I really like this so far. I think you have the dissociation that repeated trauma victims go through down - as a victim of repeated trauma myself (similar to what is being described here), I can say I have behaved in many of the ways that Tony has so far, including 'blanking out!'

My partner often has to call my name a few times to 'bring me back.'

Anyway, I just wanted to say I can see that you've put a lot of effort into getting a lot of the psychology 'right,' because it reads so effortlessly and it's so natural. I think someone else who hadn't experienced trauma might not be able to pick it up which is a sign that you've done an excellent job of just folding it into the story and turning out something great.

I'm really looking forward to the next installments in this piece. :)