twitched, visibly pulled back into the present moment from whatever revery held him. He started sweeping again in hurried movements. "I will be soon, doctor. I'm sorry."
"There's no need to be sorry, Tyrone. I'm not angry with you."
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir."
Sundquist's mouth quirked. "Yes, I know you're sorry, Tyrone." He watched the man work for a few moments, then asked the question that had brought him out here. "Are you having trouble with the thoughts again, Tyrone?"
Tyrone stopped sweeping and shot him a furtive glance. "Not as bad as it used to be. Not usually. At night sometimes, but I do what you taught me and it goes away."
Sundquist nodded. "You apply the techniques we've worked on. The affirmations and the breathing techniques?"
Tyrone nodded earnestly. "I do. I do all those things."
"And they help?"
"They help, Doctor. I was so much worse before. I don't know what ... I'm just so glad that you let me stay here."
Sundquist smiled at him. "I like having you here, Tyrone. And not because I can keep an eye on you. I like having you here because I feel like we're partners. I know how important it is for you to feel strong and complete, Tyrone. I understand how hard it is for you to get past the things that happened to you when you were younger, and I'm proud of how far you've come. Do you believe me when I say that it's important to me, too, for you to be strong?"
Tyrone nodded vigorously, though his eyes slipped from contact with the doctor's. Sundquist knew that Tyrone was experiencing a surge of emotion, and even after all their work together he still struggled with emotions and what to do with them. "I do believe that, Doctor. You've been very good to me."
"I've tried to do the right thing. I know I wasn't the first therapist who tried to help you, but when the others looked at you all they could see was a broken thing. What you went through as a child was enough to break anyone, Tyrone, and I believe it very nearly finished you. But I saw something a little different: damaged, certainly, and as much a danger to yourself as you were to others. But I knew that it took great strength to survive what you went through, and I wondered what that strength might make you capable of, if someone gave you a chance."
Tyrone looked at him silently, but his eyes were shining. Sundquist imagined that this must have been what Captain Cook experienced when he landed on Hawaii and the natives worshiped him as a god.
That didn't work out so well for Captain Cook, but Warren had a plan. He stepped up to Tyrone and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"There are people in this world who lead charmed lives, Tyrone. They're born to loving parents who care for their needs. They go to school and get married and live their lives surrounded by friends and loved ones. And after they die they are quickly forgotten, because nothing really good comes out of something so easy."
He turned Tyrone toward him and placed his other hand on Tyrone's other shoulder, so that he could look deeply into his eyes.
"A great philosopher once said, 'What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.' You, Tyrone, have been nearly killed a number of times. Your father did unspeakable things to you. Your mother didn't love you enough to protect you. You dropped out of school and went into the military, where they shipped you out to countries where you could see and do things so horrible that I don't even have words for them. And then, when you came back to this country and brought some of that violence and pain back with you, they caught you and they threw you into a cage full of animals even more vicious than you. A lesser man, a weaker man, would have been broken by any one of those things, let alone all of them. But you, Tyrone, you're too strong for that."
He held Tyrone's eyes and squeezed his shoulders.
"Do you see that, Tyrone? Do you see how powerful you've become?"
Tyrone nodded slowly. "I do see it. You've helped me see it, doctor. And now I
"There's no need to be sorry, Tyrone. I'm not angry with you."
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir."
Sundquist's mouth quirked. "Yes, I know you're sorry, Tyrone." He watched the man work for a few moments, then asked the question that had brought him out here. "Are you having trouble with the thoughts again, Tyrone?"
Tyrone stopped sweeping and shot him a furtive glance. "Not as bad as it used to be. Not usually. At night sometimes, but I do what you taught me and it goes away."
Sundquist nodded. "You apply the techniques we've worked on. The affirmations and the breathing techniques?"
Tyrone nodded earnestly. "I do. I do all those things."
"And they help?"
"They help, Doctor. I was so much worse before. I don't know what ... I'm just so glad that you let me stay here."
Sundquist smiled at him. "I like having you here, Tyrone. And not because I can keep an eye on you. I like having you here because I feel like we're partners. I know how important it is for you to feel strong and complete, Tyrone. I understand how hard it is for you to get past the things that happened to you when you were younger, and I'm proud of how far you've come. Do you believe me when I say that it's important to me, too, for you to be strong?"
Tyrone nodded vigorously, though his eyes slipped from contact with the doctor's. Sundquist knew that Tyrone was experiencing a surge of emotion, and even after all their work together he still struggled with emotions and what to do with them. "I do believe that, Doctor. You've been very good to me."
"I've tried to do the right thing. I know I wasn't the first therapist who tried to help you, but when the others looked at you all they could see was a broken thing. What you went through as a child was enough to break anyone, Tyrone, and I believe it very nearly finished you. But I saw something a little different: damaged, certainly, and as much a danger to yourself as you were to others. But I knew that it took great strength to survive what you went through, and I wondered what that strength might make you capable of, if someone gave you a chance."
Tyrone looked at him silently, but his eyes were shining. Sundquist imagined that this must have been what Captain Cook experienced when he landed on Hawaii and the natives worshiped him as a god.
That didn't work out so well for Captain Cook, but Warren had a plan. He stepped up to Tyrone and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"There are people in this world who lead charmed lives, Tyrone. They're born to loving parents who care for their needs. They go to school and get married and live their lives surrounded by friends and loved ones. And after they die they are quickly forgotten, because nothing really good comes out of something so easy."
He turned Tyrone toward him and placed his other hand on Tyrone's other shoulder, so that he could look deeply into his eyes.
"A great philosopher once said, 'What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.' You, Tyrone, have been nearly killed a number of times. Your father did unspeakable things to you. Your mother didn't love you enough to protect you. You dropped out of school and went into the military, where they shipped you out to countries where you could see and do things so horrible that I don't even have words for them. And then, when you came back to this country and brought some of that violence and pain back with you, they caught you and they threw you into a cage full of animals even more vicious than you. A lesser man, a weaker man, would have been broken by any one of those things, let alone all of them. But you, Tyrone, you're too strong for that."
He held Tyrone's eyes and squeezed his shoulders.
"Do you see that, Tyrone? Do you see how powerful you've become?"
Tyrone nodded slowly. "I do see it. You've helped me see it, doctor. And now I
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