Page 70 of Breaking

Dr. Morgan adjusted his glasses. "How has the move been?"

Troy exhaled. "Quiet. And too loud at the same time. I keep thinking about everything I left behind, everything I ruined."

Dr. Morgan didn't respond immediately, letting the silence stretch.

"I feel... hollow," Troy admitted. "I have cut off my mother. I don't even care anymore. I thought I'd feel something, but there's just this coldness and relief. I avoid her calls. I don't want to hear her voice."

Dr. Morgan tilted his head. "And why do you think that is?"

Troy let out a bitter chuckle. "Because all she ever did was make me feel like I wasn't enough. Or that I had to be someone I didn't want to be."

Dr. Morgan remained steady. "And now?"

Troy's voice was quiet. "Now I don't know who I am without her expectations shaping me."

Dr. Morgan nodded. "Spend this week thinking about who you are outside of those expectations. What are the things you value that have nothing to do with what was imposed on you?"

Session (Videocall from Chester)

Troy stared at the screen; his jaw tight. "Jenna's been spending time with someone else. Adam."

Dr. Morgan remained silent, waiting.

Troy clenched his jaw. " I feel like I deserve it. This is my punishment. But I hate it. And I don't know if I have a right to feel either way."

Dr. Morgan leaned forward slightly. "And what do you want to do about it?"

"I don't know," Troy admitted. "I've spent years not telling her what she means to me. And now, maybe, she doesn't want to hear it."

Dr. Morgan didn't react, letting the silence linger.

Troy sighed. "I guess... I need to show her. Not with gifts, not with empty gestures. But by showing up."

Dr. Morgan's gaze remained steady. "And what does showing up mean to you?"

Troy thought for a long moment. "Being the man she deserved from the start."

Dr. Morgan gave a small nod. "And those twenty weeks Jenna mentioned-what do you think they're for?"

Troy inhaled sharply. "I think... she's waiting to see if I can actually change. If I can be different."

Dr. Morgan studied him. "Then perhaps a good way to start is by defining what 'different' looks like."

Troy swallowed hard. For the first time in years, he knew he had work to do-not for Jenna's sake alone, but for himself.

Session (Videocall from Chester)

Troy leaned back in the chair, his fingers tapping restlessly against his knee. The silence from Dr. Morgan’s end was not uncomfortable.

Dr. Morgan looked up from his notes. “You’ve been quieter today. Want to tell me where your mind is?”

Troy exhaled, eyes fixed on a spot just past the window.

“The miscarriage,” he said finally. His voice was low, thick with something he couldn’t quite name. “I keep thinking about it. I think it was the point when things took a real turn for the worse.”

Dr. Morgan didn’t interrupt, simply nodded.

Troy swallowed. “It wasn’t just the loss. It was… everything around it. I wasn’t there when it happened. I was at work-some meeting, something that felt important at the time. And Jenna-she went through it alone. Drove herself to the hospital. I should have been there, I should have been doing that.”