Doctor Snapell watched as Marshall yawned, he watched as his patient stayed quiet with the except for the odd yawn.

"Have you seen Larna lately?" Doctor Snapell questioned.

Marshall quickly dropped his gaze to the floor.

Doctor Snapell took that as a no. He was trying but he knew with Marshall, it would be an interesting one sided conversation, it would always be an interesting one sided conversation.

"Would you like me to show you Larna's photo, hope that it might jog something?"

Marshall slowly lifted his eyes up to Doctor Snapell "Photos aren't the same." He sighed.

Doctor Snapell wasn't sure how to take that answer, he just allowed himself to let the words soak in the room.

"Have you tried writing?"

Marshall let his breath escape through his nose.

"You could write to Larna."

"Doc, you know she's dead. So what's the point of writing to a dead person?" Marshall's face froze with realisation.

"Do you know how she died, Marshall?"

Marshall shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Would you like me to tell you?"

Marshall fidgeted with his hands as he struggled to find a comfortable position in his seat.

"Marshall, you've been coming to see me since you were sixteen. I've known you well enough to know your signs. I know that Larna would always sit outside this office and wait for you, while you and I talked. I would trust her to help you with your medication. I know that's why you won't talk to me because you know she's not outside." Doctor Snapell just allowed his words to escape his mouth.

Marshall swallowed hard.

"I know the day she left; it was the hardest thing for you to understand. I know you ran into here interrupting another patient without a care. You broke down as if she had died." Doctor Snapell watched his patient "Than she did die, and you just shut down. You never told me how, you never told me when. It wasn't until her name and face was in the papers that I put the two and two together."

Marshall stopped fidgeting.

"I know the nurses that have come and gone from your home aren't Larna, I know that you reacted to them just as much as you've reacted to me in the past year. I know Reg is the first person that you've talked to since Larna died."

Marshall stopped moving in his seat, his chest slowly heaved with each breath.

"Larna was only twenty-eight when she died. Your thirty now."

Marshall held his tongue, he wanted to know what point Doctor Snapell was trying to prove.

"I have never pushed you to move on from Larna, I've allowed you to just continue this." Whatever this was, Doctor Snapell knew better than to force any patient out of their grief. "I will continue to allow you to just do this until your ready. I hope that you allow Reg to stay on, even if you chose to no longer talk to him."

"I talk to Reginald." Marshall mumbled.

Doctor Snapell nodded for a moment.

"Larna was my everything, you know that. I can't just forget her like she was just another face on this planet."

Doctor Snapell remained silent.

"We were there for each other when her parents kicked her out, we were there for each other when we had no one else. We didn't leave each other's side. My bed is still untouched on her side. I know that she liked girls. I know that she hated her parents. I know that she wanted to find love. I know that she was scared to be heartbroken. I know that she wanted to live a life that I couldn't." Marshall could hear the tone in his voice start to change "I may have used Larna as my rock, but I was hers as well." Marshall took a breath "Larna was planning to leave that night, she said she was going overseas. It was supposed to be an exciting opportunity for her. She said that she hoped that she could take me once she had gotten settled." Marshall took a deep breath before slowly releasing it.

Doctor Snapell had no reason to interrupt Marshall as he watched his patient come to his thoughts.