❦ SESSIONS ❦ WITH ❦ GUNS❦

|Bruises only mean trouble|

❦❦

The smell of the flowers finds my nose as I look over to my desk to see the fresh bouquet there, the flowers already in a pretty glass vase with water inside it. The scent makes this place feel alive and also makes me feel like I'm outside in nature, sitting in a flowery field filled with colors and blooms all over and not sitting in the brown leather chair with one of my leg crossed over the other one and a chart in one of my hand and a pencil in the other one. The chart carries a couple of papers, some are filled out while others are blank.

A buzzing sound is heard from outside my office door and soon the door opens. Standing up and smiling at the person that walks inside. "Mr. Hastings, welcome back" I greet when he's escorted inside. Chains on his wrists that are connected around his stomach and go all the way down to his ankles jingle as he is being taken inside my office. He doesn't speak as the guards that brought him here chain him to the identical brown chair that I sit in, but the other one is build to be able to hold prisoners.

The guards soon leave after I nod to them and the door closes. "I don't like them" Mr. Hastings says to me and I giggle. "You're not the first one and I'm sure you're not the last one to think that" I tell him and he chuckles at me. "But now that you're getting released tomorrow you won't have to see them again" I remind him and he smiles to me. Mr. Hastings has been in prison for ten years, though I've only been his psychologist for a little over a year. "Maybe..." He says.

I raise an eyebrow at his answer and write down what I said and his answer. "What will you do once you're out?" I ask him and he readjusts himself in the chair and it is clear that the chains annoy him as they do me too. He shrugs and looks at the clock to see that it is only just a little over ten in the morning. "Since this is the last session that we'll be having, I will be the first one to tell you that you've made progress. I remember when you came in here the first time, do you remember?" I ask him and he regretfully nods his head.

"When thinking back, don't you think you've come so far?" I ask him and once again he nods. "Sometimes all people need is a way to know that there is kindness inside them and they need to be shown that" I tell him. "You've shown me more than that, Dr. Russell" He says and I give him a kind smile. "I did not do anything, it was all you. Taking responsibility for your actions and understanding them and making peace with what you've done. It was all inside you, all you needed to do was to find it" I tell him.

Jasper Hastings was a violet person who attacked everyone and everything but now he's a sweetheart, only because he was given a change by someone who doesn't see the wrongs that he has done but does see the good that lives inside him, the good that other people don't see for their judgment. "There is a program that allows you to find somewhere to work after being released out of jail. It's still in trial bases but for the past couple of months people coming out of this place seems to be happy with the jobs they're given. I could get in touch with them for you, if you wanted to" I say.

Seeing his face brighten when I say that, I write down on the paper that he's happy to go back into the life outside this place and join society once again. "I would like that. Thank you, Dr. Russell" He says with a cherry voice but then he frowns and I raise an eyebrow at him and look at his face to see that he's looking at the flowers behind me on the desk. I turn to look at them too and smile.

"A gift from my fiancé" I only tell him and his lips curl up into a smirk. "He's a lucky man" He tells me and I nod my head. "Yes, I suppose he is" I whisper but then I collect myself as this is still work. "Now, there are sad news that I hate to be the bearer of" I say and his eyes darken. "What is it?" He asks me and I can see that he's holding back going into his rage. "Calm down, Mr. Hastings, it's all right. Remember our no rage methods?" I ask him but more like reminded him.

He nods as he looks down at his hands and counts the fingers that he has, slowly and while he does that he breaths slowly in and out. Calming himself down and I watch as he does this, seeing how far he truly has come. He's getting better and he feels much happier now than he did when I first met him. Once he looks up at me, he's much calmer than he was and I smile to him, letting him know that everything is all right now.

"You are getting released in less than twenty-four hours and sadly it is our last session as I stated before, however I might not be able to be your doctor anymore but that only means that another one will be provided for you" I say to him. He drowns in every word that I speak and over the last year I've seen how he listens when someone speaks. Most would not see it but I do, he does listen, even when one might think he's in his head, he does listen and he listens and understand everything that is told to him.

That it's one of the things that makes Jasper Hastings such a wonderful soul. "I would like that very much" He tells me and I smile brightly. It has been a little over a year but I know I will miss him. "There is one last thing I need you to do in order for our session to be over" I say to him while I take out a form from the chart I'm carrying. "This is a form that you need to fill out, it is the same one you took our first session and it is only to show the judge how much you've gotten better" I say to him as I put out a pencil in front of him.

Nodding he takes the pencil up and starts filling out the form while my eyes return to the flowers on my desk and then down at the ring on my finger and joy soars through me like never before. Remembering that only in a couple of months I will be married to the love of my life. "You're smiling" Mr. Hastings says and I look up at him, seeing that he has finished filling out the form.

"Yeah, it doesn't matter" I say as I stand up and put my hand out. He shakes my hand through his handcuffs. "I do wish you the best and then I think this is it" I say and smile to him. Both of us get tears into our eyes but neither allow them to fall. I walk over to the door and slowly knock on it as I back away and wait only a second before the door opens and the guards that brought him here before walk inside my office. Mr. Hastings doesn't say anything as they unlock the chains him to the chair.

They bring him to the door and right before he's taken outside, he turns his head to look at me as I stand in front of the open door. "We will see each other again, I'm sure of it. Everything happens for a reason" He calls out as he's being taken away and I send a smile his way. When he's gone from my sight, I walk over and close the door and the silence brings me in when it's close. My eyes gaze over to the clock on the wall to see that it's about eleven in the morning.

Taking the chart I put the form that he filled out before in there and then take all the papers to put into the folder that is marked Jasper Hastings on it and then I take the folder into a shelf that I have with all the patients that are no longer mine and are out in the world. Smiling when I see it and knowing that he's himself now and not the person that people think he is. After a moment or two I walk over to the door and exit it and then close and lock it behind me, turning around I'm faced with a hallway in the prison that I work at.

❦

The employee cafeteria is filled with guards and other workers of the prison, all chatting loudly and having the time of their lives, telling stories of their lives and laughing along with their friends. Smiling as I sit down by an empty table with my lunch that I had brought with me from the locker that I went to in the staff lounge. Opening the bag that I have my lunch in and taking out a home-packed sandwich.

My smile only brightens when I see that the sandwich is just the way that I like it, made by my fiancée. He knows exactly what I want. I make a mental note to give him a kiss when I do get home later today. Unwrapping the sandwich from the plastic film that it was wrapped in to keep it fresh while it was sitting in the locker. Taking the first bite and almost moaning for it is too good and the taste is just heavenly and my mouth feels like it took a trip there.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself" A voice in front of me speaks with a cherry tone and I smile when I look up. "Of course, he made the favorite" I say. She nods as she understands. Sitting down across from me on the table, Trina, my best friend and my soon to be maid of honor smiles at me and she is fighting hard to not burst out into laughter. She wears a guard uniform and it makes her seem much more respectable when she is dressed like that, then I notice a bruise on her wrist.

Putting the sandwich down I am quick to take her hand into mine and gently examine her bruise. "I don't like it when you're in danger like this" I say quietly to her as I look up to meet her eyes, she has a soft look on her face, one that tells me that she is all right yet I continue to worry. "I know but this is part of the job, we just brought in a new prisoner. I'm not allowed to discuss it for it is classified for now but I get the feeling that you're going to wrapped in this" She says.

The tone that she gives me is one that I do not understand, a mixture between happiness and confusion with a hint of anger, it doesn't make sense but life is filled with riddles that need to be solved and when they seem to not make sense, all you have to is wait and allow it to unfold on its own for the world will always give you the answers but in its own time. "Classified? This prison doesn't have classified" I state with a raised eyebrow as I still continue to look at the bruises on her wrist.

It is shaped in a fingerprint matter, whose? I don't know but by the size of it, I would say a male or a large woman. "Well, it does now" She says but doesn't go much into the details and I drop the subject. "And if I ever need to talk I know where your office is. I know, I know" Trina says and we laugh for those words are the ones that I was going to say next. "Aren't you going to eat?" I ask her as I see that she doesn't have any food with her.

Trina shakes her head. "No, I already ate. They had these mini sandwiches and I got myself a couple" She says and winks and I giggle. "Of course you did" I mutter. Taking a bite from the sandwich that I had and enjoying the taste of it. "Well I'm off again, they're going to need everyone they can get their hands on with this prisoner" She says and before I could even react to what she said, Trina stands up and walks away with me wondering what she meant by that. A prisoner that needs many guards?

It seems that this classified thing is a lot bigger than I could ever imagine. Not dwelling on the thought I finish the most delicious sandwich in the world and then I put the plastic wrappings and bag into the recycling bin before I head out into the hallways of the prison. Guards walk the hallways, some smile my way while others ignore me all together. A happy smile on my face as I walk to my office. Unlocking it and walking inside to the scent of the flowers that hits me right away and it makes the smile on my face brightens.

The silence is also there when I have closed the door but that doesn't matter to me because soon I will be with another one of my patient. I sit by my desk and open my laptop to answer some emails until my phone buzzes and I fish it out of my pocket. Seeing a text from my fiancé that makes the already smile on my face brighten like the sun that shines outside through the window of my office and makes the place seem much brighten and almost glowing from the direct sunlight.

Opening my phone I was about to type in a response but before I could start typing more than two words a knock on my door breaks me out of my thoughts. I turn off my phone and put it on the desk as I stand up and walk to the door to open it to see a guard there but behind him is the warden of the prison. "Is there anything I can help you with?" I ask kindly but still confused. "I believe we have much to discuss, can I come in?" He asks me and I nod and walk a bit behind to open the door wider. He walks in but the guard waits behind and then I close the door behind him.