Encounter

Chapter Thirteen

It had been two hours since Nathan had called the doctor. The sky was darkening now, hints of the sun rays painted within the evening sky. It was getting darker, when the doctor finally arrived at the house. He pulled up into the driveway in a silver estate car, which had a large green strobe light on the top.

The doctor parked the car and climbed out of the driver's seat. He was a plump, short man with a bald head. He was well into his forties and wore horned rimmed spectacles. The doctor grabbed his bag from the front seat and walked slowly up the path to the front door.

He didn't have much chance to knock on the door before Nathan threw it open.

"I called for you two hours ago now," Nathan shouted. "What if my wife was dying up there." The doctor stood there and stared up at Nathan, he was not taken aback by Nathan's attitude toward him. The doctor then gave him a smile.

"Mr Willows, if your wife was dying, I would suggest that you had called the ambulance service," The doctor said in a dry but well-spoken tone. "And not call the general out of hours' doctor, I have other patients to see as well as your wife. Most people with any form of common sense would know that you see."

The doctor then pushed past Nathan, not waiting for an invitation and rested his coat down on the back of the sofa. He then turned to Nathan with a look of boredom.

"Now what seems to be the problem here this evening," He asked in a lazy tone. The doctor rested his body against the sofa, his general demeanour coming across as if he was not taking the situation entirely seriously.

Nathan ignored the tone and went on to explain the days' events, with Sarah's outbursts, her assaulting the police officer, that she had been telling him over the last week that she was seeing a big black wolf and a skeleton.

"You see it was the officer who told me to contact the doctor, he was concerned about her mental state," Nathan went on. The doctor then stood up straight, anger replacing his disinterested face.

"You mean to tell me that there was a police officer here and he expressed concerns about her mental capacity and just left her with you alone," The doctor said angrily.

Nathan backed away slightly, feeling slightly intimidated which was uncommon for him. "Yes, he said to call the doctor to come and check on her," Nathan replied.

"That is outrageous. He can't just express concerns and just leave. What if she had attacked you and killed you after he had left or heaven forbids taken her own life," The doctor ranted. "Did he say which aspect of her mental health he was concerned about."

"Doctor have you not been listening to a word I have been saying for the past few minutes? Have you not taken in what my wife has been doing and saying?" Nathan replied, getting fed up of the Doctor's attitude. "The officer said she was suffering from sort of mental breakdown, he said it was quite common."

"Oh did he now, well you don't need my medical opinion then do you if the officer has made that call. Of course, I have been listening to what you have been telling me," The doctor said, walking over to his bag. "That officer, however, had no right in making that assessment without the backing of a medically trained professional."

The doctor pulled a lime green folder out from within his bag and opened it up. "From reading the symptoms that you passed the receptionist when you called into the surgery, and from what you have told me here, I strongly believe that she is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, with a high probability of depression."

"Will she have to go to a clinic if she has this post thingy, whatever you call it?"

The doctor shook his head.

"No. I will go up and do my examination on her. If she is still restless; I will administer her with a mild sedative to help her relax. PTSD can be treated with therapy and even some drug intervention, depending on how severely the mind has been affected by the crash."

"That great news," Nathan said, his mood picking up slightly. "She is upstairs, just go up the stairs and it's the end door on the left," Nathan said pointing towards the staircase.

The doctor walked over to the staircase and disappeared up them.