The Doctor's Homecoming by Fiona Marsden

Author:Fiona Marsden
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
ISBN: 9781958686676
Publisher: Tule Publishing Group, LLC
Published: 2023-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Trudie stared at Saul, at the tenderness in those pale eyes. How had she thought them cold? “Aren’t you disgusted?”

“Why should I be?”

“I did them all myself. The wrists first. That was the start. I liked it. The pain and blood loss was like a drug. I was euphoric when they found me and took me to hospital.”

“So you tried to get back to that place.”

“It never lasted. They put me in hospital and made me talk to psychologists. Then they sent me away to be talked at by psychiatrists.”

“Did it work? These all look old.”

“Yes and no. They put me into a foster home in the city, but I hated it. Then Allie Forster came to see me. They’d had a daughter who would have been about my age if she was alive, but they lost her when she was fourteen. Allie asked if I’d like to come home to the Crossing. I did it again, one last time, the day they brought me home.” She indicated the last cut on her left thigh, a little lower than the rest. “She sat with me at the hospital all day and then her husband, Rod, sat with me all night.”

“You stopped, just like that?”

“There was no point, was there? Not if they were going to stick around. Care about what happened to me. I’d never had that from adults, you see. They were good people. They’d already lost one daughter. I couldn’t do that to them. It wasn’t easy, but I started cooperating.”

“How long?”

She knew what he was asking. “Fourteen years, three months. I’m not medicated now.”

“Is that why you prefer a woman doctor?”

“I met Mel socially and we hit it off. I feel comfortable with her.”

“That’s important, to have that trust.”

It was weird. She expected him to be like a lot of the medical doctors she’d met over the years, dismissive of anything, because of the scars. Not many local people knew, or if they had, they’d forgotten. Some had been judgey. The clothes were a good distraction and most people never thought about what they might be hiding.

A whimper from the corner pulled his attention away and he released her wrists. “We’ll talk some more. I should get the dog home. She’s getting better at being her own company. It’s only when we go out it’s a problem.”

“I think in her former home she must have been used to company all the time, even if they weren’t actively playing with her. Which seems odd when you think how she was tossed out like trash.”

“It’s contradictory, but we might never know.” He hesitated. “Will you sleep all right?”

She grabbed her clothes and held them against her chest. In the calm after the storm, she felt exposed, even though his attention was half on the dog. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure you will be. But if by any chance you need to talk, or simply need company, I’m right next door. Even if you want to try again, and maybe I’ll do better this time.

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