Obsession: Callie Douglas, Book One

Chapter Seventeen

The next morning, I was up and dressed early, and in deference to the heat I put my hair up in a French twist and put on a black fifties-style sleeveless dress with a light white cardigan. I paired it with the pearl necklace and earrings my parents had bought for me to celebrate my graduation from med school. It was my version of looking like Grace Kelly.

I walked into Police Headquarters. My office was located in an out-of-the-way corner on the fourth floor, at the end of the hall next to the health clinic. I liked it that way. If officers felt that their privacy was being guarded, they'd be more likely to seek assistance.

Even though I got to work a few minutes early, Addison was there before me. "How was Mr. Hot and Sweaty last night?" she asked.

"It was great. I mastered three moves which I'm pretty proud of, as I'm the least athletic person around. And I made a good dinner last night, chicken with rice and broccoli in a mushroom cream sauce. I'm making him a roast beef dip for dinner tonight with homemade coleslaw. I just have to get the ingredients at the grocery store on the way home."

"So Mr. Hot and Sweaty has been staying for dinner?"

"It's the least I can do to thank him for spending his dinner hour teaching me self-defence", I said, somewhat defensively. "Besides, it's nice for me. It gives me some company in the evening."

"I wouldn't mind some company with him."

I laughed. "I don't have plans for lunch. Do you? I brought my lunch today."

"That would be great. Your first appointment is due in five minutes, just so you know."

My first person was Xavier Frankton, an inspector who had developed problems with anxiety. "I can't tell you how terrible it feels", he said. "You feel like your stomach is dropping out of your body at warp speed and there's nothing you can do about it. Your hands grow clammy, you have trouble slowing down your breathing, and you feel like your heart is speeding up to the point where you think that you're sure to have a heart attack. Through all this, you feel like you're on the verge of crying and your hands are shaky. It's embarrassing to have happen when you're in front of your staff, and I'm finding it more and more challenging to hide my difficulties from them."

"What you're describing is a panic attack. How often do you get them?"

"I'm getting them at least once per day."

"Think of the last one you experienced. Where were you?" With Xavier, we broke down the episode into where he was, what he was doing, the triggering event for the episode, how he was feeling, and what he was thinking. Then, we rebuilt the scenario. We took what he was thinking and assigned new thoughts, more rational thoughts, to the episode and when we had done that we identified the new feelings he felt as a result of the new thoughts. "I'm prescribing an antianxiety medication for you to take as needed, up to three a day. They may make you tired, so be a little careful with them. When you have an episode, put one under your tongue and let it dissolve. It will do so quite quickly. This will help you get over the hump while we work on learning new coping methods so that you're not troubled by panic attacks. I'd like to see you again in a week", I said, writing out a prescription.

When I walked out of Xavier's appointment, Brian Scott was already waiting for me. "You're early, I see. I just have to write some session notes and I'll be with you in a few minutes."

"All right, Brian, I'm ready for you now."

Brian stood and waited for his wrists and ankles to be released before preceding me into the office. I shut the door behind him as he walked through, then turned on the recorder. "How are you today?" I asked.