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Scott sat in a chair across from the psychiatrist. It had been over a month since he was rescued from being a prisoner of war, and while he appreciated everything the mental health ward was doing to aide his recovery, Scott really just wanted to go home where he could see his family in person outside of visiting hours.
“Scott?” The therapist looked over his glasses.
Oh shit, he must have missed a question.
The therapist cleared his throat. “As I was saying, we’re almost ready to send you home as an outpatient, but it can be helpful to have an activity to fall back on when things start to become overwhelming.” The therapist handed Scott a canvas bag.
Scott frowned in puzzlement, opening the bag to find some balls of yarn and knitting needles. “Knitting?” Scott looked up at him somewhat sceptically, a frown on his face.
“The repetitive motion and concentration of working on a pattern has been shown to help with PTSD.”
Scott just nodded. Once he was home, the therapist wouldn’t even know if he threw away the knitting supplies.
“I’ve sent the instructions for a simple scarf to your email. I want you to try working on that for the afternoon and show me what you’ve made in tomorrow’s session.”
Scott suppressed a groan, but he really did want to get home so nodded again in assent. At this stage he was willing to do pretty much anything to be discharged.
Back in his room, Scott set down the knitting materials on the small table and moved a guest chair beside it next to the window overlooking a reasonably maintained tropical garden.
The instructions weren’t too difficult to decipher, the video guiding him stitch by stitch as he cast on the bright orange wool and began a few rows.
There was a knock on the door and Scott jumped, before recovering his composure.
A nurse brought in a tray of food and Scott looked at the time. Dinner already? He thanked her and set the knitting down just long enough to eat before continuing to add to the rows while a tv series that he’d seen a million times before played on the holoprojector.
It was while waiting to see the therapist the next morning that Scott finished casting off the last stitches, allowing the receptionist to cut away the rest of the yarn, and holding the long orange scarf up to the light to inspect it. The stitches were a little uneven in places, but overall he thought it was pretty good for a first attempt. He wound it around his neck proudly.
The therapist smiled, complementing his efforts and following up on the previous day’s session. “Mr Tracy, we’ve decided to allow you to go home. Your brother… John… is due to arrive in 10 minutes. However, you are always welcome to check back in should things become too much…”
Scott smiled for the first time since he’d been admitted, thanking the therapist and almost running back to his room to pack. He was throwing the last of his possessions into a duffel bag as he was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Scott turned to see John, all 6 foot of him, standing in the doorway.
Scott couldn’t help himself as he wrapped John in a tight hug, which John returned with a fond smile. “Are you ready to go?”
“Am I ever!” Scott stepped back, looking lighter than he had for the duration of his stay.
John walked across the room and slung the duffel bag over his shoulder.
Scott wrapped an arm around John’s shoulders on their way out, using his other hand to unwrap the scarf from his own neck and drape it around John’s instead. “It suits you.”
John merely smiled back and ruffled Scott’s hair.
”Maybe we can stop by a craft store on the way home to get some yarn in different colours?” Scott looked at him hopefully.
”I’m sure we can manage that,” John set the duffel bag in the waiting car and looped the scarf properly so it wouldn’t fall off.