Dead Leaves [Discontinued]

[0] Dr. Engel

Dr. Francis Engel flipped through the records of Liv Marshall, someone who was to arrive in a few days, for the seventieth time. He had another folder open on his desk: of Connor Walsh, a patient who had been at Auxilius for two months already. Dr. Engel looked back between the two patients' records continuously, taking careful note of the similarities in their backgrounds.

"Francis?"

Dr. Engel looked up as Dr. Jenny Alexis walked into the room.

"Are you looking into Liv Marshall's folder again?" she asked as she sat in the seat across from him. "You do know she was assigned to me, not you, right?"

Dr. Engel sighed, leaning forward. "I don't know," he said. "For some reason, I just keep wondering about how beneficial it would be for both parties if she and Connor met each other."

Dr. Alexis raised an eyebrow, looking skeptical. "Connor, as in Connor Walsh?" When Dr. Engel nodded, she sighed. "Francis, you know Connor the best here," she told him. "You know it's not going to work out for Connor or Liv. I don't know too much about Liv, but I know she'll have to help herself before she can help others. I also don't know as much about Connor as you do, but this won't help him even if Liv would be alright with it. You said it yourself, Francis -- he hasn't improved yet."

"Yet," Dr. Engel repeated, leaning forward again. "He hasn't improved yet. Maybe he needs a different way to change. Now, I'm not saying this will work," he said quickly when Dr. Alexis gave him an exasperated look, "or that this is the best idea, but I don't think it would be that bad to give it a shot. And it's not like I'll just shove two of them into a room together; we'll start off nice and slow."

Dr. Alexis shook her head. "I'm not saying I agree with your methods," she said, "but I've learned the hard way that you always do what you set your mind on. But I'm not going to hand over Liv to you," she added when Dr. Engel looked too happy. "You know the rules here."

Dr. Engel sighed. "Alright," he said somewhat reluctantly. "I'll quit asking you about that."

"Good. And, besides, you shouldn't be too focused on only one patient. Connor's not the only person from a family that pays a lot so he could speak with you." Dr. Alexis stood up, grabbing Liv's folder as she did so. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I, the person whom she will be meeting with five times a week, will be in my office, reviewing Liv's records. Have a nice day, Francis."

"You too, Jenny," Dr. Engel said glumly. However, once he was sure she had left, he took out a printed copy of Liv's file, rereading her history for the nth time, although he had probably memorized it by now. If only Liv didn't have that tiny hurdle, maybe then she could help Connor and herself.

However, what Dr. Engel didn't realize, was that the file didn't hold all the information about Liv. Even if Liv overcame the small hurdle, there was a much larger one waiting behind that. And it would be a lot harder for Liv to jump over this one, than any other.