"Good morning" Madhu wished to Rishab as she walked to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. She noticed him already sipping his coffee so didn't bother to ask him.

"Morning" He smiled. She yawned covering her mouth with her palm as she felt still sleepy.

"I thought we will be going back to your parents place last night?" She asked. She was surprised to wake up in their apartment.

"I want to talk with you." he said straight to the point.

"Talk? About what?" she asked as she mixed a spoon of sugar in her coffee and stirred it before taking a welcoming sip.

"I'm taking you to somewhere" he said evasively. He didn't know how to tell her what was choking in his throat.

"Where? Be clear, Rishab."

"To meet a friend of mine."

"Oh. Can't we meet your friend on one weekend? I have office so do you."

"Just half day. Get permission from your boss."

"Hmm... Okay. But who is this friend? Mukkund bhaiya? Are we going to meet his new born baby boy? Then I am excited. On our way we will get some toys and baby clothes okay?"

"No, we are not going to meet Mukkund."

"Then?"

"It's Sameer..." he paused.

"Okay" she waited patiently for him to continue.

"He is a doctor." He said softly as gauged Madhu's expression. She frowned. "A shrink" He added.

"I'm not coming to meet your psychiatrist friend." Madhu said angrily air quoting the word "Psychiatrist" and walked out of the kitchen island and went to the living room. Rishab followed her.

"Madhu, listen to me, please."

"Don't push me, Rishab. I don't want any treatment. I'm not coming and that's final."

"You are coming and that's final" he said in a stern tone.

"You can't force me."

"Believe me, I can"

"Rishab, please. I have been through all these shits but nothing works. Nothing helps." She said tiredly as she slumped down on the couch holding her head in her hands. Rishab sat beside her gently placing his hand on her back and rubbing it.

"My friend Sameer, he is an exceptionally good psychotherapist. I'm sure he will help you cope up with your..." she cuts him off by asking "Don't you think I am normal?"

"Of course you are. Don't get me wrong. I am just trying to help you. I don't know whether you remember or not but you had a nocturnal panic attack last night." He said rubbing his forehead. She looked down at her knitted fingers. Yes, she indeed remembered her sorry state. She couldn't remember what exactly triggered her to get a panic attack, may be the incident in the restroom at the party, she was close to getting a panic attack there itself if her husband hadn't walked in on time. She remembered waking up sweating, trembling and hyperventilating and her husband soothing her with words of love. She remembered him running her a warm bath in the bathtub. She remembered him changing her into her night clothes and getting back to bed to sleep in his arms. "You were pathetic last night." His words brought back from her reverie. She pressed her lips to stop trembling. She didn't look up and face him. She hung her head down in shame.

"I was just scared. I'm fine, Rishab. Please trust me." She begged. "I'm not even getting sleep terrors frequently. It's all gone. I have you and I am sleeping well when you are with me."

"And that's the point. You can't sleep in peace. You can't sleep without fear. You need someone by your side..."

"Am I a burden to you?"

"I never said you were a burden to me so don't put words in my mouth, Madhu" he warned her. He was at the edge of losing his calmness. He was trying his best to make her understand it was for her own good to consult a doctor but she wasn't helping him. "Look Madhu, you are so young and I want you healthy. If you keep having all these night terrors, claustrophobia, panic attacks... it will surely affect you pretty bad one day or the other." He took both her hands in his making her look up at him. "I'm sorry..." he whispered and pressed a kiss on her hand. She gave him a confused look wondering why he was feeling sorry. In fact it was her to feel sorry for not being more frank with him and for making things hard on him.

"I should have taken your fear issues a bit more serious and taken you to the doctor right after you told me about your sleep terror episode. Last night was like a wakeup call to me. If I want you happy and healthy I should do this with or without your consent. Now, go get ready. We are going to his clinic and finding a solution for this problem" he said and stood up leaving her hands. She stared at him blinking. He can't be for real.

"Rishab, you still love me?" she asked holding his hand stopping him from walking. She was still sitting on the couch looking up at him expectantly.

He smirked. "You are so stupid." He said teasingly. "If I hadn't then I wouldn't be showing this much interest on you."

"You could have simply said a "yes" you know?" she said rolling her eyes. At times she hates if her husband talks too much.

~~0~~

"So how long you two are friends?" Madhu asked Rishab who was driving the car.

"Since school days I know him. We are very close friends. Perks for being a nerd is you easily associate with another nerd. Sameer is one such person. Very studious. Very ambitious. Very professional. What else I can say about him?" Rishab wondered

"Is he dull and boring like you?" Madhu asked teasingly.

"Kind of" He shrugged.

"Then we better see some other doctor, please."

"I have already told him everything about you... so don't get surprised when he talks about your post-traumatic stress disorder." Rishab said in advance so that she won't pounce on him in front of his friend for telling him about her personal life. Rishab had already consulted his friend cum Doctor Sameer the very next day Madhu had told him about her being kidnapped when she was 7 years old and since then she was getting night terrors.

"Okay."

"He advised me to keep you happy and stress free... told me about few relaxation techniques..."

"So you were trying to be romantic with me in an attempt to keep me happy on doctor's advice?" she asked curiously.

He didn't reply but gave her a lopsided grin.

"You idiot!" she punched his gut with her fist mercilessly. "I thought you were changing all sweet."

"Ouch! It hurts, sweetie." He rubbed his stomach.

"Serves you right." She giggled

He took her hand from her lap and kissed her palm "For you I am changing." He agreed. He kissed her palm again before placing it back on her lap and focusing on driving. She blushed and smiled.

~~0~~

Rishab knocked at Sameer's cabin before entering in taking his wife's hand in his.

"Rishab" Sameer stood up from his chair and walked around his desk to give a man to man hug. "How are you, bud?"

"All cool. Meet my wife Madhu. Madhu this is Dr. Sameer Kocher"

"Hello, Doctor."

"Pleased to meet you pretty lady" Sameer grinned and stretched his hand for a shake. Madhu shook his hand slightly blushing.

"Please sit." Sameer said and then he walked back to his swivel chair.

"I have heard a lot about you from your husband and even I have seen your past medical records." Sameer went straight to the point. "Your report says you have undergone cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and Functional analytical psychotherapy (FAP) right?"

"Yeah, that's right. That therapy really helped me in changing my thoughts and emotional behaviors. Helped me to recognize and deal with problematic and dysfunctional ways of thinking, emoting and behaving." Madhu said holding her husband's hand tightly.

"Good."

"But then I don't know why I just couldn't come out of my shell."

"I have heard about your various fears from your husband in the recent days but I would like to hear it from you as well." He said, placing his hands on the desk, interlinking his fingers and resting his chin over them.

"It's a long list." She let out a nervous laugh.

"We have all the time to discuss, madam. I have cleared my entire schedule for today just to attend you." he gestured her to go ahead.

"Thank you, Dr. Sameer."

"Anything for my friend and his beautiful wife." Sameer said with a huge grin.

"Sameer, you can cut the adjectives you use to describe my wife." Rishab growled.

"Chill dude" Sameer laughed. "Okay back to the topic. Your fears or terrors or angst or whatever you name it. Tell me about it?"

"I have fear of darkness." She said fidgeting with her fingers. Rishab draped his arm around her shoulder and gently rubbed her arm with his two fingers.

"Scotophobia" Sameer muttered and noted it down on his note pad.

"I have fear of being in dark places"

"Lygophobia" Sameer said it out loud. "What all symptoms you get when you are pushed into a dark place?" he asked

She thought of the symptoms she got yesterday when she was alone in the dark restroom.

"I start sweating... excessive sweating, my heart rate goes up rapidly, shortness of breath... um and nausea. If I couldn't come out of the darkness in time I don't know what will happen next... guess I just pass out."

"Okay." He took notes of whatever she was telling.

"I have fear of heights. Acrophobia" she herself named the right term. Sameer fondly smiled at her. "Even in our apartment I won't go near the balcony when we had only a glass railing. I forced Rishab to put a full length iron grill but still I just stand and look at horizontally but never dare to look vertically. I'm sure I will faint if I do."

"Yeah, Rishab told me about the elevator incident you guys faced a couple of days back"

Madhu sharply turned to her side silently asking her husband "You told this too?" and he just gave a shrug.

"So what else terrifies you?"

"I have claustrophobia" she said her next fear. "I can't stay enclosed in a small room or in a confined space for long."

"So it's not only staying in dark places then?"

"Yeah."

"Mrs. Kundra, please tell me the coping up techniques you are using so far to get rid of all these perturbations?"

"Fishes & Music, before marriage. Rishab after marriage." She said smiling at her husband. Rishab covered his lips with his forefinger to hide the quivering up of his lips to a smile.

"Brilliant. So you do know to find a way to deal with your fears."

"I guess so but I wish I get some permanent solution. I just can't go screaming and walking up night after night. It's not only affecting me. It's affecting my poor husband's sleep" she joked.

"It's just not about having restless sleep Mrs. Kundra. You may develop other serious health problems. For instance, Nocturnal (night time) panic attack which you got yesterday, its signs and symptoms are quite alarming and can mimic those of a heart attack or another serious medical condition."

"I can understand." She clutched Rishab's hand firmly.

"It's a wise move by your husband to bring you to me at the right time."

"I know." She smiled at Sameer and gave a squeeze to Rishab's hand which he returned subtly from under the table.

"Mrs. Kundra, Now, I know all your fears or terrors and I want to go little deeper and find out the reason for your fears so I would like to subject you with an Insight-oriented psychotherapy." Rishab had already told Sameer that his wife wasn't ready to give him the actual reason for her fears. He was sure she was missing out a chunk of her past to tell him. Only that piece will solve the puzzle which he wanted to know.

"What is this therapy about?" Rishab asked curiously.

"Well, Insight-oriented psychotherapy basically focus on revealing or interpreting unconscious processes. See, your wife is still living with the past incidents unconsciously. Though she wants to shut it down and move on she just couldn't." Sameer explained and they intently listened to him.

"This is one oldest and most intensive form and this application of depth psychology encourage the verbalization of all the patient's thoughts, including free associations, fantasies, and dreams, from which the analyst formulates the nature of the past and present unconscious conflicts which are causing the patient's symptoms and character problems." Sameer briefs them about the therapy. "In simple layman's term it's a Talk therapy"

"Do you think this will work?"

"It's scientifically proven that if you ramble aimlessly about whatever thoughts come into your mind your psychiatric symptoms diminishes or even disappears. We just keep probing your unconscious mind to identify your hidden conflicts."

"How long she should undergo this talk therapy?"

"It depends. We will hope this "talking cure" cures you sooner than later."

"Sameer, I want to be presented with you people whenever you conduct this therapy."

"But Rishab..." Sameer tried to protest.

"Don't forget I am ACP Rishab Kundra and as a doctor its your duty to co-operate with me in my investigation. I just need to get few answers from her... which is related to her past incident." He was sure it was her past biting her with vengeance.

"Okay, then. We will fix an appointment for tomorrow evening if that's okay with you two."

Rishab looked at Madhu and she mouthed "okay".

"Yeah, that could be arranged."

"Good. Then I will see you guys tomorrow." He stood up and walked to Madhu's side. "You don't worry about your phobias and the therapy we are going to conduct, Madhu. We doctors usually tend to scare our patients in order to make things big and make them believe they are seriously in trouble and they need attention so that we can make money. And don't you dare let this little secret out" Sameer warned jokingly and laughed. Madhu giggled.

"Sameer, its Mrs. Kundra for you." Rishab reminded him when he called his wife by her given name "Madhu" that too so fondly and friendly.

"Oh c'mon, we are already friends, aren't we Madhu?" Sameer asked winking at Madhu.

"Of course, Doc. Sam" Madhu and Sameer did a hi-fi much to Rishab's annoyance.

"I hate having good looking flirtatious male friends who make my wife laugh and giggle." Rishab muttered under his breath though it was clearly heard by both Madhu and Sam and they laughed.

"Madhu, you are getting late to office. Come, we will have lunch out and I will drop you at your office." Rishab almost dragged his wife out of Sameer's cabin giving one last glare to Sameer making him laugh more.

"You were so wrong, Rishab" Madhu said as they walked out of the clinic.

"Wrong?"

"Yeah, your friend Sameer is nothing like you. He is so polite, funny and friendly unlike you Mr. Arrogant." She teased him. "I like him. The best shrink I have ever seen."

"Don't get so excited about him. He is married."

"Doh! I just like him as a doctor okay? So stop being jealous."

"For that you need to stop flirting with my friends"

"It's called friendliness not flirting." She retorted.

"Why we always end up fighting?" Rishab wondered.

"That's because you behave like an arse." She scolded him.

"Thank you." he took that as a compliment and opened the car door for her.

... To be Continued!!!

Vote, Comment & Share!!!