Iris and Kiera - Patients
Iris sat in the lounge with Mrs Grace, waiting for her to fully absorb what she'd been told. The young mother was at her wit's end with her son, a particularly twitchy and irritable boy of twelve who was rapidly approaching expulsion for his behaviour. They'd been in and out of doctors for months with no progress until they decided to try Iris out of desperation.
When Iris met the boy, she found someone who was on guard and ready to jump at the slightest twitch. He was unwilling to talk to her at first, so Iris had let them sit in silence until he was ready. She never forced her patients to talk to her. Lord knows doctors tried that with her for years to no success.
Once he had accepted that he had control of the situation, he started opening up. It hadn't taken long to find the reason for his behaviour. His teachers regularly antagonized him and struck him, and so he hated any situation where he was at the mercy of adults.
Connecting with the boy was the easy part. Convincing his mother without her going into denial or going into a doom-spiral about her capabilities as a parent was the hard part. She always gave the parents a written report and let them read it themselves. Now they were simply sat in her lounge with coffee while she processed everything.
"I... I didn't realize..." she finally said. "I thought he was just... being difficult."
Iris scribbled something on a handheld whiteboard and handed it to her.
Children are never just difficult. There's always a reason for it. It's just a matter of their guardians believing it's worth taking seriously.
Mrs Grace sighed in defeat as she looked at the board. "He always said his teachers were out to get him. I thought... that's what kids always say, right?"
Iris took the whiteboard and wrote again before handing it back.
If it's what they sincerely believe, it's worth looking into. Better to investigate and turn up nothing than ignore it.
Mrs Grace felt her heart shatter at reading those words. All this time her son was being hurt, and she just wouldn't listen. "...Thank you, Dr Morgan."
Iris patted her hand reassuringly.
"...Do you have children?"
Iris hastily scribbled and flipped the board around.
I have a niece. My sisters and I would be appalled if this was how she was being treated in school.
That message made something shift in Mrs Grace's eyes. She frowned, and stood up. "So am I," she said, more confidently this time. "So am I! I'm going to get to the bottom of this! Thank you Dr Morgan. You have a lovely day."
Iris smiled and waved as Mrs Grace left her office. Once the door closed she silently sighed and set the board down, picking her coffee back up and taking an indulgent sip.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she smiled immediately when she saw a text from Kiera.
"Look at what Melissa did!"
Attached was a photo of her niece with a big, tooth-missing grin on her face, sitting beside a hexapod. From the looks of it, she'd put it together herself.
Iris smiled and tapped away at her phone, sending a brief response to Kiera.
"


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