Saving Each Other

CHAPTER 1

I took a bite of the delicious chocolate croissant that I bought this morning, I went through the notes I'd taken from my previous patient just before my next appointment with a new client. I hear a knock on the door, "come in," I said as I clear my table and welcome my client. It was a very beautiful blonde with frazzled locks that had been roughly combed through, she had emerald green eyes wearing a plain white A-line silhouette dress with dark brown flat pump shoes. She was obviously not completely pulled together. I introduced myself with a warm smile. "Hi, you must be Elizabeth. I'm Bluebell. Your counselor for today." "H-hey...Yeah, please call me El." She added, trying her very best to look untroubled. Her eyes looked like they were exhausted from crying for days and her voice cracked each time she talked. "Sure. Please take a seat El." I said politely as I sat on the comfortable sofa chair opposite my table. "Now tell me, how are you today?" I added. "I am as I was few weeks ago. I decided to see a shrink because my friends insisted since the incident." she grievously added. I humbly tell her, "Please feel free to explain everything in detail about the incident and how you feel about it." "And would you like some water or anything else to drink?" I added. "A glass of water please, thanks." She replied. As I poured some water in a glass she crossed her hands tightly and tried her best not to shed the tiny drops tears in her eyes from rolling down to her cheeks. With a cracked voice she explained, "Few weeks ago I was with my boyfriend who is my ex now, Jake. We dated since high school and he even proposed to me right before he murdered my father." I was startled. Every day I talk to different people who tell me about the most bizarre things that they had been through but I still end up so shocked listening what they'd been through. How can people be so cruel? The love of her life turned out to be a cold blooded killer. "My father was the most caring human being; he even used to gift awesome things to Jake considering him as his future son-in-law. But turned out my dad overheard him talking to another woman planning to marry me and trying to inherit my dad's business. He even said that he loved me until we graduated but then he was in desperate need of money so he decided to take such a step. My dad was shocked and slapped Jake out of anger, after a failed attempt to blackmail my dad, Jake took a kitchen knife and stabbed my dad." She added as she burst out crying. I stand up and get the box tissues and hand it to her and tell her to take a deep breath. As she breathes in and out I pat her shoulder. "Your dad fought for you till the end. He must love you so much." I add. "Why did he have to kill my father? I wouldn't mind if he just asked for money, but killing my dad?!" she weeped. As a psychiatrist I have to help her cope with the death of her loved one with the stage-based model; the four tasks of mourning which includes helping her accept the reality of the loss of her father, work through the pain of grief and adjust life without the people she'd lost. So I sit back down and hold her hand, she was shaking from disbelief. "First of all you need to know that we cannot undo something that has been done. You cannot go back in time and save your dad, it wasn't your fault that Jake turned out to be that way. People can go to all extents trying to get what they want." I added. "I haven't been able to eat and sleep for days now because I keep thinking of my dad's death and how Jake must have fallen out of love for money." She went on. I wrote down in my notebook about her irregular patterns of eating and sleeping and said, "About that, you need to get your blood pressure checked and I also need to know if there are any symptoms of malnutrition. I will arrange a schedule for you for your extracurricular activities and your diet plan until you fully regain your physical and mental health." "Yes I will do that. Please help me get through this because I can hardly concentrate in college and at work." She added. "It is my job to help you go through this. You just need to cooperate with me." I said as I walked her out.

I looked at my wrist watch and packed up my stuff. I stopped by Marty's. Marty's is the best dinner in town and believe me they have the best milkshake. Marty may be old but he is young at heart. He has seen me grow up from a troubled kid to an independent woman and I can say it's all thanks to his motivation. He is always with me through the best and the worst days of my life. After mum and dad passed he was my only guardian. He is a single dad with one son who's a few years younger than me. He is currently in studying medicine abroad. Due to my busy schedule I had to move to a new home after I got a job at the counseling centre so that I didn't have to worry Marty about getting home late or disturb him when I leave early. "Hey Blue!! Good to see you, would you like the usual?" "Yes Marty! What would I ever do without you? " I added. As I looked for my wallet, Marty came with a bag of cookies and said, "There you go dear, enjoy." "Ahhhh! Thank you so much. I'm making lasagna this Sunday so book a table for two!" I concluded as I walked out the door. Marty and I always spent Sundays together going shopping, catch a movie or help him out at the dinner and go back home after dinner.

As I got home, I removed my coat, tossed my handbag on the sofa, turned the T.V on and pulled out the box of Marty's freshly baked cookies and sipped my milkshake. I'd eat cookies and milkshake every once a week after work so I didn't really have to worry about my sugar level. After I was done with the snacks, I hear Scarlet, my roommate and best friend come in from work. Since we were roommates in college we became close friends and planned to live together and share out our rents after we start working. "Honey I'm home!" she screams. "Oh God! Scarlet! For the tenth time, you do not have a boyfriend!" I added and laughed. "Oh shut up Blue." She added. She excitedly added,"Bethany finally found a kidney donor and I performed her surgery, it went well, I'm just glad there weren't any complications." "Thank goodness. I was so worried about her, she doesn't even have any kids to support her." I added. Bethany is a very kind old lady who is also our neighbor. Few days ago she had a kidney failure, luckily Scarlet is one of the best surgeons in town, so she helped her out with the surgery. Bethany often makes us breakfast and sometimes makes us snacks on lazy days. She is like a mother to both Scarlet and I so Scarlet took care of all her hospital bills. "She will be discharged on Sunday night." Scarlet added. I smiled and said, "Oh that's great! I'll make more lasagna!"

Later that evening, I went through some documents and checked how many appointments I had the next day. I had just one appointment tomorrow so I'd have time to go grocery shopping and prepare for my lasagna the day after. I went through the patient's profile; Turned out I had an appointment with Eden Mueller, the CEO of Mueller Tech Company. I have never seen him in person but I have heard of him because Mueller Tech is one of the largest information technology companies worldwide and almost everyone uses their IT equipment. He is just 26 which made him one of the youngest CEOs in the country. Even though this is not my job interview but I am really nervous about meeting him. I got the butterflies and I just wonder what a billionaire like him is going through. But I also believe that everyone feels the same pain despite their social class.