Chapter Text
Griffin paused and looked at the office he had come to. The office only had a single sign up and it said, "Dr. Thornton." It made the place seem not as successful as he had hoped.
Griffin had told his friend, Quintavius, that he had problems with snoring and that was part of why he had never had a girlfriend before. Quintavius had tried to explain to Griffin that snoring was less of a deal breaker than he thought, but it had become a mental block that Griffin could not overcome.
Quintavius felt for his friend, so he suggested a doctor he knew, the doctor whose office Griffin had just arrived at, Dr. Thornton.
"Now, I am going to let you know his deal before you go in", Quintavius had told Griffin. "I went into his office blind, so I did not know he was a hypnotist."
"A hypnotist?" Griffin asked, surprised that Quintavius would suggest one.
"I know, I know", Quintavius explained. "I was just as skeptical as you are now, maybe more so in fact. However," Quintavius paused and shook his head. "I could not sleep at all until I went to see him last month. Since then, I have sleeping fantastically."
"Are you sure?" Griffin asked.
"Yeah, I am, and if you need to get rid of your snoring before you can get out and try to meet people, I suggest you try this. I mean, what is the worst that can happen? Dr. Thornton even has a money back guarantee."
"I guess." Griffin agreed, resigned to at least try this crazy idea.
Now Griffin was standing before the door to the office. He sighed, then entered the office and looked around. There was a patient waiting in the waiting room already, and a cute receptionist at the front desk. Griffin, feeling self-conscious, walked up to the receptionist and tried to smile. She looked up at him and Griffin read her name tag, Harris Wise.
"Hello, can I help you?" She asked.
"Um, Ms. Wise, I, um, I have an appointment. My name is Griffin Dotson." Griffin answered back.
"Oh, okay, let me find it." She said, looking at her computer screen. "Yes, here we are, you are a bit early, but you can go wait and the doctor will see you when he is ready."
Griffin had thought to check if Dr. Thornton was on the up and up with the receptionist, but he was too cowardly to do so. He instead went to sit down. He grabbed a National Geographic and started to read about the Hoover Dam.
The person who had been at the office before was met by who Griffin assumed was Dr. Thornton. Griffin took him in, and he looked like a normal doctor. Griffin still had questions about if hypnotism really worked, but he was glad the doctor was not a man with a thin mustache with a black top hat on. Griffin then went ahead and read the next article in the National Geographic, this one on Mount St. Helen's eruption and the recovery of nature after it.
Eventually, Dr. Thornton came out and approached Griffin. "Mr. Dotson it is good to see you." He said, putting his hand out to shake Griffin's. Griffin met Dr. Thornton's handshake and walked with him, with Dr. Thornton leading the way. "So, what is the problem?" Dr. Thornton asked.
While walking, Griffin explained. "I snore, really badly. I was told this by my brother growing up. We had to share a room; you see. He moved out and has told me, on more than one occasion, how much better his sleep is, without me around. I feel horrible every time I hear him say that, and I don't really let people into my life, because of that."
Dr. Thornton tried not to judge his patients since they came to him for help, but this seemed to be a more psychological problem than what he normally dealt with. Dr. Thornton led Griffin into an empty room and told him to sit down.
Dr. Thornton smiled and looked at Griffin. "Did the person who suggested me to you tell you what I do?"
Griffin chuckled to himself. "Yeah, he told me you were a hypnotist."
"And you believed him?" Dr. Thornton asked back, surprised, most of the time his patients came in without any idea what he did was hypnosis.
"I mean, it sounds silly, but I trust him. I don't think he would lie to me about this, and he seemed to be worried about me. I mean, we knew each other in college, and I never even crashed in his dorm, or allowed him to crash in mine because of this."
"I see. I normally have to do an explanation of how I use hypnosis, so I have to admit, it is a little nice to skip that part." Dr. Thornton smiled. "So, you just want to stop snoring?"
"Yeah, I imagine if I get rid of that, I might be able to move on and get more active." Griffin answered back.
"I imagine your friend told you to be free tomorrow?" Dr. Thornton asked.
"Yeah, he told me you keep patients overnight, so I am free for the rest of today and tomorrow." Griffin responded.
"Then let us get started." Dr. Thornton said, while reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pocket-watch. Griffin snickered a bit, then covered his mouth.
"I'm sorry." Griffin apologized.
"It's okay." Dr. Thornton nodded his head, then began. He swung the pocket-watch back and forth and started to speak. "Just listen to the ticking of the watch and follow the swaying of the watch." The way Dr. Thornton spoke had a rhythm to it, that nearly matched the ticking of the watch that Griffin could hear.
"Follow the watch with your eyes as it moves left, then right, left, then right." Griffin did as he was told and followed the watch, slightly yawning as he did so.
"As you follow the watch and listen to the ticking, you will get tired, until you are on the verge of falling asleep, but you will not fall asleep, you will instead listen. Do you understand?"
"I understand", Griffin answered back, his head starting to drop, while his eyes, slowly closing, continued to follow the watch.
Dr. Thornton watched as Griffin approached the edge of sleep but stopped. Griffin was barely moving, his breathing slight, but he was still conscious. "Before you fall asleep, I want you to listen to what I am about to say.
You are about to fall asleep. When you have slept before, you have snored. It came naturally to you to snore when you sleep. That is not true anymore, you will no longer snore when you sleep. Snoring is now impossible for you when you sleep."
Dr. Thornton then stood up, ready to lead Griffin to a bed in a corner of the room. "When you wake up you will speak to the receptionist and ask if you snored or not. The room you are in will be recording your sleep."
Dr. Thornton then grabbed Griffin's hand with his own free hand. "I will now lead you to a bed, please come with me." Dr. Thornton led Quintavius to a bed in the corner of the room the pair were in and slowly led him to laying down. "When I count to three you will sleep and not snore. 1-2-3."
Dr. Thornton was leaving the room, but before Dr. Thornton left, he turned around and looked at Griffin, feeling a bit sorry for him. "Have a nice dream." He said, before closing the door.