Nothing Broken (Kalli){trigger warning-Self-harm}

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

Self-harm was something that always concerned Nik. People who hurt themselves tended to have deeply rooted issues, and not always what everyone thought. Sometimes, it was depression that brought about the mindset. Other times, it was repentance and guilt. Anger, misery, even just a cry for attention... any of these were cause for self-harm, in addition to other emotions that people kept locked under layers of clothing and masks. If Mia didn't want to talk about it, pushing was not going to help. In fact, it could make things worse.

"It probably never came up," Nik offered, confirming the idea in Mia's head without knowing it. "Major injuries and sicknesses are not really dinner table conversation. If something had happened, they probably would have shown you how to take care of it."

Patting down the area gently with a towel, the pale woman made sure to keep her eyes on the task. Not only did she not want to hurt her patient, but downcast eyes usually meant a lack of want for eye contact. So, she simply kept to her work. "You're welcome."

She didn't comment for a minute on seeing Dr. Neville - if she was seeking help, that was already a good sign. Mia probably should tell him about this incident, but if she chose not to, that was not Nik's business as a doctor. She would just have to treat the fallout, like tonight. Finally, she did reply, "I'm glad. He's a wonderful person to talk to, isn't he?"

[Mia Bell]

Mia had a lot of issues, and even though Sean tried to help her with it, she couldn’t help but feel like she was still the same girl she was a year ago when she came to Hammel, maybe even worse. There were a lot of things fueling her self-harm, and she knew it. She had gotten better with it, it had been months since she last hurt herself like this, she had gotten good to resist the urges… But this week had pulled her over board.. She couldn’t handle the stress and emotions; mostly the grief.


She nodded to Dr. Nik’s statement, then smirked at her other. “Yeah, but sex sure was after I turned thirteen..” She smiled a little about how opened her father seemed to have been about it, and how protective of her he was, or had been? Her eyes started to get watery from the memories, the happy memories of her family, when they were a family. She blinked a few times, trying not to cry, she pushed the memories aside and focused on her burn.

Mia just watched Dr. Nik do her job, wincing once in awhile, but it was nothing to complain about. She didn’t think she had a right to complain about the pain, she was the one that brought it onto herself.

The frighten girl really wasn’t sure what she was going to tell Dr. Neville, if anything at all. Everyone had relapses, right? It was natural for her, right? “He is. He’s helped me a lot.” Like Dr. Nik, he never shamed her for what she had done to herself, and she was grateful for that beyond what words can say. “I am sorry to have bothered you with this..” She wouldn’t have been bothering the woman if self-harm wasn’t an issue for her. She felt bad that she had came here for something she had done to herself; she felt like she didn’t deserve this treatment.

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

Nakia chuckled in amusement at that; both of her girls had come and asked questions of her at different ages (Appoline had been five but had understood more at twelve, and Cassi had asked at eight).The doctor was a firm believer in the idea thhat if a child was old enough to ask the question, they were old enough for an honest answer. It wasn't an easy topic for most folks, but doctors always seemed to have an easier time of it... she thought. Still, it never stuck well until her husband had added his two-cents - he always knew how to make things make sense to the girls. "Better prepared than not," she added, placing the towel aside.

"I'm glad," she answered gently, smiling at Mia as she wrapped the burn. "It's always good to see people happy, I think, and Dr. Neville helps considerably with those who have trouble." Like her husband, for example. He and Sean were friends and colleagues rather than patient-doctor, but there was still something the psychiatrist could give him that Nik never could; an outside view.

Settling the wrap with a twist and a clip, the albino woman searched Mia's face as she apologized. "It's my duty and pleasure to help," she answered warmly, patting the girl's arm well below the burn. "I promise that you will never be a bother. Now, let's see... will you need some help sleeping tonight with that cold? I have some NyQuil tablets I can give you for that, as well as some cough drops to get you through the day."

The change in subject was more to keep Mia from dwelling on her "bothering" than to get everything done all at once. Nik had all the time in the world, and a good supply of cold medicine (allergy medicine was another story) since the beginning of spring. However, those who self-harmed and those who were depressed often needed something to let them come to things in their own time - not pushing or forcing help, just to be there once things got bad. She knew that first-hand from her own experiences more than anything.