Page 123 of Rise Above

dripped from her voice. “My day was weird as hell, thanks for asking.”

“I’m sorry, darling. I didn’t mean to skip over all

the formalities. The thing I need to ask has been pressing on my mind for hours now.” I ran a hand through my hair, frustration making my teeth grind.

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Pulling a hand through my hair again, I sighed.

“Tell me about your day.”

“You know I’m fucking with you. Ask your

question, silly man.” She sounded better than she had yesterday.

“Can trauma stay in your body? Like I know about

PTSD, but like my body feels weird. Ever since I hurt my wrist, I’ve felt off.”

“Mentally or physically?” Aife asked, easily

slipping into social work mode.

“Mentally.”

“Trauma does stay in the body. There’s a book on it

actually, called The Body Keeps the Score. It’s all about how trauma stays in our bodies. In cases of PTSD, people who have a tendency to disassociate, disconnect from their bodies. It’s usually due to pain, but anything can make you disassociate.

“When we shut off from our bodies, we stop

listening to what they need. This can often lead to ignoring pain. Some people can totally shut off communication with their bodies, and they wind up spending all their time in their logical brain. You can stop feeling. It’s a dangerous slope.”

Blinking, I thought over her words. Is that how she

felt? Was Aife disconnected from her body? I didn’t feel disconnected; I felt most at home being in my body.

“How can you tell you’re disconnected?”

“Is something wrong, Talon?” Her voice was

strained, almost pleading.

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A large sigh escaped me. She already knew me

better than Davis or Zeke. They didn’t even know where I was at. Truth be told, I wasn’t even sure how to verbalize how I was feeling. Sometimes, I felt just fine, but there were other times I felt completely unstable. I’d never once been afraid to play hockey, but now that fear was in the back of my mind.

“I just feel off,” I said.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Aife sounded so

sweet, so caring. She always gave so much of herself to others. Did anyone ever replenish her cup?