Following a heart-to-heart discussion of the problems in their work environments, two brothers agree to a therapy session and meet with a doctor who is completely sympathetic to them.

Brotherly Therapy

For Taurus and his brother, Boeuf, both bulls were doing fine in their respective workplaces - Taurus being a firefighter and Boeuf being a lifeguard. However, the two brothers later began to realize and acknowledge that their jobs were beginning to take their toll on them - both physically and mentally. But it's not just on the job that problems arise. Sometimes, it's the personal lives too.

One particular morning, Taurus and Boeuf are both waking up when they discover they're literally locking horns with each other. They both end up screaming for a short period of time until the shock wears off. After separating and unlocking their horns from each other, Boeuf turns bright red, “This is stupidly awkward! How did we even get like that in the first place!?”

Taurus throws his arms up, still flabbergasted by what just happened. Still, he brings up one little detail, “Probably another nightmare that one of us was having. I can barely remember what it was about.”

“You too, bro? I thought I was the only one.” Boeuf whispered.

The younger bull scoffs and blows away part of his hair. “Boeuf, you don't see as much drama as a lifeguard than when you're a firefighter. Technically, you have a better job than I do.”

Boeuf waves him off in dismissal. Disgusted, the older bull remarks, “Bah! You got nothin’ on drowning. At least you don't have to face that fear.”

This time, Taurus stares at Boeuf with a blank expression. Heaving a sigh, Taurus speaks again, “Clearly, you don't understand what it takes to be a firefighter, or the stuff you gotta deal with on the job. If it's not accidents or people in danger, it's your own life in danger.”

Boeuf blinks at his brother and gasps, “How could anyone want to kill a handsome stud like you?! You and I both know we're too pretty to die!”

The younger bull grumbles, “Try telling that to the psychopaths who shot at us while responding to an evaluation emergency downtown; the meatheads rolling around on drugs don't care either - I'm still haunted by that time I got run over by a maniac in a Chevy Blazer! And he was fleeing from the police too!”

Boeuf's jaw drops, nearly hitting the floor. He scrambles closer to Taurus for pressing, “Hang on, hang on, hang on!! You got hit by a 4×4 on the run from the cops?! How did you not flip that thing over?”

Picture a red throbbing vein on the right side of Taurus’ head. Steam shoots from the younger bull's nostrils where Taurus, now annoyed, growls, “Boeuf, back away or I will slap the life out of you. You expect me to use my bare strength to destroy a fleeing vehicle when it's my own life in danger? Yeah, really nice logic you got there, brother. Really nice.”

Boeuf restrains himself from an incoming giggling fit, though he proclaims, “What can I say? All the girls love me.”

“Is that why you've had so many breakups?” Taurus is still annoyed, though this time his arms are crossed. “Every time I hear of this, I don't have any high hopes for you.”

Boeuf squirms under his brother's stare, though he makes a comeback of his own, “You on the other hand - I don't get it. How come you don't have a lady around your arms? You're pretty hot yourself, so what gives?”

“If you really want an answer,” Taurus grumbled in annoyance, “I'm not interested in dating. Only thing I care about is saving people on and off the job and exercising to stay in shape.”

Boeuf stares at Taurus in disbelief. His eyebrows raise in exasperation where he declares, “Dude, I’m speechless. How are you so attractive and not interested in anyone?”

Taurus just stares at Boeuf blankly and turns to leave, throwing a hand up in dismissal, “You figure that out on your own. I have no comments to make.”

~~~~~

Following a breakfast period between the two brothers, Boeuf suggested they turn to a therapist for help in dealing with their problems. Taurus agreed to the request, claiming, “It’ll be the best way to get some steam out of our systems. Let's just hope we don't end up on medications for it.”

Fortunately, the brothers didn't have to wait long. Setting up an appointment with a therapist came around the time that the brothers had a doctor’s appointment which coincided with each other. Strangely enough, Taurus had no problem with his appointment being on the same day as Boeuf’s, so the pair made the best use of it to acquire a therapist to assist them.

~~~~~

On the day of their appointments, Taurus and Boeuf are seated in the waiting area, equally nervous. But after their little check-ups from General Medicine, the brothers are once again in the waiting area when they begin to occupy themselves with passing the time by - Taurus gazes occasionally at the monitors switching panels ever so often while Boeuf would fix his eyes on the check-in lines. But when he notices a snow leopard doctor coming to meet them, Boeuf nudges Taurus and points the feline out to him.

Upon stopping to meet the two and standing in front of them, the snow leopard doctor introduces himself, “I’m doctor Robby Eriksson and you are Taurus and Boeuf, correct?”

The bull brothers nod consecutively in confirmation when Robby waves for them to follow him. Turning to walk away, Boeuf and Taurus follow him, wondering if he's the specialist assigned to their case. During their journey, Robby leads the two out of the waiting room and into a white marble hallway where he pauses and turns to face them. Respectfully, he admits, “I am not a psychiatrist, but I will try my best to help you guys out. I'm just a regular doctor doing my job. Thing is, I volunteered to step in for you guys since there was no one available for the task so,” the snow leopard throws up his arms in a shrug, smiling nervously, “here I am. Or should I say, here we are.”

Suspicious of the snow leopard, Taurus throws an arm around Boeuf to make sure he doesn't retreat and then the younger bull inquires of Robby, “Are you just a regular doctor or is there something more than you’re letting on?”

Robby reveals, “I’m actually a combat medic for the United States Army - Captain of my own team. And no, I am not a hero. Follow me.”

Picking up on Robby’s disgust at being called a hero, Boeuf implies, “So you hate being labelled as a hero? Doctors, whether regular or elite, deserve more credit than you think.”

“It's not that I hate being called a hero, it's because I'm not into the limelight.” Robby explains while disappearing into a side room. While he directs the brothers inside and to the available seats, the snow leopard elaborates, “I just don't like being in the spotlight or being hounded. Don't get me wrong, I’m appreciative of the commendation, but I am not a comic book superhero.”

Taurus arches an eyebrow at the snow leopard in derision, “While that may be true in a sense, that doesn't mean you should just run away from it. Speaking from personal experience here.”

Robby blinks at Taurus and later clears his throat. With Taurus' words fresh in his mind, Robby arches his head clockwise in question, “What are your professions?”

“I’m a firefighter - my brother is a lifeguard.” Taurus remarked, pointing to himself and to his older brother. A pang of guilt and sympathy hits Robby and festers on his face. The snow leopard doctor doesn't even sit down when he marches up to them and hugs them both, making both bulls stare at him in confusion. This is clearly not what they expected for a therapy session. But before they can break the silence, Robby reveals the reason behind his actions.

“I come from a military family and I have seen and dealt with PTSD before, so I can sympathize with you guys to an extent. I may not know much about what being a firefighter or a lifeguard is all about but I can sympathize with the pressure.” With his statement, Robby explains his background and the possible summary behind the whole visit, linking his experience with that of Taurus and Boeuf. So the snow leopard later gains access to a hospital computer and signs in before grabbing a clipboard and a pen, ready to take notes.

While Taurus casts a pitied glance at the snow leopard, Boeuf nudges him and whispers, “Hey Taurus, what are the odds of this guy drugging us? We gotta keep ourselves sane here!”

Taurus regards Boeuf with a blank stare and reasons, “I’m pretty sure there are other exercises other than pills that can help. We don't need to be on mind-altering meds.”

“So,” The bull brothers turn their attention to the snow leopard before them, sitting poised in the chair with his clipboard and pen, “if you're ready to begin, tell me what's been bothering you guys. Have you been having constant nightmares, dreams, flashbacks, any triggers, stuff like that?”

Boeuf hesitates whereas Taurus turns grim, recalling a recent memory still fresh within him, “There's this one incident, it happened recently; my crew and I were tending to an accident when I got run over by a Chevy Blazer - sicko was more focused on running from the cops at the time rather than what’s ahead him.”

This makes the snow leopard cringe at the mental video playing out in his mind. After taking brief notes, Robby stands up and assesses the younger bull, “Have your injuries healed? Any road rash?”

Taurus removes his shirt and stands up to show a large red bruise on his right side, before turning around to show the rest on his middle right side of his back. The bull explains, “Proof is still visible. This happened about a week ago.”

“And you didn't stay home to recuperate?? Bulls do have thick skin, and I mean it both literally and figuratively.” Robby watches Taurus put his shirt back on when he recalls, “Not sure if what I had was similar but your experience reminds me of when I was on a freeway at an accident scene and a car crashed into us.”

“Was it a pile up?” Taurus whispered, exasperated.

Robby shakes his head. “Nope. Single-car collision. Driver lost control, hit the guardrail, and flipped over. It was a late model Toyota Camry.” The snow leopard then grumbles, “I guess some idiot drivers don't know how to stay away because a yellow pickup truck slammed into me - scratch that, it lost control and ran into me before hitting the guardrail.”

“How in the world did you survive being hit by a skidding pickup? Were you vaulted into the other lanes??” Boeuf questioned, feeling uneasy.

“Long story short, yes. I was on active duty as a medic, and it happened to be raining at the time. Good thing I had my helmet on, otherwise I wouldn't be here.” The snow leopard sweatdrops in anxiety when Taurus stands up to hug him.

“Hey, you’re a survivor and fighter like us. You deserve the credit.” Taurus pats Robby on the shoulder in encouragement which cheers up the melancholic feline. And this is enough to have him move on.

With his utensils ready, Robby moves on to Beouf next, “So Boeuf, have you been experiencing any triggers, nightmares, or anything of that nature?”

Boeuf squirms and shifts his gaze to Taurus, who encourages him to go ahead. After a bit of silence, Boeuf begins to open up, “It was a recent nightmare that both of us had consecutively. Taurus and I were in this burning building trying to escape and evacuate but a mad shooter halted our progress.” A haunted expression claims Boeuf's face where he further recalls, “And in a separate occasion, we were both fighting to get out of a river but we ended up drowning.”

Robby freezes at the nightmarish scenario being described. He whispers in a melancholic tone, “No assistance? No survivors??”

Boeuf shakes his head and reveals, “Nope, just the two of us alone and in distress. And we were in the middle of nowhere.”

“As odd as it sounds, it's not uncommon.” Robby explains the circumstances around the incident in Beouf’s second nightmare and concludes, “Things like that are also preventable, but unexpected too.”

“Just like being shot at from above while trying to put out a fire and evacuate some victims.” Taurus recalled unexpectedly, though he pales and sweatdrops at the recollection. “Fortunately, local police were there but after we survived that, our station began building up its own police force so that nothing of that sort will happen again.”

Listening to this experience makes Robby melancholic where he recalls a similar experience of his own involving someone close to him. “Being shot at is nothing new these days. On a personal level, I can fully relate. My family, especially my dad, have been shot at a lot - sometimes it's attempted robbery or road rage, but other times it's something that you can never prepare for or expect.”

“Boeuf and I can attest to that because we've seen some crazy stuff.” Taurus acknowledged in sympathy. “Not to mention we've been directly or indirectly part of the incidents.”

Boeuf quips, “I've dealt with less than you, Taurus! But you have never experienced a rowdy crowd before!”

Sensing the mood shift in atmosphere, Robby interjects with his own statement, “I'm sure we all have seen and been part of some nasty things. But while we're all survivors, we still need to seek some sort of help to move on.”

“Yeah, you're right.” Taurus frowns in retrospect. He throws an arm around Boeuf in a side hug while resting his head on the older bull's shoulder. He continues, “We're fine physically, but psychologically, we're shattered. And military veterans have it the worst.”

Robby clasps his hands against his face in thought when his ears wiggle to the melody of a familiar tune being hummed by the two brothers. Raising his head to meet them, the snow leopard pinpoints the tune, “I recognize that tune! Is that Destiny's Child you guys are humming?”

“How did you know?” Taurus and Boeuf both appear to be freaked out at being found out. Yet the snow leopard chuckles and remarks, “I recognize Survivor when I hear it. And there's nothing wrong with guys liking women's music, or vice versa. There is no need to be shy either. And I personally like some of Beyoncé's songs myself.”

The two bulls look at each other and back at Robby when Taurus raises up and grumbles, “I'd rather not embarrass myself.”

“And what's so embarrassing about a guy enjoying music by a woman artist?” Robby bluntly, yet politely and questioning, points this out to the two.

“Personal fears of being laughed at and teased…” Taurus seems to deflate in his seat, but Robby's stance is more encouraging where he remarks, “Who cares what others think about your taste in that. Think of receiving a kiss or hug from your mother or grandmother. If others have a problem with it, that's them and their loss, not yours. Hell, I still get teased everytime my mom and wife kiss me on the cheek and I don't care about it.”

Putting his clipboard and pen aside, Robby stands up and marches to the two bulls with outstretched arms, inviting them for an embrace, “Now come on!”

Taurus is the first one in line to be enveloped in the snow leopard’s arms, but the soft purring from Robby and the rubbing he is doing against the younger bull has a calming effect. Boeuf is next, though the older bull is more hesitant. And after the same procedure on the older bull, Robby becomes thoughtful on what advice to give to the brothers.

The snow leopard later suggests, “To relax yourselves, why not invest in a journal or a coloring book - anything that will help you get your thoughts and feelings out. Consider a diary, for example. Those are helpful.”

“Isn't a diary for girls only?” Boeuf questioned, hesitant. Robby only gives him a blank stare and relates, “It's the same as a journal - anyone can have them. So it's not just for women. Men can have them too. And believe me, men deal with the same problems women have when it comes to mental health.”

“This session feels like a long time but I enjoyed it.” When Taurus rises from his seat once more, he begins to hug Robby out of appreciation when the bull starts to squeeze him, turning the snow leopard into his own plushie. Eventually, Robby begins to pale and croak, “Okay, that's enough! Too hard! Too hard!!”

“Sorry…” When Taurus releases the doctor, he is left staggering backwards right into the chair he was sitting in and Robby is left catching his breath after almost being crushed.

After recovering for several minutes, Robby rises from his chair and implies, “No hard feelings, Taurus! I'm affectionate myself but I have never been squeezed so hard to the point where your eyeballs pop out. Still, you're a pretty affectionate guy yourself.”

“Duly noted. Though I can't say the same for Boeuf.” Over his shoulder, Taurus gives his older brother a doubtful glare; the snow leopard doctor giggles at the comment before attempting to schedule their next meeting. “So guys, remember, if you’re feeling down you can come and talk with me about it; for stress relief, you can get a personal journal and write your real thoughts and feelings down or grab a coloring book and have at it. Will next week be good for you guys?”

“Er, this was a dual appointment. Taurus and I usually have separate appointments, so this is gonna be a first for all of us.” Boeuf is conflicted by the possibility of their appointments overlapping together, which happens to be an extremely rare chance. Yet, Robby laughs and assures him, “That can be taken care of easily. Just pick a date and time for your next visit and it'll be done for both of you.”

“Well, we’re usually off on Saturdays, so does Saturday sound good?” Taurus implied.

“Well, the times I have on this timetable are Monday at 8:30 am and Friday at 10:00 am.” Robby reported in return. “No Saturdays.”

“Come to think of it, we can manage.” Taurus assured. Then to Beouf, Taurus suggests, “Hey Boeuf, which do you prefer - Monday or Friday? I can schedule time off for either one.”

“I'll go for Friday since I don't have to come in on that day; so, Friday it is!” Boeuf decided in finality.

“Good, so it's settled then! Friday at 10:00 am! I will see you two next week and add your names to the roster!” Robby finalized.

With the appointment finished, the two sides part ways with the snow leopard doctor leaving the area and the two bull brothers leaving towards the waiting room, making the journey home. With the suggestions made by Robby, Taurus and Boeuf each have a choice to decide on a personal journal or a coloring book, but after this session, the two brothers can just be themselves on and off the job. Depending on how well they take the advice, they can report their progress to their doctor the next time they see him for their second consecutive visit.

~~~~~

Taurus and Boeuf belong to  alexyorim, Robby Eriksson belongs to me!