doesn't cause him any problems."
"Mrs. Richards, may I be so bold as to suggest that your husband deserves to function at the optimal level of his being?"
Teri wasn't enjoying where this conversation seemed to be leading, "If you're asking me to place him on a regiment of drugs, I..."
"That is more than likely completely uncessessary. We would try therapy first, and if the theraputic situation didn't work.."
Teri sprung up from her seat, "Mr. McMahon put you up to this, didn't he?"
Dr. Boehm laughed, "In truth? He could care less about your husband or any of his employees. The man has a fantastic superiority complex. It's quite fascinating," Trying to be as direct as possible, she captured Terri's eyes, "No, my interest in your husband is my own. I believe that his children, and you, as well as he himself, deserve to live a whole life. In basic terms, he's bourne up well under the stress of what occurred to him. But he still needs theraputic assistance."
"I need to talk this over with him," Terri announced quietly, retrieving her pocketbook from the floor beside her, "I don't feel comfortable making descisions for the family alone."
"Discussing it with him is a wonderful idea. The more open you are to therapy, the easier it will be for him to discuss his own problems."
Terri sighed, "Thank you, Ma'am." She shook the soft and well-manicured hand of Stevie's doctor before retreating to the calm, cloister-like silence of an empty elevator.
Tears stirred within her, but hope had its own, equal footing within her soul. How she would break this suggestion to Stevie, she had not a clue.
But she couldn't help but wonder what a "normal" Stevie would be like...and what price having him would come to...
Or if she would lose him altogether.