Post by Lancewing on May 6, 2014 12:45:43 GMT -5
Road to Recovery.
Flare’s eyes fluttered open. For the first time in years, she found herself in her own room. At first, she barely recognized it, and even when she did a few moments later, she still felt like an alien in her own home. She swallowed hard and rubbed her tongue against her dry mouth. She got out of bed and wandered out of her room. She was going to creep through the hall to get to the kitchen, but she remembered that she was in her own home. Her family wouldn’t treat her badly, right? But what if they were going through a drought and couldn’t get any water? Or what if they were over their water bill and they’d lose their home?!
“Good morning, Flare,” Teddy said.
“Agh!” Flare dove to the side of her bed so that whoever that was wouldn’t come near her.
“Relax, it’s just me.”
Flare cautiously looked to Teddy, “H-Hi, Teddy.”
Teddy helped Flare out from under the bed. “Still shook up over that, huh?”
Flare nodded.
“Yeah, whoever did that would have had to do something really bad for you to be that scared.”
Flare nodded again.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe now. Maybe I should introduce you to my friends, you’ll love them.”
“WIll they hurt me,” her shy voice asked.
“Hurt you? Nah. Well, Melody’s got quite an attitude, but the others are okay. Besides, look who’s here to see you.” He pulled out an object that was all too familiar to Flare; the teddy bear.
“Y-You kept it?”
“Yep, ever since you were kidnapped. He helped me get to sleep every night, especially when worrying about you."
“Oh, I see.”
“But one of my friends actually reminds me a lot of you.”
Flare’s ears perked up.
“Yep. Very sweet, caring, just like you.”
Flare blushed, "Could I meet them sometime? If they'd be okay with it, I mean."
“Of course they would. Actually, I was just telling three of my friends about you when I got the call saying that the police found you. Weird, huh?”
Flare giggled. "Yeah..." That's when a thought came to Flare, "Teddy? Can I get a glass of water?"
“Sure.” He got up and walked into the kitchen.
Flare started to follow him, but immediately stopped.
Teddy noticed this and looked behind towards Flare, "Flare? You okay?"
“Um… I think so…”
“Okay… You know the house is open to everyone, right?
“It is?”
Teddy sighed. “As long as you don’t do anything too crazy, you’re good.”
“Okay.”
Bright Eyes looked at Flare with such fascination.“So you’re Teddy’s sister, correct?”
"Y-yes, I am," Flare replied. She was starting to shake, and her hooves felt sweaty.
“Well, I do see some resemblance.”
"Well, I think she's really truly wonderful, which is a lot like Teddy." Sweetheart smiled.
Flare smiled, while Teddy blushed.
“But I can tell that she’s feeling a little… uneasy,” Bright Eyes said, “Might be a result of PTSD.”
“PTSD,” Teddy, Sweetheart, and Flare asked.
“It’s an abbreviation for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She’ll be paranoid for a bit and maybe even lash out if pushed too far. Fortunately, therapy can be done to help her.”
“And she could probably qualify for a service dog,” Lancer pointed out.
“She’s not blind,” Teddy said.
"A doggy," Flare asked.
“Yes, BUT this dog would be trained to help you relax should you start to have a panic attack,” Lancer said.
"Oh..."
“But I think you’d need a pychological exam first.”
“A psycona… what?”
“It means a doctor would need to see if you really do have PTSD.”
"A doctor?" Flare began to sweat, "I-I don't like doctors..."
Everyone looked at Flare. What doctors was she with?
“Don’t worry,” Bright Eyes said, “A real doctor wouldn’t hurt you unless your parents allowed them, but I doubt your parents will.”
"B-but what if they do? What if they want him to hurt me?" Flare began hyperventilating.
Teddy hugged her. “That won’t happen, I promise.”
Flare began to calm down, "Cross your heart?"
“Cross my heart and hope to die.”
Bad choice of words. Flare’s eyes widened. “You want to die?"
“It’s an expression. Trust me, I promise.”
“And if you do decided to get a service dog, I can help to pay for it.” Lancer offered.
Flare smiled at Lancer, "Thank you."
Flare and her mother sat in a doctor’s office while Teddy and his father sat in the waiting room. Teddy and Flare spoke with their parents about the idea. They thought it was a good idea, but were a little hesitant about getting a service dog since they were pretty expensive, even though they were told that a friend was going to provide them with the money. What they did agree on doing, however, was seeing if there was a way to help her recover.
“Do you think she’ll get better,” Flare’s mother asked.
The doctor replied, “Well, she is showing signs of PTSD, but there is hope.”
“What would we need to do, Doctor?”
“Well, one thing to do is to schedule appointments with a therapist, but she would need help outside of those sessions.”
“One of my son’s friends suggested a service dog, would that help?”
“Assuming you could afford one and it’s from a reliable organization, yes.”
“I see… Do you know of any places that are reliable?”
“I do actually. I can write down their contact information if you wish.”
“Um...it might be a good idea, just in case.”
The doctor wrote down the phone number and address on a piece of paper and handed it to Flare’s mom. Flare looked at the paper before looking at the doctor. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
The mother and daughter exited the doctor’s office to meet up with the rest of their family. Teddy’s father asked, “So what did the doctor say?”
“He said that Flare does seem to have PTSD, and she’ll need to see a therapist.”
“Okay.”
“He also suggested seeing about a service dog for in between appointments.”
Teddy’s dad sighed, “Well, I guess if it helps Flare, then we should definitely consider it.”
“Luckily, he did recommend a place to go to.”
“Oh, that’s good. When do you want to go?”
“Well, if they aren’t busy tomorrow, we can go then.”
“That sounds good, do you want to bring Flare?”
“Of course we should; she’s the one getting the dog.”
“True...But I don’t want to get her hopes up.”
“They will need to have her learn the commands should she be able to have one.
“True, I guess we should then.”
“Alright.”
The following afternoon, the family went to the facility that the doctor recommended, Paws and Hooves Services. Teddy’s dad held open the door for the rest of his family.
The place smelled like, well, to be honest it smelled like a bunch of dogs, but that was to be expected. There was a mare behind the main desk at a computer. The family went up to her and Teddy’s dad asked, “Excuse me?”
She turned to them. “Welcome. May I help you?”
“Yes, we were hoping to get a service dog for my daughter. She suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”
“Do you have any medical records to validate this?”
“Yes.” He handed the papers to the mare for her to examine.
The mare looked them over. “Fair enough. I’ll have someone come meet you.”
“Thank you.”
“You can sit in any of those chairs,” The mare pointed to a row of empty chairs.
Teddy’s dad smiled at the mare and the family sat down in the chairs.
A few minutes later, a filly walked into the room. “Hello, my name i- Teddy?!”
Teddy’s head snapped toward the filly in question. It was Bright Eyes. “Bright Eyes? What are you doing here?”
“I volunteer here.”
“Oh...I never knew that.”
“I didn’t think you’d show up, but I guess it was just luck. Anyway, I’ll be helping you with getting to know your service animal and give you some tips on how to train them.”
“Don’t you guys provide the training.”
“Yes, these dogs were trained since puppyhood, but it is also the owner’s responsibility to make sure they stay on track.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Yeah. Anyway, if you follow me, I shall introduce you to your companion.” Bright Eyes walked down the hall with the family following her.
They came to a hallway filled with several cages of barking/howling dogs. Bright Eyes pointed them to a German shepherd. “This is Scout. He is two years old, but he’s well-trained. He’s good around kids, and very protective.”
Teddy’s mother said, “Well, it’s good to hear he’s good with kids…”
“And he’s trained to know when his master is about to panic so that he can help to calm him or her.”
“Okay.”
“It’s also common knowledge not to let anyone pet the dog while he is working, otherwise he will be distracted.”
“But if he isn’t it’s okay?”
“Yes.”
“Does he prefer to stay inside or outside?”
“He’s flexible in that area. Also, he is allowed by the Ponies With Disabilities Act to be in any public building that can accommodate him. The only exception is theme park rides since it would be hard to accommodate him.”
“Would we have to return him if Flare recovers?”
“Unfortunately, yes. He was trained to aid people with disabilities such as PTSD and autism.”
“Oh.”
“But he does miss the ones he has helped.”
“Has he helped anyone before?”
“Yes, you are family number three.”
“Bet he felt pretty bad the other two times,” Teddy said.
“Yes, but he also knows that there are other ponies that need help.”
"Well, that's good to know..."
“But as long as he leaves knowing that Flare recovers, he knows that he has done his job.”
"Good."
“So, shall we go over the commands?”
"Yes."
Flare walked Scout into her room. There was no problem with the dog, and he has done a good job so far. It was a bit difficult having to start dealing with a rather large dog, but Flare seemed to welcome the change. She walked over to her mirror and brushed her mane. She saw a figure in the mirror and started to panic, but Scout gave Flare a nuzzle to try to calm her. It worked. She looked in the mirror to see Teddy.
"Hey, you okay, Flare?"
“Oh, yeah. You just scared me.”
“Oh... Sorry… Guess Scout helped to calm you down, right?”
“Yep.”
"Well, glad he's doing his job. I just wanted to tell you good night."
“Oh. Okay. Good night.”
"Good night, I love you." Teddy smiled.
“Love you too.”
Teddy leaves the room, leaving Flare alone with Scout. Flare finishes brushing her mane before she gets into bed. She invites Scout onto the bed, and she suddenly felt a furry mass next to her. Scout laid down, and they both drifted off to sleep.
