Another beautiful day (what shall I do first?) “One week down,” Justin mutters to himself as he stares at the clock. “Jus? Are you up?” Molly calls out from the kitchen. “I want to make pancakes! Don’t we have a mix or something?” Sighing, Justin rolls over. His nightmares have gotten worse since their sessions with Daan. Every night it was something different, each night worse than the one before. He and his sister began seeing Daan together daily, but after the third session; the doctor felt that it would be beneficial to see them separately as well. And that had been their week. Maybe he was pushing himself too far too fast? Yawning, Justin forces himself to sit up when the incessant sounds of banging cabinets doesn’t seem to end. “Juuuusssstiiiin….” Molly whines loudly. “Where’s the measuring cup?!” Getting out of bed, Justin stumbles into a robe and trips over his own feet as he somehow manages to enter the kitchen. “Dishwasher, Moll.” “Huh?” “Measuring cup: dishwasher,” he opens the dishwasher and pulls out the clean cup. “Measuring cup,” he says again. “You look like shit.” “Good, because that’s how I feel,” Justin mumbles as he takes out a coffee mug. “Daan says it’ll get worse before it gets better, remember?” She says with a reassuring smile. Justin frowns, wondering when his little sister started acting like the older sibling. Shaking his head, he forces a smile, “I know that, Molly. Thanks for the reminder. Here… let me make the pancakes… go watch cartoons or something.” Rolling her eyes, Molly chuckles, “Cartoons? Everything here is in Dutch. What’s the point of watching TV when I can’t understand a damn thing?” “You like that one show… that game show, what’s it called again? Miljoenenjacht?” Justin asks as he starts adding the chocolate chips to the pancake mix. “Yeah, that’s a good one...” she says softly, “But I rather watch shows in English. Even most of the music videos are in languages I don’t understand.” “Look at it as ‘expanding your horizons,’ Molly. You’ll be going back to Pittsburgh quite cultured.” Justin suggests with a grin. “You’re just being an ass.” Laughing, Justin shakes his head, “You’re just being a brat.” “Looks who’s talking.” “Can you pour me some coffee?” Justin asks, gesturing to his mug. “So how’s Brian?” she asks, pouring his coffee and then adding the milk and sugar to it the way she knows he likes. “Great,” Justin replies with his trademark smile, “I can’t believe he’s gotten so much accomplished! Kinnetik is pretty much already off the ground. He has a space for it…and the way he describes it… it sounds perfect… and he has thirteen clients in place already!” “Wow.” He nods, “He’s really amazing.” “I’ve noticed,” Molly says with a smile. She really liked having Brian as her brother-in-law. Yawning, Justin takes a sip of his coffee, thanking his sister. “Does Brian know you can’t sleep?” Justin shrugs, “He knows I’m having problems falling asleep.” “And about your nightmares?” She asks, watching her brother pour the mix into the skillet. “How do you know I’m having nightmares?” Justin asks as he sets the bowl down. “You sometimes wake me,” she replies with a shrug. “I do?” Justin bites his lower lip, “Shit, I’m sorry, Molly.” She shrugs again, “It’s okay, Jus. You’ve had a lot of stress to deal with in the past few years… coming out to mom and dad, getting kicked out, almost dying on your prom night because of that asshole… dealing with the aftermath of waking up from a coma with nerve damage and post-traumatic stress disorder---” “Stop,” Justin turns to his sister, “What the fuck?” She smiles, “I talk about you a lot during my sessions with Daan. He’s really helped me understand what you went through after the bashing… I mean… Mom never really explained it to me because she didn’t get it. I mean, she did, but she didn’t, you know?” Justin frowns. Sighing, Molly continues, “I didn’t understand why my brother was suddenly this..this stranger to me.” “You saw me as a stranger?” Justin asks, hurt. “I just didn’t know why you would get so mad suddenly and then scared and then mad again and then scared and then really quiet… and… I just didn’t know what happened to my brother.” She looks down for a moment. “Molly, I didn’t know… I’m sorry.” “It’s okay, Jus. I get it now. I mean, I saw how you started to be more like yourself again and after awhile I just tried to forget how you were after the hospital. But with all that’s happened… and then you began having those nightmares… I got scared that you would turn into that guy you were when Mom brought you home from the hospital.” Justin swallows hard and wishes he were sitting down. “You should flip the pancakes,” Molly comments, taking the spatula out of Justin’s hand and turning the pancakes over on the pan. Smiling softly, she looks back up at her older brother, “So I told Daan about it, and he really helped me understand what PTSD is and that that was what you were dealing with amongst everything else going on in your life.” Justin slowly nods. He felt numb. Putting the cooked cake on a plate, she starts making a second one. “You know…” she glances up at Justin for a moment before setting the bowl down, “I think that’s pretty brave.” “Pardon?” Reaching for the syrup, she continues, “You really had to go through a lot… but you didn’t give up. That’s really cool.” Putting the syrup down, she smiles shyly, “I’m proud of you.” Justin smiles and wonders if he would have ever imagined having this conversation with his little sister years ago. Probably not. “Wow, um…” She shrugs, “Don’t make a big deal out of it, Jus. I’m just saying…” she says with a playful smile; gently pushing him. He chuckles, regaining his balance and shakes his head at her. Again, his thirteen year old sister has rendered him speechless. “Well, um…thanks.” “You’re welcome,” pointing to the pancake on the pan, she states, “You need to flip that.”