The next thing Emily knew, she was sitting in a small office in downtown New York City. It was morning, which meant by no small feat, she'd made it through another night.

She covered her mouth with her hand, supressing a yawn as she leaned back into the uncomfortable waiting room chair and closed her eyes. A failed attempt to stifle yet another yawn caused Nick to reach over from where he'd been reading a magazine beside her and place his hand gently on her knee.

"Tired?" He asked.

Dumb question.

He gave her a concerned glance out of the corner of his eye. She knew she must look like crap.

"Little bit," she lied, pulling a magazine from the table beside her and pretending to flip through the pages. She was, in fact, utterly exhausted.

"You didn't have any dreams last night?" He asked, still giving her a sideways glance. Funny how the whole car ride there that morning he hadn't spoken a word, and now, now in the waiting room when all she wanted to do was sit in peace... he wanted to talk.

She shook her head, "Nope."

Although she failed to mention the reason for this... that it's a bit difficult to have a nightmare when you simply don't sleep at all.

In the back of her mind she was certain this appointment wouldn't last long. That it would be a casual greeting and a momentary 'what's going on in your life', kind of thing. And she would play the part and answer the questions and then she could leave. It wouldn't last long and when it was over she would have Nick take her back to the hotel and drop her off before he went to his meeting with the guys. Then she could sleep in peace... or rather, at least, she could suffer through her nightmares alone.

"That's good," he responded.

"Mmm hmm," not really in the mood for conversation, Emily fixed her gaze upon the National Geographic she had laid across her lap. An article about killer sharks and giant squids. Fun. At least he took the hint and thankfully returned to his own reading.

"Emily Hughes," she heard a woman's voice call out from the desk across the room. She'd only given them the first half of her last name in the hopes of not drawing too much unecessary attention to herself and her brother. It seemed she didn't really need to worry though... the waiting room was all but empty, the only other patient, an elderly man who could probably have cared less about a Backstreet Boy and his little sister.

Emly lifted her head and nodded in the woman's direction, "that would be me," she said smiling slightly and trying to perk up just a little.

"Dr. Campbell will see you now."

Emily took a deep breath and got uneasily to her feet. 'Here we go,' she thought, jumping a little when she felt Nick reach out and touch her hand from behind. She was always jumpy like that.

"Sorry," he whispered as she turned to face him, "I just wanted to tell you that I'll be right out here the whole time." He gave her a reassuring smile and she tried her best to smile back. "I love you Em," he said as she let go of his hand and walked nervously across the lobby.

She followed the receptionist down a narrow hallway to another door. The woman opened the door into a large office and ushered her inside.

"Good morning," another young woman, this one wearing a nice suit and a white doctor's jacket, said as she walked across the room and extended her hand in greeting, "You must be Emily."

Emily nodded, extending her own hand in return before the doctor continued, "I'm Dr. Campbell."

She motioned for Emily to have a seat as she took her chart from the receptionist and closed the door. While she was doing this, Emily took a moment to look around. Her office was really nice... like the offices you saw in movies, but never really believed existed. Well apparently they did. The walls were lined with bookshelves filled with encyclopedias that no doubt contained all sorts of information about medicine and psychology and the wall behind her desk was covered with frames that showcased her many diplomas and certificates. She definitely seemed qualified enough.

Dr. Campbell took a seat behind her large desk, Emily sat across from her on a comfortable plush office chair. She was trying as hard as she could to relax. Trying as hard as she could to convince herself that she could do whatever it took to get through this.

"So..." Dr. Campbell began, and Emily found herself growing concerned that the generic questions would begin. That she would have to answer something like, "What brings you here today?" or, "What seems to be the problem?"... those questions that doctors always asked. Questions most people could answer... but not her. Not this time.

Instead Dr. Campbell leaned forward in her chair and rested her hands on her desk, "your brother tells me you've been having nightmares?"

Emily sighed, grateful to Nick for at least providing her with a starting point. "I... well I guess you could say that." She hesitated in her answer. She felt weird talking about this stuff to a perfect stranger. Hell, she felt weird talking about this stuff to the people she loved most.

But she knew it was time to get it out.

"Okay," Dr. Campbell continued, "tell me about the them. About these nightmares."

Emily leaned back in her chair and breathed deeply. There went any hope of a quick "hello, how ya doing?" There went any ideas she'd had of a quick meeting and heading back to the hotel for a nap. This doctor meant business.

"Tell me about your nightmares."

This could take awhile.