RECONCILIATION I

A black car stopped in front of a penthouse and the chauffeur opened the door for Eleanor. She stepped out and walked toward the entrance of the building.

When she got to the door, it was opened for her, and as she stepped in, a huge man approached her.

"Miss Eleanor, Miss Lisa has been waiting for your arrival. Please follow me."

Eleanor followed quietly as they walked through the stairs to the room where Lisa was waiting for her. When they got to the room door, the man opened the door for her and they both got in.

"You're finally here," a beautiful lady in a white dress approached them and hugged Eleanor. Releasing Eleanor from her embrace, her eyes peeked at the man behind her, "You may leave us, Finn."

He bowed and left the room.

Still holding El's hand in hers, she asked, "how have you been? It's been a long time since I saw this beautiful face."

Eleanor grinned. "I've been fine, Liz. It feels good knowing that you care so much about me."

A side of Lisa's lips curved. "Do you want anything to drink?"

Eleanor walked to the sofa armchair in the room. Sitting on it, she looked up at Lisa, "Thanks, but I'm not in the mood to drink anything."

Lisa's brows furrowed slightly at her words as she walked close to her, "Are you okay?" She sat on the armchair beside hers. "I was surprised at your sudden call this morning. It's been a while since you booked an appointment."

Eleanor's painful eyes peered into hers, and Lisa nodded, understanding the meaning of the look.

"What happened?"

Her eyes teared as memories of her nightmare clouded her thoughts. She felt devastated.

Lisa handed her a tissue.

Clearing her throat, she collected the tissue paper from Lisa, "Thanks."

"I'm sensing it lasted longer?"

The tear that escaped her eyes, gave Lisa the answer she needed as Eleanor quickly dried it with the tissue.

Lisa reached for El's hands. Holding it with one of hers, an encouraging smile spread across her lips. "That's a good thing. We may be able to recover those lost memories, so don't feel bad, okay?"

Sniffing, El forced a smile.

"Okay... Please lie. let's begin." She waited for El to get comfortable, before continuing. "Tell me all about it."

Taking a deep breath, Eleanor started, making sure not to leave any important detail out. "I had the nightmare twice this morning, and it exceeded the collision of the vehicles."

She turned to stare at Lisa.

From the way El stared at her, Lisa could tell talking about it made her afraid and she hated it when El felt this way, but that was the only way she could know what was wrong with her, and help her.

"The car flipped three times and I felt the pain... When it landed, my vision got blurred and my body became numb, but I saw the silhouette of a car." She let out a pained sigh. "My body also went numb for some time when I woke up."

"And did you have any other physical symptoms aside from the numbness?"

She shook her head in disapproval, "no, which is surprising. Why am I suddenly having this symptom?"

Lisa jotted on the note she held, before looking at El once more. "Your body still remembers the pain it was subjected to at your tender age."

Eleanor frowned. "Is this gonna be a regular thing from now?"

"I hope not, but I'm glad we finally have an atom of progress after nine years."

Eleanor pressed her lips into a thin line. Lisa wasn't wrong. This was the first progress after nine years of repeated nightmares. She wouldn't say she was used to them, cause they were always as terrifying as the first time.

Who wouldn't be scared of watching your life flash before your eyes over and over again?

Her frustrated eyes studied Lisa's face. Unable to condone the uneasiness anymore, she asked, "am I ever gonna get my memories back?"

Lisa's heart cringed in pain as she stared into El's hopeless eyes. She knew how difficult her plight was for her - losing her parents at a tender age, and not being able to remember any beautiful memories she have left of them, with haunting nightmares being her only hope of regaining those memories.

Nothing had been harder her whole life than being Eleanor's therapist since she woke up from a coma at thirteen. She had watched a poor child who was a victim of a fatal accident suffer through an unending dilemma for years, with no hope for a solution, and that brought a great deal of pain to her.

She fought to refrain from shedding any tears, "There's still a little hope. Let's proceed with the hypnosis."

Reluctantly, Eleanor nodded and lay straight on the chair, looking up at the pendulum Lisa held as it moved back at forth with a slight frown.

She couldn't help but doubt what Lisa had said earlier about recovering her memories, and she also doubted the hypnotism would have any positive effect this time. Progress in her nightmare didn't guarantee any positive effect, it just increased her suffering.

A snap of Lisa's fingers made her enter a trance and she started having her nightmares all over again.

She saw the happy couples, heard their laughter, the sudden panic in their voices, the collision, then the silhouette, and she blacked out.

Panting, her eyes slid open as she looked around terrified. For some seconds, she ran out of breath and fell into a space of nothingness. She couldn't tell if that was what death meant, but it always felt like hell whenever she entered this world.

She looked around with panic when she suddenly heard Lisa's voice, "It's okay El, you're fine, nothing's gonna hurt you. I'm here."

Turning in the direction the voice came from, she saw her hand wrapped around hers. She stared at Lisa's reassuring eyes, and slowly calmed as tears rolled from her eyes.

It took a couple of minutes of hugs and comforting words to calm her completely.

Listening to El's now shallow breathing, Lisa asked with a little hope in her eyes, "Any new memory?"

Eleanor shook her head in objection, and she sighed.

"Here," Lisa handed her a cup, "have some water."

Eleanor took the cup from her hand and drank its content.

"Don't worry, we've seen progress," she added as she watched Eleanor gulp down the water. "I'll help you get those memories back, but from now on, you have to focus on making sure you don't trigger your PTSD, and you'll be fine."

"Thanks, Liz." Eleanor smiled.

As Lisa took some notes, Eleanor's eyes wandered around the room before coming to her wristwatch. A frustrated sigh escaped her lips. She couldn't believe she had been in trance for almost two hours. That was the longest time she had ever been in one.

She looked up to see Lisa's concerned eyes on her. "What?"

"Does Mr. Antonio know you're still having these nightmares?"

Eleanor looked away from her, a sad look appearing on her face as memories, hurtful memories she tried to forget swam back inside her head.

"You've still not spoken to him after five years?"

Her eyes returned to Lisa's, a pained expression written all over her face, but it suddenly lit up as her appointment with her father suddenly came to her mind, "I have to get going now."

"You're avoiding the question again..."

She stood to her feet hurriedly, "I'll call you later, Liz."

Lisa rolled her eyes, "Of course El, see you some other time."

El nodded.

.

THREE HOURS LATER,

A black limousine arrived at an Italian restaurant.

Closing the driver's door, Jim, the chauffeur asked to pick up Eleanor strode through the front of the car to the back, and opened the door for her.

Eleanor's black heels clicked on the floor as she stepped out of the car. She took a glance at her new environment, before heading into the restaurant.

Walking into the restaurant, her eyes surveyed the room as she looked for a handsome man that had the features of her father. As her eyes wandered around the room, she took notice of a man in a black tuxedo who walked up to her.

"Miss Welsh?"

"Yes," she managed to say, a little bit surprised by how he knew her name.

"This way, please." He smiled.

She followed the man to another sector of the place, which she figured was the VIP section cause of the exquisite interior design.

They walked past several doors and only stopped when they got to a door in the middle. He knocked on it, before opening it for her. Slowly, he stepped away from the door so she could enter the room.

Eleanor's eyes wandered around the room but stopped when she saw him - Antonio Welsh, her adopted father in flesh and blood, standing and waiting for her to get inside the room.