Story day 6

Foreword: First post with beyond a hundred views! Man, I wonder if people are talking about this thing already? Hopefully they're giving glowing reviews. I'd be a sad kitty cat if they didn't. Every bad comment on this blog makes little Cupcake cry after all.

Actual story once more:

The next day, Tracy arrives at the office of Mr. Turnip, a man she had heard a lot about from her co-workers that helped dozens of people as well as cats and dogs as an award-winning therapist. She was sitting in the office waiting room with Cupcake in her lap held in her arms. She felt him shivering and soon start stroking his back gently and after a minute, it seemed to stop his shivering. The waiting room was quite empty, it wasn't a very busy day as the receptionist over the phone had recommended for Cupcakes case. The room was a light coffee brown and the carpet was darker shade of brown. She was seated in the middle of a small row of black leather chairs with sleek chrome-like metal frames. In front of her was a small black coffee table with a stack of Cat Fancier magazines. It seemed the office had a subscription to the magazine. In a far corner to her left was a rather tall cat tower that doubled as a scratching post. She quite liked the idea of having one but knew herself that she could never afford one. She was also unsure if the cats at home would like such a thing as they quite liked the emery board she got Cupcake one Christmas. The room was quite except for the occasional telephone ringing and promptly being answered by the office's sole receptionist and the soft tick tock of a large clock on one of the walls whose numbers were replaced with cats of varying breeds. Eventually, after a brief phone call, the receptionist spoke.

"Tracy? Mr. Turnip will see you right now." The receptionist called from her desk. With that, Tracy stood up and carried Cupcake to the receptionist who then got up from her desk and led her down a small hallway and stopping in front of a dark wooden door with a small gold plaque reading " D. Turnip". The receptionist then gave a small nod and left the two at the door. Tracy looked down at Cupcake who began shaking again as Tracy reached out, grabbed the rounded golden handle of the door and pushed against it, opening the door to reveal a small room with walls painted a deep crimson red and lined white along the top and bottom and a plush red carpet.
     In front of Tracy was a large mahogany desk in front of a large window with a rounded top and a tall black office chair turned toward them, but no one seemed to be in the room, so Tracy walked up to one of the two smaller black chairs in front of the desk and before she went to sit down, she saw a cat seated in the chair behind the desk. It was a cream brown color with black ear tips and a long fluffy black tail, the cat looked up at Tracy and revealed a black mustache pattern on its muzzle and large round yellow eyes, as well as a dress shirt collar and tiny satin red tie attached to the collar. The cat, noticing Tracy's surprised voice let out a small chuckle as he began to speak in a deep, soft and soothing voice. "Surprised? All of my patients are when they first meet me. I'm Dr. Donald P. Turnip. I am a certified psychiatrist, and a licensed therapist. I am here to help your cat, ma'am."

"Well I wasn't expecting a cat to be such a qualified therapist. I'm Tracy and this here is Cupcake. He'll be your patient starting today." Tracy said to the therapist after clearing her throat from her initial surprise. She then sat down and Dr. Turnip hopped from his chair onto his desk and then sat on his haunches, staring at Cupcake with a smile.

"Now Cupcake. Why don't you tell me a little about yourself? How about we start with....Hm...Tell me what you are interested in."

"Well....Um....I don't know"

"Now now I know you're nervous and all but I can assure you I do not bite. I do only when petted the wrong way, I can tell you that much."

"Um... I...I don't...."

"Well he is into bird watching. He's always loved watching the birds flutter about outside our living room window."

"Bird watching? I used to do that exact same thing as a kitten with my father. Granted, my father called it 'which bird should be my snack' time" Dr. Turnip said with a chuckle, joined by Tracy shortly after.

"He probably won't talk much in the beginning, Doc. I do apologize."

"Oh I don't expect him to. Most people, even cats with similar cases tend to keep to themselves the first month or two. I'm not at all mad. So you like bird watching. What's your favorite bird to watch, Cupcake?"

"Um....Blue jays."

"Ah blue jays. Nice birds. Lovely call. Now let's move on to when this all started. Can you tell me when you first started experiencing your symptoms? If not, Tracy?"

"It was when I adopted my three other cats, Timmy, Chunky and Susie."

"Ah, so he has three other housemates? How long has he been living with them?"

"Not even a week, I'd say. I just brought the three home a few days ago. He's been by himself ever since he was a kitten, but he seemed fine up until then. My friends have cats of their own and they used to bring them along whenever they'd visit me and he seemed to do okay with their cats."

"Hm, I see. So he was raised as a single cat, but had visits from other cats? Interesting. Cupcake, how did you feel about these other cats?"

"I was okay with them...They didn't really bother me. We played a little, but that was it"

"I see.  So how do you feel about the three new cats living with you right now?"

"Scared. Very scared."

"Good, good."

"How is that good?"

"Well Tracy, it helps me to diagnose his mental condition by knowing that his new housemates frighten him. These things can come about with sudden changes."

"So do you have a diagnosis by now?"

"I'd say hi condition...Based on past cases I've worked on could be a sort of social phobia. Perhaps something more if we keep following up and Cupcake can warm up to me. I don't expect him to warm up within the next day or two, though it would be nice to hear him talk more, but for now I could be okay with you being his voice. Eventually I would like him to start talking more on his own so I can learn from him directly through his own experiences if that makes sense to you. Now, you told my receptionist over the phone that your cat experienced tightening in his chest and difficulty breathing. Anything else?"

"Yesterday, he was sobbing uncontrollably when I came home. When he calmed down, he told me it was triggered by Susie talking to him and he was sobbing because he felt very sad by her encounter."

"I see. Seems to be a panic attack of sorts. I'd recommend coming up with a coping plan in case he ever has these episodes again in the future. I'd recommend keeping a close eye on him. Does he have any favorite toys or something?"

"Yes, he has a stuffed cat toy of his own that he's owned since he was a kitten. His mother passed it on to him when I got him."

"Cupcake, does your cat have a name too?"

"Carl."

"Carl. How cute. Do you still play with Carl?"

"He doesn't very much, but he still sleeps with him."

"I see. Now do you have any goals you'd like from these sessions?"

"Um....Be myself."

"I see, what else? Tell me more."

"Be....able to....live with everyone" Cupcake then started to shake again and back himself into Tracy's chest, causing her to hold him tighter out of worry.

"I see you're starting to shake, but just remember that I'm not here to hurt you. I am a psychiatrist and I'm here to be your friend and to help you. I will never hurt a patient."

"I know." Cupcake started to water in his eyes as his shaking became more violent and he tensed up.

"Just take a deep breath. Breathe with your belly and try to calm yourself down."

"I can't! I can't do it!" Cupcake started to cry and Tracy started to pet him in an effort to calm him down.