[4] Missed

Author's Note: Hey everybody. Sorry I haven't updated in awhile...things have been going on with me, good and bad. I wrote this chapter right after I got the reviews for "Something", but I forgot to upload. Hope you guys still forgive me! Now, for some responses to the latest batch of reviews...

Lanter: Good that you know what's going on! I find that to be totally loyal to my readers, I must be honest with them and let them in on the whole story. As every author should.

Leaf26: Thanks for reviewing! And here's the latest update. ;)

lwd rocks: It's okay that you didn't review on the last chapter, and I'm also really glad that it cleared up things for you! I also liked that you liked the style of writing for the first couple of chapters, but I'm glad that someone else had brought up of how confusing it might be. I think I was really holding onto the fact that you weren't suppose to realize that all this was happening to Casey, and that's why I didn't reveal it until the end of chapter 2.

kmr04: You mentioned questions. What kind of questions do you have about this story? Let me know, and I'll be glad to help answering them! And thanks for the compliment.

I'm pleased to know that there are readers following this story, even though I'm pretty much making it up as I go. And I'm glad you all have a pretty good understanding of it now. If there has been any confusion, I hope it's been clear for you so far.

As for this chapter, this one is all about Sam. I did mention at the end of chapter 2, you'll learn of his relevance in how he bacame Casey's dream analyst and here it is in "Missed." Keep reviewing and you'll get another chapter called "Homecoming" a.k.a. Chapter 5.

Enjoy~

X.X. Annie

Sam Richards flipped through the case file labeled “McDonald, C.” and glanced at the contents. There was a chart, along with a picture of Casey and pages of notes. He wanted to try to get a clue as to why her nightmares kept coming back. He scanned the notes to find what he was looking for. It was there. Under “Trauma/Injuries.”

“Patient, 25. Car crash with additional passengers, nearly fatal. Passengers claimed to be family members. Driver, Patient, suffered head injuries and a short case of amnesia.”

He shook his head slightly. Why hadn’t Derek told him? They had been best friends after all. The accident had happened well over five years ago. He could understand why Casey hadn’t brought up the accident herself to him…they had a history long before they went their separate ways. He could see why that might have been tough for him.

Sam looked at the picture of Casey. She looked young, vibrant, and full of hopes and dreams. And here she was now, making appointments with Sam to interpret her dreams. At least Sam didn’t mind. He was grateful that she didn’t make a big deal of him being her doctor and getting to really know her. Sometimes he wondered if this profession was really the smartest choice he ever made.

Sam could recall the times in high school where Derek would need his help, asking him about what to do about girls, about the band they once had, about bullies. Sam had always been interested in helping other people and wanted to reach out to them when they needed him. That’s how he got into Psychology.

When he was 18, he went off to college in the States, five years of studying to get his Ph.D., and an extra two years of training. And here he was at the age of 30, being a psychologist to the girl he had always loved.

Life was complicated sometimes.

But not complicated enough to make him forget why he took on Casey McDonald’s case anyway.

He looked through more notes. “Casey McDonald, 29. Claims she’s having nightmares about her own death. Dramatization of the accident four years ago with her family, perhaps? Why is it suddenly haunting her now?”

Oh, Casey. I really do want to help you. But you have to fill out that dream journal. Can you do that for me?

After they broke up towards the end of their sophomore year, he really did miss her. Then she dated the football captain, Max, and the playboy Truman French. He hadn’t always agreed with her about her taste in guys, but he had always wanted to see her happy.

“Casey’s nightmares are more vivid each night than the nights before. They start off in a haze, and she almost never wants to wake up.”

“Patient claims that she watches the movie of her life in her dream. Looking into it. Her stepbrother, D. Venturi, appears on the screen, and appears to reach out and grab her.”

“She’s transported into different rooms of her family’s house. First the living room and then the kitchen.”

“Hasn’t interacted with the family members that she sees.”

“There’s no sign of her younger stepsister.”

Now what could that mean? Sam reread that last note. Maybe Casey’s not dreaming about her own death. Did she dream about Marti’s once?

He continued.

“Movie of her life disappears before she can hold onto Derek.”

Was she afraid?

And then he saw the note that he wrote himself: “Patient claims that Lizzie and Edwin were talking about Derek’s feelings towards her. She vanishes to the kitchen. She hears Nora and George talking. Derek comes down the stairs and the dream disappears. She woke up crying on my couch in my office.”

Maybe during their next session, they could talk about her feelings. Just because he was interpreting her dreams didn’t mean they couldn’t talk about her feelings too, right?

Maybe I’ll have her talk about the accident to try to figure out what’s wrong with her.

But that was the only thing he didn’t want to do. But yet he had to if he was going to save her from going insane.

He had missed Casey. He missed her smile, her laugh. Her everything. The last thing he needed was her to be scared and confused for the rest of her life.

He’d regret it for the rest of his life. He had to save Casey. He just had to.

Alright, I admit it. That was a pretty short chapter. And it's pretty OOC for Sam, but...I had to do it. Maybe this chapter will clear up anything else you're concerned about? So...thoughts? Liked/loved/disliked/loathed this chapter?

As always, I'll respond to your reviews! Happy reading!

X.X. Annie