Never-Born Fosterling Ch16 Snippet

“Come on, kiddo, you’ve got to acknowledge me eventually.”

Reaching over, he gently patted the side of Faulklin’s face, trying to rouse him.

He noted as he did so that there was the subtlest twitch, almost too small to even notice. The boy’s breathing grew shallower and longer between breaths, like he was afraid to even breathe.

Other than that he didn’t react at all.

Mamoru was beginning to realize that no doubt this was one of the kid’s defense mechanisms.

It wasn’t entirely uncommon for some people, especially children, to develop a dissociative disorder after extended abuse, emotionally or mentally disconnecting themselves from their surroundings to cope with the trauma.

Admittedly though, this was the worst case of it he’d yet to see.

Everyone became dissociative at some point in their lives, daydreaming being the most common form, but these were usually minor and relatively insignificant.

For those that suffered more greatly, these could range anywhere from merely becoming apathetic to consciously induced amnesia or repression in order to cope with external stress and threats, whether those threats were merely perceived or real.

Faulklin had suffered an episode of amnesia when caught after trying to escape on the roof and passing out in terror, and talked about having gaps in his memories before, which would match up with such an assumption.

Truthfully, it didn’t come as a surprise that Faulklin might have developed such a response to a life that had been filled with such great suffering, in order to survive the trauma. But why now?

He thought back to a few days prior when he’d had to sedate the boy despite knowing now how much it terrified him, and admittedly it made the man feel a measure of guilt.

Of course all the guilt in the world wouldn’t be able to rewind the clock, so he had no other option other than continuing to attempt to offer Faulklin his reassurances and coax him out of his shell.

“It’s alright Faulklin, no one is going to hurt you. I made a promise and I haven’t yet broken any of them, have I?”

If the boy heard any of it he showed no signs of it, and it was apparent that the man’s attempted coaxing had done nothing for his current, unreactive state.

Mamoru tried again a few times to talk to the boy, shifting to sit on the edge of the bed and running a hand through his hair but it didn’t make any sort of difference and the man sighed slightly in frustration.

“I’m not sure how to fix this…” he muttered, knowing it was his fault.