Player 99

Therapy

Paige's POV 

After a month of physical therapy for my hand, I was able to do simple things with it, like write (but not for a long time) and open things, like doors, milk, orange juice. The doctor said that it would take a while for the soreness to go away, but other than that I was in good condition and healing up nicely. My ribs were still a little sore and he said that it would go away soon.

All I had to do was focus on my therapy. Today, it was time for my first session with Dr. Gale. Justin was driving me to her office right now. He was holding my hand, his eyes on the road, with Talk Dirty to Me drifting softly through the radio. He looked over and smirked at me. 

"Please?" 

I laughed, rolling my eyes and shaking my head. "When you beat De'Andre in an arm wrestle and the entire team witnesses it," I joked. He frowned but turned into the parking lot. He could almost never beat De'Andre and boy, was De'Andre proud of that. Justin pulled into a spot and parked the car.

"Do you want me to go in with you?" he asked. I shook my head, my stomach churning as I glanced out of the window. He sighed and nodded. "Ok, see you in an hour." I leaned over and pecked his lips. "Love you," he called as I got out. I leaned down and smiled.

"Love you too." I waved before I shut the door. He honked as he pulled out and drove off. I walked to the building and opened the door.

The lights were warm and the walls were painted a dark brown color with a dark gold accent along the top. The secretary looked up from her wooden, big desk and she smiled warmly. She pointed to the clip board on her desk. I signed in and handed it to her. She smiled again and motioned to the big, plush chairs over to the side. The lights and the colors eased my nerves as I took a seat. I grabbed a magazine and flipped through it, trying to keep my thoughts blank. 

"Ms. Stone?" a nice voice said. I looked up. The secretary, a tall, slightly curvy woman with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, was standing in front of her desk. "Mrs. Gale is ready to see you now." I nodded and stood up. I followed her down the hall and she opened a door. She motioned for me to step inside, adding "She will be right back. She went to grab a water." I nodded and stepped inside. 

The room was painted a dark red color, much like the leaves in fall. There was a window at the back of the wall and the blinds were down, dimming the sunlight that struggled to make itself known. There was a desk off to the right, with a computer on it along with a folder, probably my file. Just off to the left of the desk was a decent sized bookshelf that ran from the ceiling to the floor, covered in psychology and therapeutic books. There were two chairs left for me to sit in. One of them was a leather couch and the other was a nice, plush dark brown chair. I chose to sit in the chair and I crossed my legs, waiting for Mrs. Gale to come in. I didn't have to wait long.

I turned as the door opened and a woman, about 35, stepped in. She had dark brown hair that was pulled up into a bun, her warm chocolate brown eyes looked me up and down as her slender body, dressed in a pant suit, made its way over to her desk. She had a heart shaped face with a pointed chin and a kind smile. She opened her folder and skimmed it. 

"Hello, Ms. Stone. I'm Dr. Gale," she said, peering at me from her desk. Her voice was soft and welcoming. "I see you've been through quite a lot. It says here you've been beaten, abused and raped." I flinched at her last word, Robert's face shoving itself into my mind. 

"Yes, ma'am," I said, softly, looking at my hands. She sighed and I looked up. Her eyes and face were apologetic. 

"I'm sorry that it came out that way. That was not my intention," she said, closing her folder. "I'm here to help you get through this in any way that I possibly can." I nodded. "I see you've chosen to sit in the chair, instead of on the couch." I glanced at the thing and nodded, before turning my gaze onto her. "It's quite alright. Would you mind if I came and sat next to you though? I feel like this is too formal for either of our likings."