One chilly Monday morning, Oitumetse kept tossing and turning in his bed. He did not feel like waking up yet. Instead, he felt like the world needed to stop and let him be. The doctor’s appointment he was supposed to go to that day had been scheduled, and part of him was aware of how his rapid anxiety attacks were affecting his life. On the contrary, he assumed that everyone was overanalysing the problem, and he was just a shy boy.

“Oitumetse!” Mrs Marema shouted from the kitchen. “We’re not going to be late because of you!”

“I’m getting ready, Mama,” Oitumetse responded with a lowered voice.

An hour went by, and, outside, Mrs Marema kept impatiently hooting her car to call her son. So, when Oitumetse was done, he quickly jumped to the back seat of his mother’s car, and sat anxiously waiting for her to start the car so that they could leave. But, before leaving, Mrs Marema checked Ouitumetse from the mirror, and she noticed that he looked nervous. She then played soothing music, hoping it would calm his nerves.

They arrived on time for their appointment. The queue seemed a bit longer than they had expected it to be, but the nurses were working tirelessly, so it was moving faster than anticipated. Mondays at the hospitals were usually exhausting because, most of the time, trauma cases were reported and attended to first. During the weekend, people got wild, and some of them got caught up in fights and reckless behaviour.

“Oitumetse Marema, you’re next,” a short, friendly nurse said, showing them where they should go.

Mrs Marema stood up with Oitumetse, and she held him by the hand as they walked into the consultation room. At that moment, Oitumetse felt that he was cared for, and it felt good to not have any judgement or Bible verse quoted to make him feel bad about himself. So, he looked at his mother and smiled for a second.

It was a bit chilly, and the air conditioner made matters worse. But, as soon as the consultation began, the room felt like home to Oitumetse. He was calm and amazed at how understanding and patient his doctor was. He managed to explain to her what was going on with him, and Mrs Marema was shocked and disappointed at herself when she heard what he had to say. She remembered how lousy they had taken everything while their child was suffering in silence.

After the consultation, the doctor referred Oitumetse to a therapist, and the two went home. When they got home, they found Mororiseng and Mr Marema waiting for them in the dining room. Mrs Marema was reluctant to give her husband feedback about their consultation, so Oitumetse broke the news to them.

“I’ll support you throughout your therapy sessions, little bro,” Mororiseng said.

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Tell us: How do you think Mororiseng’s support for Oitumetse is going to help his with his condition?