The Guilt That Lies Within

Chapter Six

I couldn't comprehend what had just happened. My face dripped with blood as I slowly opened the door.

"Dr. Stefano you have a-... Oh my God! What happened? I'll call the police," Mia shouted, in a hysteric state, as she scrambled to grab the phone.

"No," I immediately replied, "don't call anyone, I'm fine."

Her voice softened, "okay, well you have a call on line two waiting for you in your office."

I nodded, trying to ignore my jaw that throbbed into my ears, while I walked towards my office. I had to give that woman a raise soon, I thought. I wouldn't have a practice if it wasn't for people like Mia. I often took her for granted; treating her like a secretary that could have been instantly replaced. I sighed, pushing the green light that blinked next to the line two on the phone.

"Dr. Stefano speaking," I said softly, in attempts to not cause any more pain to my face.

I instantly recognized the voice as Lucas's, "hey, Zach, I've got the information on Spencer Blake and Landon Walker you asked for. Want me to have them faxed over?"

"Oh yeah, right. Uhm sure. Have them faxed to me, not to the office."

"What? No thank you," Lucas sounded smug.

"Thanks, Lucas," my eyes rolled as I struggled to thank him.

"I was thinking more like, 'thank you so much, Lucas! I don't know what I would do without you. You're my best friend!'."

I chuckled at his impersonation of me, "I'll talk to you later, Luc."

Eventually, I stood and walked to the corner of my office. My heart began to beat against my chest, like a lion as it tried to escape from its cage; it felt like an eternity for the two pages to print. I didn't know why I was so anxious to read them. Perhaps, I was scared I would discover something I didn't want to. Based on how she acted at ACE, something must have happened to her. The question was now, what? Somehow, I mustered the courage to grab the papers from the fax machine. My hands trembled as I placed them on my desk. After a few moments, I grabbed Spencer's report, here goes nothing, I thought.

My eyes slowly scanned over the page. '...broken right arm... internal bleeding... shattered patella... broken wrist... vaginal wall tearing...' My heart clutched deep in my chest as I read through Spencer's medical history. All these injuries couldn't just be coincidental, could they? My heart-ache was soon replaced with rage; if these injuries weren't an accident, who could have done this to her? What monster could have allowed this to happen? They would be killed for touching a single hair on her, precious, little head. I slammed the page onto my desk, which caused pens and folders to fly everywhere. Glancing at the materials on the floor, I ignored them and reached for Landon's report.

I was not surprised by Landon's criminal record, as I looked at my face in the mirror that sat to my right. He shouldn't be around Spencer. For all I knew, he was the one who hurt her. After I read both of their reports, it only raised more questions. Who hurt her? How did they know each other? Why was her ex-boyfriend in prison? How, in God's name, wasn't Landon in prison?

"Dr. Stefano, a woman by the name of, Spencer is here to see you," Mia's voice rang through the intercom.

The colour drained from my face, "uh, okay. Send her in," I nervously said as I shoved the reports into the top right drawer of my desk.

I walked to the front of my desk, as I leaned against the warm cedar. My stomach suddenly dropped as I realized she was about to walk through my door. Frantically, I took off my white coat and threw it at the leather chair behind me. While I walked back to the front of the desk, I rolled my sleeves up to the middle of my forearm and sighed. I saw the door handle slowly turn, as my heart rate increased, and the door gently opened.