Chapter 194: Trigger

A searing bright light flashed on Mina's face and all around her were the prying eyes of unfamiliar faces. She began to panic, and she kicked out her arms and legs trying to fend off whatever attack was coming her way. Sadly, the people at the facility were all skilled in combat, so her sorry attempts at trying to fight back were useless. With minimal effort, the man who was shining the light into her eyes pinched the spot where her shoulder met her neck and the pain of having her trapezius squeeze made Mina instantly calm down. She caught a look at the man's badge and realized he was some sort of doctor. The doctor dismissed all the other nurses from the room before he spoke.

"Are you relaxed?" he asked. Mina nodded; she was not actually relaxed but she wanted him to stop hurting her.

"Good, my name is Doctor Witt. You can laugh if you want," he said, but Mina did not feel like smiling.

"Why am I here?"

"You fainted," Doctor Witt said. "Do you faint often?"

"Only recently," Mina replied. Doctor Witt turned to a computer monitor and typed a few lines. He then clicked on something that opened a file with a picture of Mina's face at the top corner.

"According to what I can see in your medical file, you likely suffer from some sort of anxiety disorder. What are you taking for it?" The man asked.

"Nothing, I usually wait for the attacks to pass."

"How often do they occur?"

"Maybe twice a week."

"How long does it take to settle after a panic attack?"

"Sometimes minutes, sometimes hours," Mina said.

"How do you usually deal with an attack?"

"I try to control my breathing. Laying down helps too," Mina replied. "I'm sorry, I am a little confused. Am I at a hospital?" she asked,

"It's better for you not to know where you are," the doctor said. "What are your triggers?" he added without missing a beat.

"I am not sure, but they seem to happen when I over analyze something. My mind runs in all directions at once and when I can't keep up, I lose control." Doctor Witt looked at Mina over the ridge of his gold framed glasses.

"You've had them for years, haven't you?" Mina nodded, and the man made a few additional notes within his system.

"I may not look like much, but I have worked with people like you before. Around here, everyone has some sort of anxiety issue. Yours seems to be triggered by stress, and it was probably made worse by trauma, am I right?" Mina nodded.

"Can it be helped?" Mina asked, she had not actually known she wanted the attacks to stop.

"Not really. Tell me, what event led to the first attack?"

"It was after I lost my sister."

"Was it specifically her death, the way she died or something else?" Mina did not know why, but she preferred doctor Witt's method compared to that horrible woman president Lee sent her to before. His questions were specific, and he was not trying to fake concern or become her friend. He just wanted facts; Mina was good with facts.

"It was something else."

"An event or person?"

"Person."

"Man or woman?"

"Both, well… it was a man, but it was also his family," Mina replied.

"Details." It was just a single word, but Mina knew what the man was asking.

"After I lost my sister, the person who caused her accident started to stalk me. With his family standing, there was nothing I could do about it. His stalking became physical and he cornered me several times while calling me by my sister's name. It was like he would see her in me from a distance, but whenever he came close, he would grab my face and squeeze it as if he were trying to break my skin. His parents eventually got involved, but they accused me of trying to seduce their son. He was twenty-one and I was only fifteen." Mina recalled the story without emotion, and Doctor Witt made note of it. "In order to escape, I accelerated my studies and moved to Scal. He stopped following me, but I was always paranoid that he would show up at any minute." Mina stopped talking and Doctor Witt asked her a follow up question.

"But what was the event that triggered the first attack?"

"It was when I returned to visit my parents. He was outside waiting for me and I realized that he never stopped following me, he just stopped showing himself. It scared me that he did not call me by my sister's name when he pulled me into his car. It told me that I was his new obsession. If it were not for his brother, who had secretly followed him to my parents' home, I don't know what would have happened to me," Mina said.

"So, it's the unknown that makes you panic?"

"You can say that. All I know is that it was the first time my mind ever went to such a dark place and it was the first time I could not catch my breath. After that, anytime I could not control the outcome of a situation, I panicked," she replied. Doctor Witt nodded and typed another few lines.

"I think you should try to recompose your thought process. When you feel your thoughts going dark, try to focus on the ways you can avoid that particular outcome, rather than the outcome itself." Mina listened attentively. It was a good idea, but she did not know if it would help. As if her mind was actively working against her, she suddenly became concerned by the doctor's friendly behavior.

"Why are you trying to help me?" she asked.

"What is your mind telling you?"

"That you want something from me," she replied.

"Is it because I'm a man?" He asked.

"It doesn't help," Mina replied. Doctor Witt made an additional annotation.

"I'm actually trying to repay you," he said.

"Why?"

"Well, if my brother doesn't mess things up, Tara will be my future sister-in-law."

----

Mina talked to Doctor Witt for many minutes. When she felt well enough to face Samuel, she was led into his room, and unlike what she had been told, he was in a much better condition than Bressaw. The man had lost weight, but it was nothing compared to brother B.

Samuel had never been very friendly with Mina and not much had changed. He acknowledged her with a wave and for some reason, she knew that was as much affection as she was going to get from the man. Again, she could not apologize, but Samuel took charge of the conversation.

"I think we all learned an important lesson from this experience," he said. "Make sure you are always kind to pretty girls." Mina smiled and Dom could not resist but to copy her expression. He loved seeing that smiling face. Both Samuel and Bressaw noticed his curious reaction.

"I thought you would be horribly disfigured," Mina said.

"I am fine, your brother B on the other hand, he lost all that weight because he is a picky eater." Mina resisted a chuckle, that was not something to laugh about. Was it?