Meryl and Don: An Unforeseen Journey

Chapter 69

Don immediately didn't like this Dr. Schafer. He seemed cocky and arrogant. Don also noticed how the doctor was eyeing up Meryl and watching with intensity every time she crossed and uncrossed her legs. Don was sick and tired of men treating her like a piece of meat. Not just because she was his wife, but also because she was a human being and didn't deserve any of this. Don wrapped his arm around her as he tried not to explode as the doctor continued talking. He noticed how the doctor smiled when Meryl told him to call her by her first name as well as Don. "Go ahead, Meryl. Let's start from the beginning. I will listen and then talk about how we can fix you."

"She doesn't need fixing." Don said protectively. "She needs tools to help her cope."

Meryl smiled at her husband, unaware of what was going on in his mind, and kissed his cheek; she knew he was even more protective than ever of her and Henry. "That's what he meant, sweetheart."

"Just wanted to make sure." Don said staring straight at the doctor.

Dr. Shafer noted Don's body language. "Don, if you would rather not be in here for this then you can wait in the waiting room."

"NO!" Meryl jumped in before Don could. "I can't do this without him, I won't do this without him."

Don kissed her forehead. "And you WON'T. I'm not going ANYWHERE, Darl."

"Okay." Dr. Shafer said. "Go ahead, Meryl."

Meryl shook her head as she tightened her hold on Don. "Well, everything began with Mann back in April. I was doing press junkets in a hotel and he pretended to be part of the press. We learned later from my agent he wasn't. Everything was going okay until he mentioned that I fell in love with Don quickly after my boyfriend died, we then had our first baby a little over a year after we got married. Mann implied it was a mistake and asked if I regretted it."

"Did you?" Dr. Shafer asked her.

Meryl vehemently shook her head as she gave Don a small smile. "NEVER. NEVER HAVE. NEVER WILL. Don and our son have saved my life in so many ways. They are everything to me. Anyways, my agent quickly put a stop to this. When I was leaving the hotel I was given an envelope but didn't open it yet. All I wanted was to get home to Don and our son. Don and I had a date night in planned that night because we didn't have a sitter and I wanted to get home to him and Henry."

"Something we do all the time." Don said letting the doctor know to back off her.

Meryl smiled and nodded. "It wasn't until I was relaxing on the couch while Don was cooking for us that I opened the envelope. We were immediately scared because of the threats he was making; we decided to call my agent on Monday as I already knew he was checking into this. We kept Henry in our room that night. The next morning  Henry woke up early so I took him to the Farmer's Market while we were there Don got threatening messages and was immediately worried because we were gone."

"I was terrified he got to them." Don added.

Meryl nodded. "When we were out I felt that we were being watched and just wanted to get home to Don.  The threats kept coming. Don's breast friend is the ADA and we got him and the police involved. Don took us to safety. Mann was arrested and we came back to identify him while our son was safe with my parents. I wanted to see Mann and Don insisted on coming with me and Mann strangled him and almost killed him."

"He didn't, sweetheart." Don soothed as Meryl was getting upset. "He didn't."

The doctor was watching the scene unfold. "Why didn't you let her confront him alone?"

"Because he was hell bent on raping her and taking her away." Don tried not to explode. "She's my wife, and I will protect her and our family at all costs."