Sleep Disorders by Mark Lukens

Author:Mark Lukens [Lukens, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“You want to hypnotize me?” I asked Alicia.

“Well, not exactly. It would be a slight hypnotic state. I just want to try. It might not even work.”

I didn’t say anything, thinking her request over.

“I want to see if it can be done,” she added quickly. “Perhaps rule it out. I’d like to see how suggestible you are.”

Obviously pretty suggestible, I thought, or at least Alicia seemed to think I might be. “Okay,” I said. What did I have to lose?

“You don’t have to be nervous,” she said.

“What if it doesn’t work?”

She smiled and shrugged just a little. “Then it doesn’t. No pressure. Like I said, at least it’s something we can rule out.”

Alicia looked relaxed and confident, but I couldn’t help feeling that it was all an act. I could sense something just behind her façade; I just couldn’t tell if it was excitement or fear.

“Okay,” I said.

“I want to record this,” Alicia said. “Is that okay with you?”

I nodded, giving my consent.

“I just want to have this session on video so you can see it,” she told me. “You can keep the video.”

Stan was already getting his video camera turned on, holding it up to his eye so he could move around while filming.

“Just go ahead and sit back in the chair,” Alicia told me, her voice already a little lower and softer, but there was also just the hint of a sharper tone.

I sat back in my chair, getting comfortable. I didn’t know why I was so nervous. I’d never had surgery before, but this was what I suspected that apprehension might feel like right after I was given the knockout drug or a breathing mask was placed over my face, that helpless feeling of surrendering my mind and body over to someone else, trusting them to take care of me while I was in my most vulnerable state.

“Most likely nothing will happen,” Alicia assured me. “This is just like a test run. And we’ll show you everything we filmed when it’s over.”

Her words were comforting, her tone relaxing. I wondered if this was the way she’d been trained to talk to a patient, or if it just came naturally to some people.

I reclined my chair back and put my feet up even though I still had my sneakers on. Alicia sat on the couch across from me. Stan was on his feet filming. Everything around us was quiet.

“Zach, I just want you to relax.”

I nodded.

“Go ahead and close your eyes and relax. You’re safe now. No one will hurt you. No one can hurt you. Okay?”

I nodded and closed my eyes.

“Zach, I want you to take a deep breath for me. Okay? And then hold that breath for three seconds and then let it out.”

I did as she instructed. And soon she had me breathing deeply and slowly, but not an exaggerated breathing pattern. It became like my normal rhythm of breathing.

“I want you to imagine you’re in a swimming pool on a warm, sunny day. No one else is around and you’re completely safe.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.