𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 (on hold)

| 𝟏𝟔 |

The board was not happy, but I had managed to persuade them that it was actually better for my mental health to be back at work. I was sure they were secretly delighted— having more people working was always better.

It was almost like a breath of fresh air to be back in front of the counter, waiting for Cheryl— my least favourite receptionist— to give me my lanyard. I had been issued a new one after the hostage incident, which was good, because I was pretty sure I had accidentally thrown it out.

Cheryl scooted back to me on her chair, holding my lanyard in her hand. She flared her nostrils like she was unhappy to see me, and her mouth stayed in an impressively straight line.

I grabbed my lanyard off her, offering a grim smile as I popped it over my head. Before I could walk away, though, Cheryl's screeching voice echoed in my direction,
"Dr Ellis— you need to head into meeting room two before you begin work."

My forehead scrunched as I pulled my eyebrows together,
"Why?"

Cheryl blinked three times at me, her mouth very closely resembling a puckered asshole,
"Someone here to meet you."

I had to hold myself back from rolling my eyes at her purposeful vagueness. One thing I had learnt about Cheryl over the years was that she loved knowing more than me.

I thought my high IQ must have offended her at some point down the line, because now she held every small piece of information against me, revelling in the tiny amount of power it gave her.

I didn't give her the luxury of me questioning her any further, knowing it would just boost her ego. I nodded, stepping away from the desk and towards a different set of double doors.

These doors led into a much nicer corridor. This one was carpeted, and smelled less of sterility and chemicals. I had learnt to love the smell over the years— much preferring it over the smell of blood.

It was funny that I almost missed the hospital smell in this corridor.

Meeting room two was half way down the corridor, with a pale wooden door and silver handle. It had a basic plaque in the middle of it, simply reading:

Meeting Room 2
Knock Before Entry

I did knock, lightly. A muffled male voice pierced the eery silence of the corridor,
"Come in."

I turned the silver handle, pushing the door open. Then, I froze entirely. Inside were two police officers, sat at the other side of the table. They looked friendly, but I could imagine that whatever they were about to say wouldn't be friendly.

I wondered how they found out. Did someone spot us? WS Matthias actually some kind of triple-layered spy and he turned me in? I had no clue.

But, instead of putting me in handcuffs, the male police officer slid a tray across the table, towards me,
"You want a biscuit?"

I shook my head, still frozen at the door. The female police officer, sat at the man's side, frowned at me,
"It's alright, Dr Ellis. We're just here to talk about your situation— the Monday before last."

I took a deep breath at her words. It made sense, I guessed. I was shocked they hadn't approached me before today. She seemed to read my mind, as she said,
"We wanted to speak to you earlier than this, but we believed your mental health was not stable enough until now."

Oh, if only they knew. I nodded, forcing my legs to step away from the door, shutting it behind me, and taking a seat across the table. I picked up a chocolate biscuit and began eating it.

The male police officer smiled,
"Great. I'm officer Lohan, and this is officer Daley."

They both nodded professionally, and I nodded back, if a little anxiously. Daley seemed to pick up on it, like she seemed to pick up on everything, and she smiled reassuringly,