Grounding Techniques Not Working (JP)

Lily(fin) racked her brains trying to think of something based on Khunara’s question. She thought of home, chores, her family members sitting around the breakfast table, helping seed a field, the smell of the barn, etc. They could see the wheels turning behind her eyes as her nose wrinkled with the attempt.

Her form started to shift. It altered into a hybrid version of Finlay’s mom, than siblings, then dad, then a person at the grocery store in Sheridan, than back to Lily. It was like watching someone trying to lift a weighted bar in the bench press, but instead of the bar going up it was sinking down.

Lily(fin) stopped trying. She was panting with the exertion, the sweat beads visible upon her brow. The medical gown was also slightly stretched and torn from the size changes.

Khunara watched on in bewilderment for a moment. "Okay, Finlay, I need you to focus on the now. Look in this room and point out an object you can touch." She explained, trying to use the method of grounding her mother used to teach her when she was little and suffering from anxiety attacks. Being able to find something within reach a person could touch, taste, smell, hear and see we're all parts of it and it always helped bring her back to the present.

She hoped it would aid Finlay, but a part of her felt he was becoming beyond help of a regular doctor like her. The medic had read up on his file, taken note of all the things El had pulled up about him. She had never gotten along well with teenagers when she herself was one so how was she supposed to help this boy? He had just been found parading around as another person and now this?

She'd never met such a mess before.

Lily(fin) raised her head from its sunken resting place atop her raised knees and looked at the doctor with confusion. Her instruction seemed to be a weird request, since the youth didn’t really know the why behind it. “Ok?” She squeaked out with a lack of enthusiasm; she just felt like she wanted to be left alone where she had some illusion of security.

Lily(fin), not wanting to do it in the moment, didn’t spend much time looking around. She reached out pointed to the chair’s, she currently was curled up in, armrest; it required the least amount of effort and movement. She looked to the doctor having complied with what she asked.

Axo gently tapped on the door, opening it slightly and peaking through. "Hi there. Is there something I can help with?" She asked in a calm and soft voice. Her smile was a perfect mix between bright and relaxed, as though she had rehearsed it and practiced to perfection.

Johnathan fought the urge to role his eyes at Axos plastered on smile. She had a kind soul, but the smile looked robotic to Johnathan. "We are struggling to help Finlay find his way back to his original form. He's a shape shifter, and he's taken the form of lily."

Axo stepped in to the room and waved at Khunara. "I haven't seen you around before, but I don't leave my office much. I'm Axo, it's very nice to meet you. Are you also a therapist?" She had overheard Khunara walking Finlay through grounding techniques, and she seemed well versed. It was a fair assumption.

Seeing Finlay's struggle, Khunara decided to back off and looked at Axo. "It's nice to meet you. I'll leave you to it." She grabbed the charts and held them out to the therapist. "If anything seems wrong, please come get me. A nurse is working on getting some new sheets for him."

With that, she stepped out of the room and sighed heavily. She had to check on the other patients while trying not to feel like a failure with this one.

Axo nodded. "I'll keep you updated on any changes." She replied before turning her attention back to Finlay/Lilly. She crouched so that she could be eye level with the shapeshifter and offered a gentle smile. "Hi Finlay, I'm Axo. It's really nice to meet you." She made it a point to speak with a soft, hushed tone. "Do you want to talk a little bit with me?"