Psy (Alien Castaways #3) - Cara Bristol Page 0,37

try to push the words out, the more it tightens.

He nodded. That might explain why you didn’t learn to speak. Perhaps when you were a child trying to talk, your throat closed up, so you stopped. One tended to avoid that which caused pain.

I’m back to square one. Her shoulders slumped. What good does it do to have normal vocal cords if I can’t breathe? If I still can’t speak?

He laced his fingers through her slender ones. Your lungs are healthy. There is nothing wrong with your respiration—the pod would have identified and fixed any problems. My hunch is the tightening around your throat is a learned, emotional response like claustrophobia.

I’m a mess.

No, you’re not. You’re brave and beautiful. But I can help you with the breathing problem.

How?

Like I did with the claustrophobia, I can implant the idea that you have control. The other day you couldn’t even face the idea of getting into the med pod, and today you went through a scan.

But you were with me, and I still panicked when the lid closed.

And when you panicked, you got control, calmed yourself, and completed the exam.

Her eyes widened. I did, didn’t I? You really think more suggestions will help me?

Yes. It would require delving deeper, replacing the negative, counterproductive messaging with positive affirmations.

Then I want to try soon—but not today. She shuddered and tugged at the collar of her shirt, as if remembering not being able to breathe.

I understand. We’ll begin when you’re ready. She needed to handle this in her own way and in her own time.

She glanced to the side before meeting his gaze again. I believe in you and know you’ll help me. Please don’t be insulted, but I’m going to keep my appointment with the ear, nose, and throat specialist—when I get one, that is. They were supposed to contact me with the date and time. I need the specialist to recommend a speech therapist for voice training. I’m going to require help with pronunciation and building muscle strength. Otherwise, I’ll be a twenty-three-year-old who speaks baby talk!

She kissed him, slid off his lap, and then pulled out her phone. Let me contact my doctor’s office and see what’s holding up the referral.

Psy read as she texted, This is Cassie Steward. I’m following up. You were going to schedule an appointment for me with an ENT specialist. Do you have any idea when that will be?

Ten minutes later, a reply came through.

We texted you a couple of days ago. Your appointment with Dr. Lynn Jacoby is today at 1 p.m.

Today? She checked the time on her phone. That’s in an hour!

This is the first they’ve told you? Psy asked, irritated on her behalf. If she hadn’t checked, she would have missed her appointment!

She’d scrolled through old texts. No messages from my doctor. The ENT office is in Coeur d’Alene. Can you take me on the hover scooter?

Absolutely. As the old Earth saying went, wild horses couldn’t have prevented him from taking her. He was thrilled to finally get to the bottom of her voice issues.

Chapter Fifteen

The summer sun had dipped low in the sky when the hover scooter settled next to Rosalie’s hatchback. Psy deactivated the refractor shield long enough for them to dismount then reactivated it before the neighbors caught sight of the vehicle. A niggling between his shoulder blades alerted him Rosalie watched from the window.

He clasped Cassie’s shoulders. Are you sure you don’t want me to come in with you?

She shook her head. She’s going to get defensive. I’ll get better answers if I talk to her alone. She’ll need reassurance I don’t blame her. She had no way of knowing the doctors misdiagnosed me. I need to get my medical history and find out what kind of doctors she took me to and what led them to conclude I was incapable of speaking. I wish I could remember more, but it’s so hazy. I only recall the tests as being painful, but today’s exam was no big deal.

The human medical specialist had confirmed the med pod report: there was nothing anatomically or physiologically wrong with her vocal cords. The physician diagnosed the breathing difficulty as psychosomatic and recommended speech therapy and psychological counseling. Cassie had told her to proceed with a referral for the speech therapy but rejected counseling, preferring to let Psy help her.

Are you going to bring up the guardianship?

Not tonight. I would like to settle it as soon as possible—but the voice issue will be tough enough