Humans Don't Make Good Familiars- Part 70

It was time. Suma and I had discussed it before today. I sat in the therapist’s office building waiting to be called back for my appointment. I had let her know that I was bringing Suma to see her, but obviously that was a small lie. Suma was still having issues with what happened that day in the alley, and I figured that the stress from our upcoming decision might be a lot for her to handle, so I talked to her and she agreed. We would be summoning the doctor to see her.

“Jake, the doctor is ready for you.” The receptionist announced.

“Thank you,” I said and walked to her office. We had had several meetings since that first time after the attack in the alley, so I didn’t need to be led to her office anymore. I Knocked on the door and walked in. “Hey Dr. Maxwell,” I said.

“Hello Jake, how have you been?” She asked smiling.

“I’ve been good, been getting lots of exercise and stuff.” I told her and sat on the couch. I had been preparing for this for a while now, planning what I was going to say, and how to say it.

“So, what’s new?” She asked and took a seat in the chair opposite of me.

“Well actually, do you remember my friend I told you about? The one who was with me in the alley? Suma.” I asked.

“I do,” she said, “why?”

“She wants to talk to you, she has been dealing with a lot of stress lately, and recently she and I were both offered a pretty major decision that we need to make. I thought it would be a good idea for her to talk with a professional about it, so I reminded her of your offer.” I explained.

“Ah, well I’m happy to see her whenever she needs.” Dr. Maxwell said.

“That’s great, because she wants to see you now.” I said. This was the part I was dreading; this was the part that would make me look crazy.

“Like right now? Is she here?” The doctor wondered.

“In… a manner of speaking, yes.” I took a deep breath and began my pre-rehearsed speech. “Okay, so this is going to make me sound crazy, but in order for you to see her we need to hold hands for a few seconds. Suma is actually a magic user from another world and she is also a tiny bird person from a race called Neame. In order to get to her we hold hands then I will contact her and she will summon me, then we will be transported to her world. From there she will induce a mind link and show you some of her memories and that will allow you to understand her.” I gasped deeply to regain my breath after that long explanation, and waited for her response.

After a few moments of silence, she finally answered, “Okay.” I was stunned, I couldn’t believe it was that easy.

“You.. you believe me?” I asked doubtful.

“No, but I do believe that letting you try will help break your delusion and then we can treat the underlying problem. Honestly I can’t believe I didn’t realize how precarious your mental state was. So, if letting you hold my hand for a moment is what it is going to take for you to start healing, then I am willing to entertain you for a few moments.” She said. Honestly, I couldn’t blame her, but at least she would let me try.

“Thank you,” I said. “Suma, you can summon us now.” I announced after I held the doctor’s hand. “Now doc, don’t freak out when your arms and legs start to vanish, okay.”

“Oh, I won’t.” She reassured me. A second later her feet had already been fully transported, and so had the top of her head. She looked horrified, probably because she was seeing it happen to me, just as I was watching it happen to her. Needless to say, she panicked.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Suma, you can summon us now.” Jake announced. I had only been waiting on his signal for a short time, but it felt like ages. I immediately began the summoning, and as soon as it was completed and they arrived, my ears were filled with the sounds of distressed shrieking. I couldn’t understand what the person was saying, but they seemed upset. Jake tried hard to calm the woman down though. “I told you what would happen.” The woman gave some kind of response, a rather loud one at that. “Yes but you can’t say I lied, or that I didn’t make it clear.” There was a moment of silence as the two stared at one another. “So, this is Suma.” Jake said gesturing at me.

“Hello,” I greeted, but then remembered she wouldn’t be able to understand me either yet. I went ahead and started sharing my memories, so that we would be able to understand each other. She seemed surprised, and began saying something again.

“I told you remember, she would share some memories so that you would be able to understand her language. Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt.” Jake tried to reassure her, it seemed to help, however slightly.

“Done,” I said. I had showed her all the way up to just after I was released from the interrogation room, that way she would understand how everything happened. Jake had suggested the idea.

“That bird… talks.”