Brave Face

    Lexie sank to her knees in the bathroom stall. She felt herself trembling. The woman shook her head to herself.

    I can't do this, she thought. Many times today she thought about pulling out of this trial and going back to Japan. It would be so much easier than digging up the past. Lexie pulled her knees up to her chest. She did little to stop the tears from coming.

    "+What's the matter?+" someone asked in the stall next to her. Lexie lifted her head.

    "+I'm scared!+" she whimpered out.

    "+Why?+" the person asked her. Lexie sniffled back a snob.

    "+I'm a witness for this trial,+" she said.

    "+Let me guess, you're the victim in this case,+" the stranger said.

    Lexie shook her head. "+My friends were. I only escaped by hiding in a bathroom stall like I am now.+"

    "+Wait, you were the girl in that mental hospital massacre!+"

    "+Yes!+"

    "+I'm sorry to hear that. Are you okay?+"

    Lexie shook her head. "+Not really. I have DID.+"

    "+DID?+"

    "+Dissociative Identity Disorder.+"

    "+Oh. How many personalities?+"

    "+Seventeen.+"

    "+Whoa!+"

    Lexie pressed her lip together and nodded. "+Yeah...+"

    "+So, why are you here? To testify, I mean.+"

    The woman shut her eyes tightly. "+I just want some closure for myself, but now...+" She bit her lower lip. "+Now, I just don't think that I can go through with this now.+"

    "+If not now, when?+"

    Lexie looked up at that question. "+Huh?+"

    "+How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?+"

    "+Twenty-five, why?+"

    "+Do you think you can out run this problem you have any longer?+"

    "+No...+"

    "+You can't keep on running from things. It's better to confront them as fast as you can, you know?+"

    "+I guess... Hey.+"

    "+Yeah?+"

    "+Can you stay with me a little bit longer, at least until I calm my nerves?+"

    "+Sure.+"

    Lexie smiled to herself through dried tears. "+Thanks.+"

    "+Anytime.+"