Severed: A Novella by H.G. Reed

Author:H.G. Reed [Reed, H.G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-10-26T22:00:00+00:00

NOW

THE VOICE IN MY HEAD hasn’t stopped its incessant nagging since Mom made the appointment earlier this week. Today is Friday.

The big day…not.

I’m beginning to regret my decision to have any part in this crime drama. I sit in the lobby of what looks like a preschool. Its primary colors slap me in the retinas as I try to look at anything other than the floor full of toys and the table displaying magazines that promise to make its readers better parents.

“Dr. Simmons is ready for her four o’clock.”

This is their way of not calling the patients by their first and last name. Confidentiality. I guess I’ve achieved special status now that their ethical code applies to me. The lobby is full of people, and most of them are under the age of twelve, so I doubt they’re paying any attention to my name anyway.

I stand and give Mom a reassuring look. She waits to see if I will allow her to come back with me, but I know the rules. Just like with the detective, I’m a grown-up now, and grown-ups don’t need their mommies to hold their hand. I squeeze hers anyway. For her sake, I let her believe this is the least threatening of my appointments in the last two years. For me, it’s as terrifying as having my head sliced open again, except this doctor doesn’t need a scalpel.

“Welcome, Rory,” a young therapist greets me as I enter the room.

The walls are a bluish gray with white trim. It looks like a living room and I immediately scan the room for cameras. It feels like a stage, a poor imitation of home and comfort. It might fool a fifth grader, but not me. I give the potted plant a side eye. I don’t trust it, the room, and especially not the lady in it.

“Hi.”

“Please have a seat wherever you’re comfortable. Today will be our first session—”

No shit.

“— and I’d like to spend some time getting to know one another.”

“That’s okay. I’m kind of on a time crunch, so we can just skip to the part where you tell me what to do.”

She smiles in a way that tells me she knows more than I do. She already knows how this whole process works, and she holds all the secrets to the magic—another wizard behind a curtain.

“Then let’s dispel some myths, and give you a peek into what therapy is actually like,” she says.

My jaw practically hits the floor.

She’s a mind reader too.

I should be glad, but instead I distrust her even more. I don’t like that someone can know my thoughts as I think them. It’s unsettling.

Her overt kindness shifts and she steps out from behind her desk, settling into the armchair across from me.

“Tell me about yourself, Rory. Is it okay that I call you that?”

“Sure, it’s my name after all. Is it okay that I call you Dr. Simmons?” I mock.

“Actually, I prefer Josie. So tell me a little about who you are.”

“You know everything.

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