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𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐢'𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧
ꜱᴏɴɢ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ
𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝐣𝐩𝐬𝐚𝐱𝐞, 𝐣𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐬
On her first day back, Mallory Shepherd was in one of the conference rooms with Andrew Perkins for the first of her therapy sessions in order to get cleared to return to surgery. Her arms were crossed as she sat in the chair, wishing to be anywhere else.
In our own way, we shed our skin.
Biologically, we're brand-new people.
"You know, I have my own therapist," Mallory started to object. "I don't need to be here—"
"You may not want to be here," Andrew Perkins interrupted with a knowing look. "But if you want to go back to operating, you are required to meet with me."
"Fine," Mallory grumbled as she slouched back into her chair. "Whatever."
"So," the man cleared his throat. "Are you happy to be back at the hospital after your leave of absence?"
With a roll of her eyes, Mallory answered. "If I'm being honest, no. I could've stayed in New York for a few more weeks."
"Oh, okay," Andrew Perkins looked surprised by her answer and was quick to ask. "Why is that?"
"Well, it was nice not to have the blunt reminder of what happened," Mallory replied with a simple shrug. "I needed to figure out what my game plan was. I mean, I almost left my son without parents because a shooter decided to come here."
"And then you signed yourself out of the hospital AMA after you were barely healed?" he concluded as he glanced at her chart. "Then you fled to New York, was it?"
"That's about it," Mallory nodded slowly. "I'm sure that gives you something to write down."
We may look the same. We probably do.
Andrew Perkins tapped his pen slowly before he presented her with a new question. "I'm just wondering what was going through your mind when you decided to leave? What made you pack your bags and leave without telling anyone? That's drastic, wouldn't you say?"
"I wouldn't say it's drastic, no. I'd say it's a pattern of behavior," Mallory clarified, using the words that Violet Turner had used to describe it. "When things get bad, sometimes, it's easier to go away for a while."
"A pattern of behavior?" he repeated with furrowed brows. "So, this isn't the first time this has happened?"
"The first time was when I was little, maybe 10?" Mallory explained, just barely remembering the details. "I lived with my older brother Derek and his then-girlfriend, Addison. They were fighting, and I didn't like it. I took off to my sister's house in Connecticut. When I was a teenager, my friends and I found that going out of the country was more our style."
