Unforgettable (OLD COPY DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 3

"Hello Kara, how are we today?"

I look up to see that my therapist, Mrs. Nox, is watching me expectantly, the pretty woman crossing her legs from where she sits in an antique armchair. The fabric of the chair is a deep shade of green as mahogany framing rims it and she idly taps her fingertips against it. I shift uneasily in a matching armchair as I sit across from her and try to find the right words to express the tangle of thoughts in my mind.

An Eagles vinyl record spins in the corner of the room on a turn table, the telltale chords for the beginning of 'Hotel California' softly trickling from the speakers.

If only she knew about the memes.

I push the thought from my mind as I take a breath to speak, "I'm...disturbed."

Mrs. Nox tilts her head, her neatly braided hair sliding to the side in a flash of ginger as her nearly nonexistent eyebrows furrow.

"And why's that?"

The shades on the window are open to let in the sun, which catches on her blond eyelashes and accents the spots of amber in her green eyes. I don't hesitate to tell her the truth, we've spoken enough over the past couple of months and I know that she'll listen as I clear my throat.

"My sister came to visit yesterday and...I had finished up my swim practice," I say as she nods along.

"Of course, you have a swim-meet coming up that you've been training hard for," she interjects.

"Yes, but when I had left to get dressed, I-...I saw some things," I trail off as I suddenly feel ashamed, the words stopping in my throat like wads of cotton.

"Kara, you can tell me what you saw," Mrs. Nox urges me in a low voice.

I swallow a few times as I clasp my hands in my lap, "The lights flickered and there was...," my mouth dries up at the thought of the word, "red...dripping from the ceiling."

"Like blood?" Mrs. Nox suggests and I cringe.

"Yes, and then the lights turned back and it was gone, I don't know what to think," I tell her honestly as her lips press into a line.

"Hmm, but you say that it disappeared, correct?" she asks as she narrows her eyes thoughtfully.

"Yes...I...I felt like it was so real though," I protest as I remember the fear that I had felt, along with being able to smell the blood.

"You're a senior in high school, the year is almost up and you're preparing for a swim meet, along with a polo match, Kara, you're under a huge amount of stress and I don't think that you've healed enough from your trauma," Mrs. Nox explains as she sits up in her chair.

"If you're expecting me to quit," I begin to say, but she lifts a hand to calm me.

"I'm not saying that, I'm saying that you need to find a balance, you need time off to relax and clear your mind," she proposes as she writes something down on her notepad. "If you're thinking that you're going crazy, you're not, I won't let you."

I relax into my armchair as I fidget with my sleeve, "Thanks."

"I'd recommend keeping up with your new dosage for just one more week and then we'll see where we are, I think I've almost gotten the dosage correct for you," she says as she clicks her pen and clips it to her clipboard.