Free For All

Chapter 2

Doctor Elizabeth Blackwell peered over the edge of her bug eye spectacles, perched over an artfully crooked nose. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Name?" Her voice was crisp, a tone that practically announced that its owner was a staunch supporter of an all-work-and-no-play policy.

"Ellyda Atwood." She kept her voice from betraying her intense annoyance and boredom, somewhat surprised Doctor Blackwell couldn't already feel it rolling off of her in waves.

"Hello Ellyda, I'm Doctor Blackwell."

Ellyda had to apply monumental effort to keep from rolling her eyes. She pointedly eyed the huge plaque on the doctor's prized cherry wood desk, proudly announcing: Doctor Elizabeth Blackwell, child psychology specialist.

"I know."

"So Ellyda, tell me about yourself." Doctor Blackwell leaned back in her comfortably padded chair.

"My name is pronounced 'Ail-lie-da', not 'Eel-ea-da', for starters," This time it was Ellyda's turn to lean back in her straight-backed chair, watching with barely concealed satisfaction as a slow blush suffused the tips of the doctor's ear, thinly veiled by her blonde hair.Doctor Blackwell coughed,

"Well Ellyda, your mother has told me you suffer from," She peered at her notes, "A case of acute depression, insecurity and anxiety. Could you please elaborate on that, what insecurities do you have?"

Ellyda bared a wide smile "Of course I'll elaborate," She waited till a thinly veiled, triumphant smile graced the doctor's lipstick stained lips. "I'll elaborate on how you're blind as a bat if you can't see that it's my mother who suffers from those aforementioned maladies and a phony to boot if you can't recognise clear symptoms of psychological projection."

Doctor Blackwell's smile dissolved away, fixing Ellyda with a blue-eyed, steely gaze. She closed he eyes, breathing in and out deeply, conscious of Ellyda's immense satisfaction at making her lose her cool.

"Ellyda," When she spoke again her voice was kind, sympathetic eyes opened up to stare at her. "I understand it's not easy to hash out about your feelings, but accept, acceptance is first step to recovery."

Ellyda apathetically leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Doctor Blackwell took this as initiative to continue, " Think of it this way. A madman hardly ever confesses to being insane, in fact, he staunchly believes he is completely sane. Only by accepting our illnesses can we move forward."

Ellyda furrowed her brows, sick of being treated like she was crazy, like her insecurities were an illness that she needed to be cured of, not something that made her. She lazily opened her eyes, they were brimming with fire but when she spoke, her voice held a controlled calm.

"So if I call you mad, would you accept it? No, you wouldn't because you know you're not crazy, contrarily to what everyone else claims but if I insist that you are, you will eventually lose your cool and lash out, allowing me to take your anger and denial as further proof that you are, in fact, crazy. That's exactly what you're doing to me right now. You have no proof I'm depressed, I deny that I'm depressed, yet you're still trying to make me agree to something that is false and when I eventually get angry you will inevitably diagnose me with anger management problems."

Ellyda let her fingers run over a crack in the desk, fully at ease, "Now that I've proven how inadequate you are as a psychologist, may I leave?"

"Don't you dare give me cheek, young lady!" Doctor Blackwell had turned a nice shade of cherry red, her fists clenched.

Ellyda gasped before letting her mouth tilt up into a slow smirk, "Is that diversion I hear doctor, you know its a form of denial don't you?" She leaned forward, her innocent brown eyes looking up into the doctors blue ones with utmost sincerity. "Are you angry? Tut tut, doctor, looks like Ill have to diagnose you with anger issues now."