The Perfect Son by Kyion S. Roebuck Read Free Book Online

You’re not yourself right now. Something dreadful has happened, and it has changed you so much. Listen to yourself. This is crazy.”
    No sooner than that word left Kelly’s mouth, Cody backhanded her, and she crashed to the floor a few feet away. Quickly, she brought her hand up to her mouth to catch the blood and block the air from reaching the exposed nerve that was once attached to her incisor.
    “I’m not fucking crazy! You’re only here to keep up appearances. I’m just a burden to you! I know it, now. I know it, now. I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy–”
    “Thomas! Christian! I need your assistance in room 106. Bring the restraints!” Sylvia yelled, and seconds later, two large male nurses ran into the room. Cody put up a valiant effort against the two men, but was quickly penned to the floor, allowing Sylvia to sedate him.
     
    ***
     
    “Thank you for meeting with me today, Sister Mary Ava, especially on such short notice. I know that I haven’t been to services in over a year, but after getting a civil divorce without seeking the church’s council, I didn’t feel it was appropriate. I have not abandoned my beliefs, however, and I have remained faithful to my husband in our time apart,” Kelly said, while refusing to meet the elder woman’s gaze.
    “Kelly, I am not here to judge you. You sought out my council, and it would go against everything that I am to deny you. So please, tell me what has happened,” the religious sister said calmly.
    Bravely, Kelly lifted her gaze, but upon looking into the woman’s penetrating stare, her eyes filled with tears, so she lowered them once more.
    “I’m not sure where to begin; this whole ordeal has been a living nightmare. The worst of it started in May. Apparently , something happened that had upset Cody so much he attempted to walk to Ferndale. He made it as far as to Birmingham, when he was hit by a truck. He suffered a broken clavicle, three broken ribs, a ruptured spleen and a broken pelvis. He was in intensive care for two weeks, and remained in a coma for an additional week. They told me his chances of survival were slim, but by the grace of God, he pulled through.
    In only a few months, he made a full recovery with amnesia being the only reminder that he had had an accident. It was right after that, however, when the night terrors began. Like clockwork, he would scream out in his sleep, and everyone guaranteed me that the night terrors were just him reliving the accident, or was a sign that his memories were returning, but no memories ever came. What did come, however…
    About two weeks ago, instead of screaming in the middle of night, Cody woke up as, the only way I can describe it, as someone else. He was mean, disrespectful and dangerous, and he wouldn’t go away. Every night that demon would appear, and after attacking me several times, they took him to an inpatient psychiatric hospital about two hours out of the way, and placed him on a seventy-two hour hold. They’ve now officially diagnosed him with dissociative identity disorder, and because there is so little known about it, they really don’t know how to treat him. What they do know is that he has two distinct personalities. There’s the Cody that we all know and love, who’s sweet, kind and intelligent. Then there is the other Cody who is… everything else. Unfortunately, that Cody is the one with all of the memories. That Cody is also suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder for some reason, and they’ve placed him on a slew of medications that I’m not sure I agree with him taking.
    Later this evening, I am supposed to pick him up. They wanted to keep him longer, but I don’t want him around all of those crazy people. They’ll only make him worse, so I’m bringing him home. The problem is he is supposed to begin seeing a hypnotherapist tomorrow at three o’clock, but I have a conference that goes on until five, and I cannot get out of it. My absences have