..oOOo..


10:49 am Monday

Byers leafed through the five-month old issue of
"Hunting and Fishing" with no interest what-so-ever. 
He glanced to his left, the constant fidgeting of the
other man quickly moving from mildly distracting to
outright annoying.  The only two people in the
psychologist's waiting room, the silence between
them was all the more palpable.  Still ten minutes
until their appointment, the younger man was
becoming more agitated by the minute. 

Finally giving in to the impulse, Byers reached over
and laid his hand on Langly's knee, stilling the
jumping limb.  "Relax, Ree.  He's not going to force
you to say or do anything you don't want to, okay?"

Langly glared at him for a moment, then brushed the
hand off his leg and got unsteadily to his feet to start
pacing.  After only a few laps his energy gave out,
and he plopped back down in an empty chair a few
down from the other man.  Byers tried to hide his
hurt look behind the magazine and went back to not
reading.  

A few minutes before eleven, Dr. Gary Evens
emerged from his office with a friendly smile.  His
smile faltered, however, as he saw his two patients
sitting apart in the waiting room, not saying a word,
not even looking at each other.  "Mr. Byers, Mr.
Langly?  Come on into my office," he waved them
over casually.  

Exchanging a guarded glance, the two men stood
and followed.  Closing the door, Dr. Evans gestured
them toward the two chairs in front of the desk as he
went around the other side and took his own seat. 
"How are the both of you?" he began, flipping the
notebook in front of him to a fresh page and tapping
his pen lightly against it.  

"Fine," the couple replied automatically, in stereo.

The doctor stifled a smile;  he recognized one of the
signs of an inseparable pair, and truly hoped he had
the skills to help them past their tragedy and back to
their normal lives, and soon.  "May I call you by
your first names?" he asked, watching as they both
nodded.  "Good, I'm glad.  I hope it will make you
feel more comfortable.  Now, I'd just like to use this
session to give you both the opportunity to talk
about anything you like, then we'll use later sessions
to focus on specifics.  For today, we'll be spending
the first half hour with you both together, then I'll
have Richard wait outside while I speak with you,
John, for around fifteen minutes.  After that, I'll
speak with you privately until the end of the time,
Richard."

"Um, could you not call me Richard?  It's...I prefer
Ringo," Langly told him as he squirmed
uncomfortably in his chair.

"Of course.  Ringo.  Good," Evans replied with an
encouraging smile, glad to have the withdrawn
young man speaking up.  "I understand you've been
home several days now.  How is everything going? 
Physically, I mean.  Are you having any problems
that might make you feel discomforted?"

Langly shook his head minutely.  "No, I'm fine," he
mumbled, knowing full-well that the other two knew
he was lying.  

The next half hour passed with the same avoidance
and uneasy back-and-forth.  Evans looked down at
the few notes he had, frustrated by the lack of
progress.  Langly just did not want to talk, and
Byers did not seem to want to talk in front of
Langly.  It was time to split them up.  

"Ringo, I'd like to speak with John alone now.  If
you could wait outside, I'll come get you when it's
your turn," Evans told the younger man as he drew a
line beneath the few scribbled lines of text.  He
watched as Langly stood and left without a word,
then turned his eyes to where Byers was also
watching the other man leave.  

Alone now with Byers, Evans looked at him
expectedly.  "John?  Tell me a little about what is
going on with you, anything you'd like to talk
about."

"It's like he isn't even interested in getting us back to
normal," Byers blurted out without thinking, then
blushed and looked away.

Evans stood and moved to the chair vacated by
Langly.  "John, don't feel embarrassed by anything
you need to say, all right?  That's why you are here,
to have someone to talk to when no one else will
listen.  You know that, don't you?" he said gently.

Byers looked up at him, and slowly nodded.  "He
won't talk to me...won't..." he cleared his throat, his
cheeks growing pink again.  "We don't sleep
together anymore, not since he got home.  We don't
touch, we barely say a word to each other."

"And you've tried to get him to talk?  To draw him
out?"

"Well, I mean...I've tried, but I don't want to push
him, in case he isn't ready, you know?  I mean, I
can't imagine what it was like, what he went
through.  I just don't want to push too hard too
soon;  don't want to risk losing him."

"Maybe you haven't pushed enough yet.  He could
just be waiting for you to make the first solid move,
to give him an opening to let go of everything he is
keeping inside,"  Evans reasoned.  

Byers considered this, then nodded slightly.  "Yeah,
maybe."

The doctor sat back, relieved to have made even a
small step.  "Good, that's good.  Try talking to him. 
If you have any questions, or need help, feel free to
call me."

With a relieved smile, Byers reached to shake his
hand, then stood.  "Would you like me to send
Ringo in?"

"Yes, please.  If you'll just wait outside for him," 
Evans told him, remaining in the chair in front of the
desk.

Langly glanced up when he saw Byers come out of
the office, and took a deep breath.  Standing, he
walked back toward the still open door.  As he
passed Byers, the older man caught his arm and gave
it a gentle squeeze.  "It's okay,"  Byers whispered to
him with a confidant smile.  The younger man
couldn't help but give him a smile in return, and he
continued into the office, shutting the door behind
him.


..oOOo..