The Beautiful and the Faultless | Cami O'Connell

Chapter 10

Ingrid was not excited for therapy.

She wasn't sure how she was supposed to think of this as a good thing considering the awful things Kol had told her about her condition the day before. What if therapy didn't work? What if she just ended up pouring her heart and soul out to Cami, only for it to be useless?

Was this what Klaus went through, with his fears of opening up and constant worries about how his information might be used against him? Perhaps she and him were more similar than she'd initially thought. She'd taken a peek at the 'Paranoid Personality Disorder' section of the DSM-5 and it sounded like a truly awful thing to live with. Admittedly, she'd had to look up every other word because she had no idea what they meant in a psychological context. But she felt she understood enough to feel bad for him. It sounded like he needed therapy.

Perhaps the issue was that she was supposed to talk to Cami, of all people. Ingrid was certain that she should have said something, should have told her that it was unethical for her to be her patient considering she had feelings for her. But Cami didn't seem to have understood that when Ingrid mentioned it the night before. If she told her about this conflict of interest, she'd be exposing her attraction. She might ruin things between them, permanently.

So she stayed silent. Deciding that maybe, this could be beneficial. Cami seemed like a very good person. And Ingrid was a mess. Maybe if she told her absolutely everything about her life, it would steer Cami away. It would force Ingrid to accept that nothing would ever happen between them. Cami would be safe. Ingrid would eventually move on to someone else.

But then, just as the doorbell rang, she recalled that Cami had caught feelings for Klaus even though he'd shown her all the worst parts of him.

That didn't bode well.

"Hi there," said Cami when Ingrid let her in, and brought them to sit in her living room. "Did you eat something?"

"I did," said Ingrid. "Should I not have?"

"It's good you ate, don't worry. If at any point you need a break, just let me know. It will likely take several sessions to address everything in full detail, so it's okay if we don't get to a lot today."

Ingrid shrugged. "Ideally I want to be cured as soon as possible. But I can already tell it won't work that way. It's... psychology, not... magic." She cast a dejected look toward her pile of herbs that she hadn't even bothered to clear off of the kitchen table. She'd needed to create another mixture to allow her to sleep again.

"Okay," said Cami, preparing her notes, having no knowledge of herbs or what Ingrid was doing with them. "So, Freya, Kol, and I think there may be some psychological barriers that are preventing you from even feeling your magic at this point. Overall, the goal is to bring you some peace of mind, to allow you to feel healthier and safe in your new abuse-free environment. There are a lot of changes happening in your life right now, and it's going to take some time to adjust. Is there anything you'd like to say to start out?"

"Maybe I shouldn't have been so desperate," said Ingrid quietly. "It was a stupid, impulsive thing to do to defeat Dahlia. I felt I had to do it, I knew the consequences, but I didn't think I'd feel this miserable. It's taken a toll on my entire body that I didn't want. I had a choice to live or die and I chose to come back."

"Alright, we can start with that. What do you think was the main factor that made you choose one over the other?"

Squirming uncomfortably at the memory of the Cami in her mind that had helped her decide, she shook her head. "I'd rather not start with that, honestly. Maybe at a later session. You seem to have a lot of notes. I imagine there's a lot you might want to diagnose me with."