A Few Days Later
Joe decided to take the day off because he had an appointment with his psychiatrist. It had been a long time since he'd seen her.

Dr. Moore has been Joe's psychiatrist for almost a decade. He had started seeing her when his mother was found stabbed to death in their home—the victim of a botched home invasion which remained unsolved to this day. He and his mother were very close and it was he that discovered her lying dead on the kitchen floor which occurred on his birthday. The shock and horror of finding his mother's body drove him into a mental breakdown. He found himself not being able to sleep and when he did sleep, he was interrupted by vivid nightmares—often waking up screaming and in a cold sweat. In addition, he had stopped eating and often spoke of life not being worth living, even attempting suicide. He was referred to Dr. Moore by a mutual family friend who had become concerned regarding Joe's state of mind.

As Joe pulled into the parking garage of the clinic, he began to reflect...

Joe's POV
I can't believe I'm actually doing this. But, I promised myself that I would get my anger and anxiety under control for the sake of my marriage. I know that I was wrong for the way I behaved a few days ago, but dammit I couldn't help myself. Ever since my mother was killed, I have been overly protective of every woman that comes into my life. Not only that, I still struggle with finding the low life pieces of shit that killed my beautiful mother. I vowed that I would never rest until justice is served. However, I can't let my desire for bloody retribution affect my marriage to the woman I love more than life itself. I have to resume professional help and put these feelings away once and for all...

As I walk in the building, I get on the elevator and press the button for the 4th floor. When I get to the 4th floor, I take a deep breath as I step off of the elevator. As I am walking to my therapists office, for some reason I am feeling somewhat nervous and I really don't know why. As I reach her office, my legs feel heavy and my palms are sweaty.

As I walk into the office, I'm immediately greeted by her overly cheerful receptionist....

"Good morning, how can I help today?" She asks, all chipper.

"Uh hi, my name is Joe Anoa'i and I have an appointment with Dr. Moore?" I say.

"Ok great!!! Great!!! Well sign in and I'll let her know you're here!!! Would you like something to drink like water, tea or coffee?!" She says all excited, her eyes wide.

"Um..thanks but no." I say, thinking in my head that she should seriously switch to decaffeinated coffee.

As I'm waiting, I'm becoming nervous. Will she think I'm crazy and want to increase my medication? My anxiety is increasing just thinking about the possibilities.

Just then, Miss High Strung's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.....

"Mr. Anoa'i? Dr. Moore will see you now." The receptionist squeaked.

"Thank you very much." I say, as I'm led to her office.

"Mr. Anoa'i! How good to see you again!" Dr. Moore says, standing up and greeting me with a handshake.

"Thank you...you as well. How are you Dr. Moore?" I reply.

"I'm good, still in practice but now the mom of 2 year old twins. So I've been rather busy." She says.

"That's great! Congratulations!" I say, smiling. "Are they boys or girls or both?"

"Thank you very much! I have one of each! My husband is happy that he has at least one son." She replies.

Inwardly, I'm envious because actually wanted Shantelle to get pregnant on our honeymoon. But we thought it best to wait a few years, since we only dated a short time. However, now hearing this news, I'm changing my mind.

"So what brings you in today?" She asks logging on to her computer preparing to take notes...

"Well, as you know, I met an amazing woman several months ago, I fell in love with her and shortly after that, we got married." I explain.

"Right! I remember! How's that going so far?" She asks.

"Uh ok I guess...although I had an incident with my wife and the neighbor. My anger and anxiety got out of control and I overreacted a little." I say, feeling embarrassed.

"Oh really? Tell me more about that." She says.

At that point, I recalled the entire incident with Shantelle and how I caught Nick trying to make a pass at her, how he denied it and how I got angry because I felt that Nick disrespected me in my own home by coming on to my wife and then telling her to be careful of me because I was, in his words, a "nut".

"You were angry because you felt disrespected? Dr. Moore asked.

"Yes", I respond.

"How did your wife respond to your outburst?" Dr. Moore asked.

"She was initially shocked that I would behave that way, because she thought Nick was harmless because he was an older man and according to him had children older than my wife." I say.

"Well, do you think that Nick is harmless?" She asked.

"I mean...I guess....shit...I don't know!" I say, becoming frustrated with the line of questioning.

"You appear to be frustrated. Why?" She asks.

"Because you're asking me questions I don't know the answer to." I said, sighing.

"Have you seen Nick since the incident?" She asks.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. When I got home later that same afternoon." I say.

"And what happened at that moment?" She asked, wanting to know more.

"Well, we talked and I actually apologized for my behavior." I say.

"Really?" She says. "And how did he respond?"

"Well, he accepted my apology and explained that he knew how I felt because in the early days of his own marriage, he had exhibited similar behaviors with his own wife. He went on to say that his jealousy was so bad that his wife, while pregnant with their first child, moved out and into her parents home, with the intention of divorcing him." I say. "He went on to say that he begged and pleaded with his wife not to leave him and that her parents told her that a Catholic woman's place was with her husband, they reconciled and have been happily married ever since."

"Wow!" She said. "And what did you think of that revelation?"

"It was a real eye opener, it made me realize that I needed to resume treatment to save my marriage because I love my wife too much to let her leave me. Not only that, I felt the need to protect her from any hurt, harm or danger. And that's why I am here, doctor. I feel that I failed to protect my mother and so I will protect my wife at any cost." I say.

"So is it my understanding that you lash out when you feel that those you love are being mistreated in any way, or what you perceive as being mistreated?" She asks.

"Yes." I answer.

"Joe, I believe that I've brought this up in previous sessions, but you must not blame yourself in your mother's death. Her death was an unfortunate tragedy, that you had no control over." She says.

"I know, but I just can't shake the feeling that if I had been home that day, that she may still be alive." I say, becoming emotional.

"Have they had any leads in finding those responsible for your mother's death?" She inquires.

"No, they haven't. But I keep in constant communication with the detectives who are working on the case. Although it is a cold case right now, they still haven't given up hope." I say.

"Well that is good news that they are still working on it." She says. "So what I would like you to do is to resume regular monthly sessions with me, I would like to have follow up. I will not add any new medications but I want to talk to you on a regular basis."

"Ok I think I can do that. It was helping before." I say.

"Good so it settles it then, I'll expect to see you every month for an indefinite period of which I will re-evaluate the treatment plan every 3 months or so." Dr. Moore said. "Do you have any questions?"

"No, that's fine." I say.

"Ok well I'll see you in a month, my receptionist will call you with a reminder." She said.

"Ok thanks doc." I say.

"No problem and remember Joe, your mother's death wasn't your fault." She reminded me.

After I left Dr. Moore's office, I headed home to share the details of my day with my loving wife.

TBC
So, what do you all think of this chapter?
Do you all understand why Joe is the way he is?
What do you think will happen next?
Do you think Joe should not be so hard on himself?
As always please comment and vote. Thanks kindly.