MGFF:Out of Darkness *Pt-33&34* {Pg.88} *UPDATED* - Page 10

************ Part 28 ************

"Now, tell me about her speech" Myra requested as she twirled her pen and flipped through some pages of her notebook, stopping at a blank page.

"Speech?" Maan raised his brow in question.

"How many times have you both had conversations? You did say she speaks to you…. Remember?" Myra queried reminding him of his confession in front of whole family in DadiMa's room.

"I… er… I m-mean…" Maan stammered in reply, realizing he couldn't really lie to Myra about this... not now since she was going to treat Geet and hadn't she already elaborated on the importance of being honest with everything he said about Geet.

"Let me guess… you lied? She has not spoken with you either… right?" Myra smirked, she had her suspicious which were now confirmed with Maan Veerji's hesitancy in replying.

"No! She did talk with me, twice!" Maan informed her with a grin.

"Really? Without counting tonight's incident?" Myra questioned ignoring his gloating grin which soon fell upon her question.

"Then only once…" Maan replied swallowing his pride.

"Can you please give me a detailed description of when this happened, how, why, where and what she spoke" Myra requested pushing at her glasses that were perched on her nose.

"It happened the morning after she fell sick… " Maan started only to be interrupted by Myra.

"Wasn't she too sick and delirious the whole day?... then when did she speak to you?" Myra questioned, as far as she remembered she had woken him up that morning and Geet had been feverish and unresponsive so when had Maan Veerji talked with her?

"It was the day after that…. The day Mr. Mallik called me" Maan informed her, realizing she was getting the days confused. Although he didn't know why the day mattered shouldn't she be more focused on what Geet spoke?

"Okay, please carry on" Myra urged tapping her pen on her chin.

"We were woken by the maid…." Maan continued making sure to be very descriptive and detailed as Myra has requested, he watched as her pen scratched against the paper as she listened to his recount of that morning where he had his first real conversation with his wife.

"You do realize even this doesn't count as a real conversation… right?" Myra pointed out to him.

"Why not? She spoke to me, answered my questions…. I admit it wasn't exactly a very talkative conversation but what matters is that she gave me verbal responses" Maan informed her.

"Yes, that may be so but the fact is that she wasn't exactly conscious at that time…. She was in a delirious state, the medicines and the fever kept her in haziness she wasn't alert" Myra explained.

"Whatever" Maan murmured not satisfied with her explanation.

"Now to her speech pattern… the two times she has 'spoken' to you… what format did she use?" Myra asked.

"Format?" Maan raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"I mean, when she speaks… does she often refers to herself in third person or was it the first time tonight?" Myra elaborated her question.

"No, she has always spoken in third person but that's not abnormal… Pari always talked in third person" Maan answered reminding her about their niece.

"Hmmm….." Myra frowned as she scribed down the given information in her notebook.

"Why the frown? Its not a serious matter… some people do speak in third person…. Take our Pari for example" Maan pointed out once again.

"It's not the same… there are several reasons why some people speak in third person" Myra informed him waiting for his input.

"Continue on… as it is half of what you say goes over my head" Maan grumbled waving his hand irritably at Myra's refutes on his basic pointers.

"Anyways, when Geet talks; does she use the right grammar? Does she speak just few words or sentences? Is her sentence structure grammatically correct?" Myra continued asking her questions, her eyes reading through the sheets in front of her.

"Why are you asking me such questions? What does this have to do with her therapy?" Maan asked annoyed by her questions which seemed irrelevant at the moment.

"You do know Gurvinder; Geet's brother is autistic right?" Myra reminded him

"Are you implying that my wife is autistic just because she speaks in third person?" Maan hissed, anger bursting through him at such an implication.

"I am not implying anything. I am just looking at all the possibilities; she might be autistic considering the fact that siblings of autistic patient have a higher risk of autism."

"Myra!" Maan warned interrupting her in an attempt to stop her ramblings but Myra only shot him an annoyed look but continued on with her speech.

"To me this theory sounds about right… it explains a lot about her behavior, her reluctance to give verbal responses, her lack of eye contact, her cringing upon being touched, her little tolerance towards loud noises and not to forger her use of third person the few times she has spoken" Myra finished, presenting the many facts that pointed towards this theory.

"Are you sure?" Maan whispered, feeling his stomach clench at just the thought of it being true.

"No, I am not… for all we know Geet might be suffering from split personality hence the use of third person or it could just be a habit Geet picked from her autistic brother…" Myra stated trying to ease Maan Veerji's worry but failed to succeed. She had only wanted him to be aware of the possibility that Geet might be autistic…. Although Myra herself knew it was less likely...

"Maan Veerji, there is nothing to really worry about, I just wanted you to know of all the possibilities, Just because I said she might be autistic does not mean she really is…." Myra tried to console him not wanting him to arrive at any conclusions since she hasn't exactly diagnosed Geet with the disorder, it was only a possibility and she hoped it remained such.

"Here, I want you to have a look at this" Myra said forwarding the paper to him.

"This is an email?" Maan asked looking at the paper; he searched the top to learn the identity of the sender.

"Armaan emailed it to me after I talked with him about Geet" Myra explained failing to notice the sudden anger that engulfed her brother-in-law at the mention of Armaan.

"Armaan? Armaan Mallik? How dare you talk to him about my wife!" Maan roared as he bolted up from his seat, looking about wildly at Myra as if ready to rip her into pieces.

"I needed some advice and hence decided to consult Armaan" Myra replied unfazed, completely ignoring Maan Veerji's rage filled eyes spitting fire at her as he glared down at her.

"Are you out of your mind? Out of all the people you chose ARMAAN as your consultant and that to regarding my wife's case?" Maan snarled not at all satisfied by Myra's reason to having involved Armaan into his wife's therapy.

"Really now, no need to get all worked up over such a small thing… Armaan is a psychologist specializing in speech therapy, so obviously I would seek his advice regarding Geet's lack of speech" Myra explained trying to reason with her brother-in-law. She didn't care about the issues he and nearly the whole family had against Armaan, they knew very well Armaan had not been responsible for everything but still they blamed him for everything…

"I don't care about how qualified he is or whatever he specializes in; I do not want that man anywhere near my family ever again! Isn't it enough that he has ruined Ridhima's life!" Maan hissed reminding his sister-in-law about that man's misdeeds.

"Armaan was not at fault, might I remind you that he was also a victim along with Ridhima. Do not blame him for it" Myra warned not at all liking the accusation Maan Veerji was throwing at Armaan.

"Victim? Ha! If it wasn't for that man then Ridhima would not be living such a hallow life… he took away all her happiness!" Maan accused gnashing his teeth in fury.

"Ridhima made her own decision... you all forced her towards that direction... Armaan played no part in that!" Myra glared, her eyes flashing in anger at the accusations Maan Veerji was throwing at Armaan despite knowing deep down that Armaan is not to be blamed for whatever happened to Ridhima.

"He ruined my sister's life!" Maan bellowed.

"Enough! I will not tolerate any more of your accusations against Armaan! Do not forget he is my brother!" Myra snapped defending her brother as she glared right back into Maan Veerji's glowering eyes, both refusing to back down….

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"Listen Maan Veerji, we can have this argument forever on whether your cousin sister ruined my cousin's life or vice versa but I am not here for that! I am here at 1 in the morning to discuss about Geet… so can we just focus on that for now?" Myra asked once both of them were situated back in their seats having finally gotten control of their anger…. At least she did, Maan Veerji still gave her that scathing look.

"I don't think I want to, not after you broke your most important rule of confidentiality!" Maan said refusing to cooperate with Myra. He simply did not trust her anymore, certainly did not want her treating his wife when she so easily discussed Geet's case with that brother of hers'!

"Confidentiality is still intact! Armaan doesn't know that I was discussing about Geet; your wife, my sister-in-law… no relationship was disclosed, no name given. In fact I haven't even given him any details about Geet's phobias… as far as he is concerned I was merely discussing about one of my patients who refused to give a verbal reply despite being capable of speaking" Myra stated and hoped it would be enough to assure and ease Maan Veerji's anger.

"It still doesn't make me happy" Maan retorted stubbornly staring at the picture frame of Vicky and Abhi that was placed on the table beside him, refusing to glance at Myra knowing how it annoyed her.

Myra completely ignored his refusal and continued on with her discussion "Coming to the reason as to why I was discussing Geet with Armaan was because like I said before I needed his advice"

Maan snorted hearing the word advice which Myra once again chose to ignore. "Armaan had once worked with a patient who had a similar problem like Geet's… meaning the child - patient refused to speak despite being physically capable of speaking and plus Armaan had once spoken to me about researching on such a psychiatric disorder an-"

"Wait a minute, are you telling me that Geet not speaking is actually a psychiatric disorder?" Maan asked not liking where Myra's explanation was leading towards.

"It's a possibility… like I said before I am just threading on theories, just looking at all the possibilities before I make the diagnose on exactly which disorder she is suffering from. Anyways, Armaan was kind enough t-" Myra stopped and shot a glare at her brother-in-law upon hearing his snort of amusement.

"He was kind enough to send me an email explaining about this certain psychological disorder in which a person looses the will to speak… this psychiatric disorder is known as "Selective Mutism" formerly named Elective mutism a very common psychiatric disorder in young children and is often caused by anxiety"

"And?" Maan probed.

"Their is a possibility of Geet being a Selective mute meaning she is one of those individuals who is physically and intellectually capable of speaking normally but refuses to do so for psychological reasons" Myra elaborated her explanation.

"Meaning Geet has chosen not to speak?" Maan narrowed his eyes.

"No, she is not choosing anything... it simply means that she is unable to and unless we evaluate the cause which I think is anxiety. Let's assume the cause is really anxiety then we have to work towards making an atmosphere; a 'safe' place for her only then she might speak because right now her high anxiety level is making it impossible for her to speak..." Myra explained to Maan Veerji. "Again it's only my assumption" Myra cleared not wanting Maan Veerji to get his hopes high...

"Safe place? you mean she doesn't feel safe here?"

"From what I have observed, Geet is still trying to adjust to her new surroundings... I am already focusing on trying to make this house her 'safe' place but it's very complex when I don't know what Geet perceives as safe..." Myra sighed as she marked a certain sentence on the sheet.

"So you seriously believe Geet has this disorder?" Maan questioned as he absorbed the information Myra had just explained to him.

"To be honest, I am hoping it to be this disorder because this can be cured by therapy, because-"

"Your other theory is a lifelong disorder which can be treated but it can never be cured" Maan finished Myra's sentence, finally understanding her view.

"Yes" Myra nodded her head relieved at the fact that Maan Veerji seemed to understand her.

"So, you now know how to get her to talk?" Maan asked, Myra did not fail to note the hopefulness in his voice.

"Er… not exactly, I received the email just this morning but Armaan gave me a few suggestions which might lead to getting a verbal response from Geet if applied rightly"

"And when do you plan to proceed with his suggestions?" Maan inquired not at all liking the involvement of that man but he also knew Myra will not relent.

"About that… I was hoping you would do the honors of…" Myra trailed, taking her time to finish her sentence because she knew Maan Veerji would not easily agree for this.

"Of?" Maan pressed although he knew what Myra wanted but hoped she wasn't stupid enough to voice such a thing to him…..

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"It's really simple actually and I believe you can get a verbal response from her…. my hope has increased especially after tonight's little episode... tonight you calmed her, gave her a sense of 'safety'..." Maan raised his brow at her assumption.

"She felt safe with you... that was the biggest step... the rest is pretty simple" Myra tried to assure him.

"That's the problem… it seems a little too simple" Maan protested once Myra finished with her instructions, explaining him on what he needed to do.

"I know but Armaan has assured me that this usually works" Myra encouraged him in her attempt to make him agree as she rose from her seat and headed out of the room.

"You think she will freely talk with me and everyone after this?" Maan asked as he followed Myra out of the room, still unsure of the instructions she had given him.

"Don't be silly! and please, don't expect her to be all words like Abhi" Myra said shaking her head and rolling her eyes at Maan Veerji's statement as she headed towards her room.

"But you said it will work!" Maan pointed out stopping Myra's steps.

"It will take weeks… months even for Geet to speak freely with us all" Myra exclaimed before resuming her walk towards her room leaving Maan Veerji to think on their discussion as he stood by his bedroom room.

"Good night" Myra wished over her shoulder.

"Good night my foot!" Maan muttered in annoyance as he closed the door behind him… did she actually expect him to have a good sleep after leaving him to ponder over their long disturbing discussion and the slight apprehension he felt regarding the impending task she had given him to complete that could quite possibly lead to his wife finally speaking if he performed it correctly….

Maan slipped inside the comforter with these thoughts wondering through his mind, his hand reaching out to his right to wrap around his wife's form as he moved his body closer to hers.

"Pati…" Maan heard her whisper as she drew closer to him in her sleep. It was the first time he heard her call his name in her sleep… before... she only seemed to call out to her mother or baby or Mannee…

"I am here, sweets… I am here" Maan whispered, tightening his hold on her, he nuzzled her neck dropping a kiss just below her ear as he breathed in the sweet smell of jasmine. He couldn't help but drop a kiss to her soft hair, breathing deeply as his lips pressed against her soft strands. Her hair felt heavenly in his rough hands. He smiled knowing that he was getting too obsessed with her hair……

"Pati" Maan heard the faint whisper again that escaped from his sleeping wife before he too fell asleep.

****** Angel ******