I close my hand tightly around Jerome's as we sit in the doctor's office. The room we're in is quiet. The walls are a dull grey and there are pictures of diplomas hanging on the wall. Suddenly, the door opens and the doctor walks in. He's a tall, balding man with a white mustache. He doesn't aknowledge us; he just sits and sets up his computer. I look at Jerome nervously and he returns a stare similar to mine. The doctor finally looks up at me after about 5 minutes of silence.
"Mitchell Hughes?" I nod.
"Yes, that's me."
"It says here in your files that you're struggling with depression."
"Yes...that's correct.."
"You've been admitted to the hospital for attempting suicide, I see."
"..Yes.."
He makes a noise of disapproval then goes back to his computer. I'm not really liking this man so far; he's too direct and he sounds like he's disgusted with me. He eventually looks up again.
"Have you hurt yourself before?"
"Yes."
"Do you have any scars?"
"Yes."
"Show me them."
I hesitate. I'm not comfortable with showing this man the scars. But his piercing eyes change my mind. I roll up my sleeves carefully and hold out my arms. He stares at them, taking in how they criss-cross on my arms and how some are still, somehow, bright red. He grabs my arm, a little too roughly, and I make a quiet yelp of pain. Jerome grabs my arm and slowly pulls it out of the man's grip.
"Isn't your job to help him, not to hurt him?"
The doctor glares at him.
"You aren't the doctor here, now are you? Shut up and let me do my job."
Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. The man's eyes widen, almost as if he's scared. A police officer bursts in.
"Put your hands up. Now."
Jerome and I do as well as the man, but the woman shakes her head in our direction.
"You two are alright. We just need him."
She yanks him from his chair and handcuffs his hands together before leaving the room. Jerome and I look at each other confused. Why is the doctor being arrested? Another police officer comes in and explains the situation. The man we thought was my doctor was actually a man who had been claiming to be one for years. He had forced universities to give him diplomas and not tell a soul or he would find them. He was now finally being arrested. The officer leaves and a nurse comes in, saying my real doctor would be here in a bit.
About 10 minutes later, the door opens yet again and we meet a sight opposite of the man we saw before. A tall woman with long blonde hair smiles at us.
"Hello, you must be Mitchell and Jerome, correct?"
We both nod and she opens the door wider.
"SInce this isn't my office, come with me."
We follow her down the hall and enter her office. It's a more welcoming environment than the last one. The room is a pale blue, with pictures of quotes and cute animals covering the walls. Jerome and I sit in the chairs in front of the desk as the woman takes her place behind it.
"I'm Dr. Kayden. But I find that's too formal, so you can call me Marie."
"I'll call you Marie if you call me Mitch?"
"Deal."
She laughs and I do too. I'm feeling more welcomed by Marie than the other horrible man. After telling us to give her a moment to gather her things on her computer, I take a moment to look around the room, my gaze eventually landing on her desk. She has a picture facing us instead of towards her. In the picture, a man and a woman are smiling proudly. The dad has a little girl on his shoulders, who looks about four, and the woman has a labrador dog sitting at her feet. It looks like the perfect family. Then again, everything looks perfect until you dig a little deeper. Marie clears her throat and I focus my attention back on her. She grins.
"Looking at my picture?" I nod sheepishly but she shakes her head. "It's alright with me; that's what it's there for."
"Is that your daughter?"
Marie nods.
"Yup. Her name is Mary. She was named after me, but my husband loves to joke that he named her after his mother. It doesn't make much sense considering his mother's name is Elizabeth."
I chuckle then look at the picture again.
"What about the lab?"
"That's Misty....We got my daughter to name her and she came up with Misty even though she doesn't look mistical....Misty died of cancer a few months ago."
"I..I'm so sorry..."
"We bought her quite old. We wanted a puppy but we fell in love with her instantly."
There's a small silence then she shakes her head.
"Anyway, I heard you just got caught in that doctor scandal."
"Scandal?"
"Well, considering he's been wanted for over a year."
"Very true. Yeah we were."
"Bet he wasn't the best doctor, was he?"
"He was really outright and he demanded everything and he hurt me."
She shakes her head, sighing as she takes a sip of her drink. By the smell, I can tell it's lemon tea.
"Some people these days..."
The rest of the appointment is mainly just us talking and getting to know each other. We bring Jerome into the conversations to make sure he isn't lonely. We leave and Jerome looks at me.
"How was it, Biggums?"
I smile as we climb into the car and Jerome starts to drive back to my apartment.
"It was better than I expected."
I didnt get to write 1K words but eh XD I tried. I wrote all this while at the hairdressers so. I tried to write more but my head has been bugging me all day. Hope you enjoyed Mitch going to the doctor cx
