The Therapist

by Kelly Holm

  When Larisa hung up, she glanced at her watch and realized she only had about a half hour before she had to leave for her appointment with Dr. Blackmore. She was nervous, but also excited by the idea of not having panic attacks anymore. She grabbed some lunch and drove over to her appointment.

  When she arrived at Dr. Blackmore’s office, she was a few minutes early, so she parked the car and checked her e-mails. Nothing pressing, so she went inside.

  When she got inside the clinic, Sofia noticed her and immediately smiled.

  “Oh, hello, I remember you; you were here the other day

  and had to suddenly leave. I sure hope everything turned out o.k.,” Sofia said when Larisa walked up to the reception desk.

  “Yes, that was me. I sure hope that doesn’t happen today; I really need to get this appointment over with.”

  “I understand how you feel. Well, you already filled out your paperwork, so there isn’t anything left for you to do, but have a seat in the waiting area and wait for someone to call you back. Remember to help yourself to tea.”

  “Thank you.”

  Larisa walked into the waiting area, and picked a chair a couple of seats over from a man who was reading a newspaper; he nodded politely as she sat down. He seems normal, Larisa thought; however, she quickly realized that he was a little more eccentric. Every few minutes, he would very meticulously fold his newspaper and place it in his lap, then he tilted his head back, snapped his fingers, and quietly said ‘boogidy boogidy boo,’ and then, like nothing happened, he picked up the newspaper and continued reading.

  Ok, then… Larisa thought as she picked up a magazine and started paging through.

  “Larisa Bergman…” said a petite nurse with short black hair.

  Larisa got up and followed the nurse into a room. The room wasn’t huge, but it was decorated nicely. The walls were a calming shade of green, with white wainscoting on the bottom half. There were two beige fabric upholstered barrel chairs with a small table in-between them, and a small desk with a stool in the corner. The nurse took her blood pressure and then told her that the doctor would be in to see her in a few minutes.

  While she was waiting, Larisa decided to surf the net on her phone. She began by perusing the daily news, but after only a

  few minutes, it started to give her anxiety. She stopped reading

  and tried to think of more pleasant things. She was feeling very on edge and was worried she might get another panic attack any minute.

  Larisa remembered what Dr. Thorton taught her, and tried yoga breathing and visualizing a happy place; this helped a little, but she still felt very anxious. She thought about grabbing one of the pills Dr. Thorton gave her, but thought she better not, since she was going to try a new medication within the hour.

  So, she bypassed the news and logged into her Facebook page to see what was going on with her friends. As she scrolled down the page, she smiled as she saw a photo that Ariana posted showing her son, Keith, playing with a balloon. Larisa was starting to relax. It wasn’t until she noticed a birth announcement from her work friend, Mariana Weitz, welcoming her new daughter, Ella into the world.

  Larisa went numb; her mind immediately left the present day and returned to 1993 when she had her baby, Ella. She remembered giving birth, the day baby Ella didn’t wake up, and the night when she had to bury baby Ella in the woods. Tears started forming in her eyes. As they slowly started rolling down her cheeks, she quickly wiped them away, but they wouldn’t stop. Her mind was punishing her by showing her that fateful night over and over again, and she couldn’t turn it off.

  Suddenly her heart was racing, and she couldn’t control her breathing. She was getting chest pains, and her limbs were starting to go numb. It was getting harder and harder to catch her breath, and she thought that she might pass out. She began to wonder if it was a panic attack, or if maybe she was having a heart attack or something. Just then, she heard the door open, and a nurse walks in.

  “Are you alright ma’am?” Nurse Clancy asked as she

  quickly walked over to help Larisa.

  Larisa was unable to answer; she was having the worst panic attack she’s ever had, and she was terrified. All she wanted to do was get out of that room, but the nurse just kept holding her down. Larisa fought her as hard as she could, but this nurse, although small, was very strong and Larisa couldn’t break her hold.

  “Lamar, I need you…” The nurse yelled as she tried her best to hold Larisa down.

  Within seconds, Lamar was there and holding a syringe ready to inject Larisa with something to calm her down.

  “No, please no, I don’t want any drug…” Larisa tried saying, but Lamar wasn’t listening. Before she knew it, he had injected her, everything went black, and she went completely limp.

  “You weren’t supposed to use so much it knocked her out. Dr. Blackmore isn’t going to be happy with this,” Nurse Clancy sternly said to Lamar.

  “It’s done now. There wasn’t that much left in the syringe anyway, most of it was used on the guy across the hall.” Lamar replied flippantly.

  “Help me get her into the chair until she wakes up.”

  They gently placed Larisa in one of the beige barrel chairs, put her purse in her lap and left her.

  Chapter 16

  When Leo got back to the Chelsea Inn after having dinner with Treyvon and his family, he was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Partly because he and Treyvon reminisced for hours, and partially because when Leo arrived at Treyvon’s house, he was immediately summoned to play a quick game of touch football with Treyvon and his three sons. It was just what he needed; time with a loving family to take his mind off of the horrible thoughts and images that were floating around in his head.

  As Leo was getting ready to call it a day, his mind brought him back to something Sofia told him; Dr. Blackmore hypnotizes the patients and then inject them with some drug; he wondered what else this Dr. Blackmore was capable of. I wonder if that sicko injected something into Krystal without her knowing it. The mere thought sickened him.

  The following morning, he was having the best dream; he was walking arm in arm with Krystal in the woods by her house. It felt so real, like he could just reach out and touch her. They were walking by a lake, when suddenly, he could hear something ringing, like a phone. It was pulling him out of the beautiful dream and back into reality. Once he was finally able to get his eyes completely open, he realized it was his cell phone ringing.

  Awe man, why’d ya have to ring now, it was just starting to get good… he thought.

  Leo quickly pulled his arm out from under the warm and comforting blanket and answered it, knowing that it was probably Treyvon. He was very anxious to find out what was in the magical drug that Dr. Blackmore was giving his patients.

  “Morning, Treyvon.”

  “Did I catch you still sleeping? Awe man, Coach Ricktor

  would have your ass if he knew were sleeping in past 8:00 a.m.”

  “Ya, he’d have my ass on a lot of things these days,” Leo replied, as he wiped the sleep from his eyes and attempted to sit up.

  “I’m coming by in about ten minutes, so get your ass out of bed. You won’t believe what I found in this sample you asked me to test.”

  Leo quickly jumped out of bed and put on a pair of faded jeans and a ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ concert T-shirt. He ran a comb through his hair and tied it back, then did his best to tidy up the room by pulling the covers over the unmade bed, and tossing the empty Frankie’s Pizza box in the trash. Precisely ten minutes later, someone was banging on Leo’s door.

  “Come on in, buddy. I’d offer you something, but as you can see, my accommodations are quite limited,” Leo said, as he looked around his room.

  The rooms at the Chester Inn were straightforward with just a double bed, desk, chair, and television, nothing fancy, not even a coffee maker.

  “That’s fine, I took the liberty of getting you a coffee, I figured you might want one; you not being much of
a morning person and all,” he said, as he handed Leo the cup.

  “Thanks, man, I needed this,” he said, as he took a sip.

  “So, what did you find in the sample?” Leo asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

  “Now remind me again, what was this medication used for?” Treyvon asked as he walked over and sat in the tattered leather, single armchair next to the bed, across from Leo.

  “My source said that the doctor uses it to cure patients with OCD and anxiety, or at the very least make the ailments much more manageable.”

  “So, you got this from a psychiatrist or some type of doctor?”

  “The doctor who’s using it is a psychiatrist, why?”

  Leo wanted to make sure he kept his word to Sofia; he didn’t want her to get into trouble for helping him.

  “You are not going to believe this, but I found a parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi in it.”

  “Trypan, what?” Leo asked as he tried to make sense of things.

  “Just call it T cruzi, it’s easier. It’s a parasite that will cause a person to have a massive stroke. The stroke will be bad enough that the person will go into an immediate coma, and will eventually die within 24 hours.”

  “Look at you, sounding all professional and such,” Leo said, teasing Treyvon.

  “Oh, fuck you, this is serious man,” he replied, trying not to laugh, but he did anyway.

  “I know; it’s just really early for this kind of serious shit. What the hell is this doctor up to?” Leo wondered if he was getting in over his head. What kind of doctor would do something like this to his patients?

  “Is there any way this sample might be tainted?” Treyvon asked, hoping Leo would say yes.

  “No, I’m sure it’s the same as all the others.”

  “Then this is some serious shit man, what the hell did you get yourself into? You need to tell me what exactly is going on,” Treyvon said, getting extremely serious.

  This was a new side to Treyvon that Leo hadn’t seen before. Treyvon was always the joker in the group, making light of almost anything to get a laugh.

  “I told you, I’m investigating Krystal’s death.” Leo was trying to be careful; he wasn’t sure how bad this whole situation would get and was afraid to get Treyvon involved.

  “Why do you really think her death was intentional?”

  “So far it’s just a hunch, but the more I dig, the more I believe it was intentional.”

  “Do you know how deadly this shit is? I’m nervous, even touching the bottle. We need to go to the authorities immediately,” Treyvon said as he pulled out his cell to call.

  Leo quickly stood up and walked over to Treyvon.

  “Dude put the phone away; we are definitely not going to the cops.”

  “Why the hell not; and why won’t you tell me where you got this?” Treyvon yelled.

  “Calm down, man, I told you, I can’t tell you, I gave my word; plus, you’re probably safer not knowing.”

  “It looks to me like you’ve gotten yourself in way over your head. I think we need professional help.”

  “Ya we do, but not that kind,” Leo said, as they both busted out laughing over the stupid joke.

  “Dude, seriously, if you want my help, I need to know everything you know.”

  “Then, I need your word that you won’t go to the cops.”

  “Who are you protecting?” Treyvon asked while Leo sat silent.

  “Oh, shit, it’s a girl, isn’t it?” Treyvon guessed as he leaned back in his chair and grinned. Back in the day, before Leo met Krystal, he was quite the ladies’ man.

  “Seriously, dude, Krystal just died.”

  “Sorry man.”

  “Look, I gave my word to someone, and I don’t want to break it; besides, I just want to find out if Krystal’s death was deliberate. If we go to the cops, this guy will find a way to slither out of it, and I’ll never know the truth.”

  “Fine, you have my word; I won’t go to the cops… just yet. Now, tell me what’s going on.”

  “I have reason to believe that Dr. Blackmore is injecting this drug into patients and then when they die, he has them brought to the Freyhill hospital where he harvests their organs, and sells them on the black market.”

  Treyvon looked at him like he was crazy, then busted out laughing.

  “Now that is a good one.”

  “What, you don’t believe me? Stop your fucking laughing, dude, this is serious,” Leo asked.

  “You were serious? You really think this is happening? Come on, man.”

  “Yes, and I’m not alone; Krystal and her friend Maggie knew about it too.”

  “I can’t believe this type of shit is going on, and you think it’s happening at the Freyhill hospital?” Treyvon asked in disbelief.

  “Yep; well there, and possibly at his office in Brentwood too.”

  “You think this shit’s happening at both locations?” Treyvon was appalled.

  “I know the surgeries are happening at the Freyhill hospital, and I have a pretty good feeling some interesting shit’s going on at his private office in Brentwood too.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “When I stopped by the other day and asked what type of medical facility it was, I was abruptly stopped at the entrance and told to leave.”

  “Is that where you got the sample, his office in Brentwood?”

  “Ya, I’ve tried checking the place out, but like I said, he’s got pretty tight security. Oh, and there was something else I forgot to mention.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Apparently he places a tracking chip behind the ear of each patient so he can track their vitals. Why do you think he would need to track a person’s vitals if he just shot them up with a death bug, he knows they are going to die?”

  “Death bug… I like that. Man, this is some heavy shit. So, we have a psychiatrist who likes to steal organs and inject his patients with parasites that kill them. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I am speechless.”

  “Well that would be a first,” Leo said sarcastically. Treyvon just smiled; he knew Leo was right; he always had something to say.

  “I’m not sure I can get on board with you and this crazy idea that he is harvesting organs, and possibly selling them on the black market though. I mean seriously, Leo, it is quite a stretch.”

  “I forgot to mention that Maggie, who was helping Krystal in the investigation, had an unfortunate encounter with Dr. Blackmore too.”

  “How so?”

  “He stole one of her kidneys.”

  “Do you have any proof of what happened to Maggie?”

  “No,” Leo sighed, “She said she can’t access her records and thinks that even if she could, there would be something legitimate listed for the reason they had to remove the kidney.”

  “Well, there you go, she doesn’t even believe it,” Treyvon said as he leaned back in his chair.

  “She’s the one who suggested it,” Leo said, feeling like he was all alone and that Treyvon didn’t believe him.

  “Ok, I must be missing something, why would she think that? Let’s start again at the beginning, and don’t leave anything out.”

  “Maggie and Krystal were investigating Dr. Blackmore because they saw him coming out of surgery one night in bloody scrubs. They knew he wasn’t licensed to perform any type of surgery, because he’s a psychiatrist, not a surgeon. When Krystal snooped around his office, she found something that appeared to be a pricing list. It showed several organs, and then had a large number next to each organ, like a price. They were going to go to the hospital administrator with their findings, but Krystal died before they had a chance.”

  “Wow…”

  “Then there are the men dressed in black that go into the operating room, and come out carrying a large black case after each of his surgeries.”

  “What’s in the box?” Treyvon asked as he tried to process all the information that Leo was giving him.

  “We still don�
��t know.”

  “Why Freyhill hospital, I mean if his private practice is in Brentwood, why would he drive so far?” Treyvon asked as he got up and started pacing around the room.

  “Freyhill just got a huge donation and bought a bunch of new equipment, some of which is used for transplant surgery.”

  “Still, you have to know how crazy this sounds. Are you sure you haven’t been watching too many horror films?” Treyvon waited for Leo to start laughing with him, but he didn’t.

  “I wish that was the case. So, this serum will make the person have a massive stroke, and then immediately go into a coma before they die 24 hours later…” Leo began as his mind trailed off.

  “What are you getting at?”

  “I just had a light bulb moment,” Leo said, as his eyes grew wide.

  “Well, don’t hold back, enlighten me.”

  “Do you think it’s possible that he uses the tracking chip to actually track the whereabouts of the patients, and not just their vitals?”

  “I suppose it’s possible, but…” Treyvon shook his head in disbelief.

  “Hold on; if he were tracking them, he would know exactly when they have the stroke and go into the coma. He could easily send his own EMT guys to pick them up, and it would still give him time to harvest the organs before the patient dies. What do you think?”

  “It’s possible, but I thought you said Krystal was already gone by the time the EMT’s arrived. Are you sure she didn’t just have a regular stroke and die of natural causes?”

  “No, but my hunch tells me that the stroke wasn’t natural. There are just some things that don’t add up.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like when I found Krystal, it was only minutes before the EMT’s arrived, but I didn’t call them.”

  “And what, you think that this Dr. Blackmore may have sent his own EMT’s?”

  “Yes, because when the EMT’s arrived, I didn’t recognize either of them.”

  “Are you sure you would, I mean, I can only imagine how freaked out you must have been when you found her.”

  “I know all the guys that work at the Rockville firehouse. I play on their softball team every summer, and the EMT’s who showed up to transport Krystal to the hospital were not from Rockville.”