Flashback by Steven Henry

Author:Steven Henry [Henry, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Clickworks Press
Published: 2020-10-06T00:00:00+00:00

Doctor Evans was in his office at the precinct when Erin knocked on his door just before eight AM. His posted hours were nine to five, and by appointment, so she hadn’t known if he’d be in yet.

“Come in,” he said. She opened the door and found the police psychiatrist reading a file and making notes. He took off his reading glasses and tucked them into the breast pocket of his shirt.

“Hey, Doc,” she said. “Got a minute?”

“Of course, Erin. My first appointment isn’t for an hour and a half. If you want to get the door and have a seat, I’ll be right with you.”

He made it a point to know the names of every cop in the precinct, and to address them by first name. Erin had only spoken with him a couple of times, but he’d been pretty approachable. She sat down on his couch, so much comfier than the one in the Major Crimes break room. Rolf sat at one end of the couch, upright and alert.

Evans put away his paperwork and came around his desk, sitting in the armchair opposite her. He was a very everyday sort of guy, gray-haired, long-faced, pleasant but serious. He nodded toward Rolf.

“I see you’ve still got your K-9 with you. How’s the partnership going?”

“Great,” she said. “Rolf’s great. Best partner I ever had.”

Rolf gave Evans a look that suggested he might, indeed, be the best partner in the whole NYPD.

“You’re in early,” Evans said. “What’s on your mind?”

“I had some questions about PTSD.”

“Fire away.”

“It’s not about me,” she said quickly. “It’s about a suspect in a case.”

“Okay,” Evans said evenly. “You know, Erin, I’m not a profiler. I’m not one of those guys who can magically describe the guy you’re looking for, based solely on his psychoses.”

She smiled. “That’s not what I need. I just need to understand how his mind might be working.”

“Okay,” he said again. “I’ll do what I can to help.”

“How does PTSD work?”

He laughed. “That’s a question that would take more time than we’ve got. It’s a complicated condition, and manifests differently in different cases. Each case is more or less unique, and it’s very common and widespread. In fact, some people say they shouldn’t call it a disorder at all. They say we should rename it Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome.”

She nodded, thinking of what Ian had said about everyone fighting their own separate war. “Right. But what are the usual indicators?”

“Anxiety, nightmares, and flashbacks are common,” Evans said. “The effects can start soon after the triggering event, or may not show up for months, or even years. There’s a whole encyclopedia of potential effects.”

“Is someone with PTSD dangerous?”

“To whom?”

“To other people.”

“They can be. But they’re more likely to be a danger to themselves. Self-destructive behavior is very common, particularly substance abuse and suicidal thoughts or actions. When we experience a serious trauma, something outside our normal frame of reference, our brains have trouble processing it. We often feel guilty for having witnessed something bad happening, because we feel we should have somehow been able to prevent it.

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