The Therapist

by Kelly Holm

  “Are you sure they weren’t from the Freyhill station?”

  “Absolutely, because I know all of them too; these are both tiny towns.”

  “Well, someone had to call…”

  “Or… did Dr. Blackmore just send his own personal death squad to come and get her when her tracking chip signaled?”

  “That’s quite an accusation…”

  “I checked around to see who called 911 the day Krystal died. I even called my buddy Patrick, who is an EMT in Rockville, and when Krystal died, at home in Rockville I might add, he said it wasn’t the Rockville EMT’s that came and got her, he said they had no record of a call. I actually have no idea who brought her to the hospital.”

  “That is strange, was there anything else?”

  “This might not be a big deal, but it seemed strange to me. If Krystal was declared DOA, why would they bring her to the hospital and not just take her over to the funeral home on Bleaker Street?”

  “Did you request an autopsy or something?”

  “No, besides, there wouldn’t have been time. The Undertaker from the funeral home called me the following morning telling me someone dropped off her ashes, and asked if I wanted to stop by to plan the memorial service.”

  “I thought there was some law that said you had to wait for something like forty-eight hours after death before you could cremate.”

  “Ya, so that would mean that Dr. Blackmore must have someone on his payroll on that end too.”

  “If any part of what you are saying is true, we have to report him before he hurts anyone else,” Treyvon said, as he walked over to Leo and put his hand on Leo’s shoulder to show support.

  “We can’t until I know for sure. This guy is incredibly slippery, and if he even gets a whiff that someone is investigating him, he might take things into his own hands; like he did with Krystal and Maggie.”

  “Dude, you don’t know that for sure.”

  “I’m sure enough to know that I have to go back to his office and try and find some proof.”

  “And how do you propose to do that?”

  “I’m not sure yet. I made friends with the receptionist the other day, so maybe she could help me get in. I don’t know; I’m still working on that part of my plan.” Treyvon could tell Leo was getting very frustrated.

  “What can I do to help?”

  “Nothing,” Leo said very sternly.

  “Leo, you can’t do this by yourself. If this guy is as slippery as you say, you’re going to need someone to watch your back.”

  “Maybe so, but I don’t want your help; and not because I couldn’t use it; I just don’t want you any more involved than you already are, you have a wife and family to think about.”

  “I appreciate you thinking about them, but you’re my friend, and I don’t let friends do stupid things alone.”

  “Well, you’re letting me do this alone.”

  “Dammit Leo; why are you so fucking stubborn?” Treyvon yelled.

  “Because I already lost Krystal, I don’t want to lose anyone else I care about. Besides, don’t you have to get back to work soon?”

  Treyvon looked at his watch, and he did have to get back, “Probably, but I still think you need my help.”

  “I appreciate your offer, more than you know, but I can’t take your help this time. Look, I promise I’ll be careful.”

  “Well, since you said that, I feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. I guess I’ll just go back to work, and believe that everything is great in the world and all my friends are safe,” Treyvon said trying his best to sound as sarcastic as possible so

  Leo would understand how crazy of an idea this was, and take his offer to help.

  “I know what you’re doing. Look, I’m sorry; it’s just something I think I have to do alone.”

  “Ok, but promise me if it starts to go south, you’ll call me.”

  Treyvon was very worried about Leo; he knew he was in way over his head but was too stubborn to accept help; and once Leo set his mind to something, there was no changing it. All Treyvon could do was respect his wishes, and be ready to help, if or when Leo asked.

  “I will, I promise.”

  Leo walked Treyvon to his car and thanked him again for offering to help. As he watched Treyvon drive off, Leo wished that he could have accepted more of his help, but he couldn’t be responsible for Treyvon’s family if something went astray.

  Leo walked back to his room, splashed some cold water on his face, and tried to think of various ways he might be able to get into Dr. Blackmore’s office without being caught. One option, he thought, would be to ask for Sofia’s help. However, Leo barely knew her, and this could get very dangerous; it would be asking too much he decided. Unfortunately for him, he realized, this was something he really did have to do on his own.

  He grabbed his keys and went out to his car. As he drove over to Dr. Blackmore’s office, he thought about Krystal. He still missed her so much he physically ached. It was a weird sensation that came and went throughout the day. He wondered if he would ever be able to move on, or if he even wanted to.

  He knew all too well, exactly what she would say about this situation. She would tell him he was a fool, and he should let Treyvon help him. Leo knew she would have been right, but he

  wasn’t going to listen. Dr. Blackmore had taken too much from him already; he couldn’t bear losing someone else he cared about.

  As Leo pulled into the parking lot in front of Dr. Blackmore’s office, he realized he didn’t have much of a plan. He quickly pulled into a parking space and put the car in park while he tried to think of one. He could take a chance and just walk in like he was a patient, but that didn’t work so well last time; no, he would have to think of something else. Then it hit him, I bet they have a back door, he thought.

  Leo pulled around to the back of the building, and just as he thought, there was a back entry. He soon noticed a young woman in a nursing uniform, standing next to one of the doors smoking a cigarette. He counted the doors, and quickly realized that the nurse was standing right next to the entry into Dr. Blackmore’s office; it was his lucky day. Now, he just had to wait until she went back inside. To Leo, it felt like she was taking forever to smoke that cigarette, but in reality, it was probably only about five minutes.

  When the nurse finally went inside, Leo waited a few more minutes before he got out of his car and walked up to the door. He had no idea what he would face on the other side of this door; but whatever it was, he was ready.

  As Leo slowly opened the heavy silver steel door, he could hear voices, but he wasn’t sure which direction they were coming from. Leo was careful not to open the door too far, just in case someone was standing close by. When he saw that the coast was clear, he pulled the door open a little further to peek inside; Leo still didn’t see anyone, but he did notice a large cart he could hide behind while he decided his next move. He took a quick look around again, just to make sure no one was coming, and then he quickly walked inside and directly to the large cart. He immediately squatted down so he would be out of sight.

  Leo knew he couldn’t hold this position very long; his knee was killing him, the same one that ended his football career. He tried rubbing it, but it still throbbed; he wished he had remembered to bring his CBD vape with. The discomfort was something he learned to live with, but the CBD really helped. Suddenly, he heard footsteps, and they seemed to be coming towards him. He carefully peeked around the side of the cart to see what was happening, and saw a nurse was heading directly towards him and the cart.

  Leo quickly looked around to see where he could hide. He noticed a room; not more than five feet away, but he wasn’t sure if he could get there without her seeing him. Luckily, she stopped to grab a chart; when she did, Leo quickly ran bent over towards the door of the room. As he grabbed the handle to go in, he realized he could be walking into trouble, but he ignored the thought and went inside anyway.

  He quickly found a place to hide next to a sizeable
freestanding file cabinet, while he waited for the nurse outside the room to take the cart and leave. As Leo looked around the room he was in, he wondered what they did in there. The room was all white with a long counter and a wall separating out the back half. Leo could hear someone shuffling papers behind the wall, but he couldn’t see anything. Just then, he heard the doorknob move, and a man with short spiky red hair wearing scrubs walked in.

  “Amanda, are you here? I need a blood sample tested,” the man said, as he walked in and leaned against the counter.

  “Just a minute…” a female voice yelled from the back area of the room.

  Leo wondered if the woman behind the wall heard him come in, if she did, she didn’t let on. He knew he had to get out of there as soon as possible and figure out which room belonged to Dr. Blackmore. He watched and listened as the man in scrubs

  explained what he needed to the lab technician. Why would a psychiatrist need an in-house lab? He wondered. A few minutes later, the man in scrubs left, and the lab tech walked back behind the wall. This was Leo’s cue; he quickly went to the door and peeked out.

  The coast was clear, so he quickly turned the knob and went into the hallway, quietly closing the door behind him. As Leo carefully walked down the long hallway, ready to hide in any of the rooms he passed, he looked at each door; he was looking for Dr. Blackmore’s office. Leo was able to get all the way down the hallway before a nurse came out of one of the rooms. Leo quickly moved around the corner so she wouldn’t see him.

  Whew, that was close, he thought.

  Leo was standing in front of Dr. Blackmore’s office, it was almost surreal, he had thought about this moment so many times. He tried the knob, and to his surprise, the door opened. Once inside, he realized he wasn’t sure what he was looking for. He quickly walked over to the large mahogany desk and looked at the papers on top; continually keeping one eye on the door to make sure no one came in. There were several patient files and paperwork of all types; he started to pick up each sheet to see if it was anything that might help him prove his case.

  As he was going through the papers, he came across a sheet that looked a lot like the one Maggie showed him. It listed each major organ, and a few others, each with a dollar figure next to it. Leo quickly folded the sheet up and put it in his back pocket. He was thrilled, this little piece of evidence will surely help convict that demon doctor, Leo thought. Then he walked over to the file cabinet and looked to see if he could find a file on Krystal.

  Leo looked through two file cabinets but didn’t find anything on Krystal. Maybe he was wrong, he thought, maybe Krystal’s death was because of a stroke and not something Dr. Blackmore did. He was confused; even though he didn’t find a

  file, he still knew in his heart that her death wasn’t natural. Maybe

  it was a hunch, but it was an incredibly strong hunch.

  After looking at several other papers, he knew he had to get out of that office before someone caught him. He walked over to the door and slowly opened it, just enough to peek out and see if the hallway was clear. He had to get to the other end of the office building where the back door was. He quietly walked out of Dr. Blackmore’s office and started down the hall. He only got a few steps when he heard someone coming.

  Leo quickly ducked into the nearest room, hoping it would be empty; luckily, he was able to get inside and close the door before the nurse saw him. As he turned around, while trying to catch his breath, he noticed a woman with auburn hair slumped over in a chair. At first, he started to panic, but he soon realized that she was either knocked out or sleeping, he wasn’t sure which. Either way, he knew he had to get out of there before she woke up.

  As the woman turned in the chair, her auburn colored hair fell to the other side to reveal a small tattoo on her neck. Leo moved in closer to look at it; it was two pink daisies, one slightly larger and positioned a little higher to appear in front of the other, both had yellow centers and were outlined in white. There was something about this tattoo that bothered Leo, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He’d seen this tattoo before, but where… Then it hit him like a ton of bricks, his sister Daisy had this exact tattoo!

  He distinctly remembered when she showed it to him, she was so proud of it; it was Christmas of 1992 - the last time he ever saw her. Could this possibly be Daisy, what are the odds… he wondered. He quietly chuckled to himself, thinking how silly he was, thinking this could actually be his long-lost sister, but then something inside him made him speak.

  “Daisy…,” he quietly whispered in her ear.

  He waited to see if there was any response, but she didn’t even move. I wonder if she heard me, or am I just making a complete fool of myself with a total stranger?

  “Daisy…,” he whispered again, this time a little louder.

  This time the lady turned, and the hair that was covering her face gently fell to the side. Leo quickly moved so he could see her face, and the second he could, he knew it was Daisy. Leo’s heart leaped, he hadn’t seen or heard from her in so many years. He was so happy. She was the spitting image of their mother, and so beautiful. He immediately pulled her in for a hug, but she was still completely out of it.

  “Daisy, honey, it’s Leo. Can you hear me? Please wake up. What have they done to you?” He continued hugging her and pleading with her to wake up, but she was taking her time.

  “Ummmm…” Larisa was slowly coming to, but as she was beginning to wake up, she could feel someone trying to pull her. The more she came to, the quicker she realized that some strange man was hugging her. She immediately started to panic and push him away.

  “Daisy, it’s Leo, don’t you recognize me?” He asked as he quickly let go of her, he didn’t want to scare her.

  The medication that the male nurse gave to Larisa earlier was still swimming around in her system, and it was making everything foggy. She wasn’t sure where she was, and she had no idea who this man hugging her was. He was holding her so tightly but he stopped, and now he keeps saying he is her brother. How can that be, she wondered.

  She tried to clear her mind and think straight, but it was difficult. The medication was giving her severe brain fog. she

  looked at the man again, and with one look into his eyes, she knew

  she was seeing her brother Leo; but was he real, or was this just a weird hallucination, she wasn’t sure.

  “Leo, it that really you or am I dreaming?”

  “It’s me, Daisy, I’m real, you aren’t dreaming,” he said, as he hugged her again.

  “Why are you calling me, Daisy?”

  “Because that’s your name…” Leo was confused.

  “I changed it; I go by Larisa now.”

  She still wasn’t sure if he was real or a dream, but if it was a dream, she didn’t want to wake up.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Are you ok, Larisa? You aren’t hurt or anything, are you?”

  “No, I’m just so sleepy,” she replied, as she tried to carefully wipe the sleep from her eyes without messing up her makeup, “Why are you here?”

  “It’s a long story; I’ll tell you all about it later, ok? In the meantime, I’m going to get you out of here. Why are you here in the first place?”

  “They’re going to cure my anxiety,” she said groggily.

  Leo knew what that meant, and he knew he had to get her out of there before that crazy doctor hurt her like he hurt Krystal.

  “Can you walk?”

  “I’m not sure; you might have to help me.”

  “What the hell did you take anyway?”

  “I had a horrible panic attack, and they injected me with something, I don’t know what it was.”

  Leo helped her out of the chair and put his arm around her waist to support her, as she tried her best to walk on her own. Just as Leo touched the door handle, it turned on its own, and a large nurse walked in.

  “We’re leaving,” Leo said forcefully as he tried to get past

  the nurse and to the door.r />
  The nurse quickly blocked him and pressed the buzzer next to the door. Within seconds, the tall man that had forcefully escorted Leo out of the building earlier in the week was standing in the doorway.

  “Lamar, we have a small problem here. This man is trying to steal one of our patients,” the nurse said with an evil smirk on her face.

  “We can’t have that now, can we?” Lamar replied as he pulled out the syringe he had hidden behind his back.

  “What are you going to do to us?” Leo asked as he held Larisa tight to protect her. His heart was racing; he was asking questions trying to stall while he thought of a plan. Leo wasn’t sure which way to go; if he goes left, he runs into the nurse, if he goes right, he runs right into the man holding the syringe. There appeared to be no way out.

  Suddenly he remembered the Sunshine 32, one of his favorite football plays. Leo knew if he faked to the left, they would probably go left, and he and Larisa could get out the door. It was worth a shot; it had worked several times before when he was playing pro ball. Leo started shifting left, and sure enough, both the nurse and the man moved left. Leo went for it, he pushed the man hard in the chest, and Lamar fell backward into the nurse, which cleared the way right up the middle and to the door.

  Leo and Larisa quickly ran towards the back exit. He could see someone standing in the back hallway, but didn’t think that person saw them, so he quickly pulled Larisa into another room to hide. Once inside, Leo was surprised to see shelves and tables with several tiny needles and what appeared to be the tracking chips, just like Sofia said, laying on the tables.

  “Stay close, I’m going to get us out of here, I’m just not sure how yet.” Before Leo could hatch a new plan, a young

  woman with a short blonde bob walked in.

  “I’m sorry, but you two aren’t supposed to be in here. What are your names, I’ll find out which room you are supposed

  to be in.”

  Leo had no intention of telling her his name and quickly grabbed Larisa’s hand and pulled her out the door. They quickly tried to get around the last corner and out the door, but as soon as they turned the corner, they ran smack dab into Lamar and his large syringe.