Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“I like the diversity of it. A cardiologist treats the same thing for most of their career. Of course, new treatments and procedures move medicine forward, which is always exciting. But I liked that mental health patients were all so different, with varied diagnoses. Plus, during my clinical rotations, I asked every resident I worked with if they would recommend their field. Across the board in almost every specialty, only about forty percent said yes for one reason or another. But a hundred percent of the psychiatrists said yes, and usually with a smile.”
“I bet you get some interesting patients.”
My mind automatically goes to Gabriel. But I tamp down those thoughts and force myself to gaze across the table and not gawk at the door.
Robert and I spend the next hour talking over a delicious meal. Aside from medicine and having lost our spouses, we have other things in common, too. We’re both lefties, love psychological thriller movies, prefer cold-weather vacations to warm, and oddly, our grandparents were huge Elvis fans, which turned us into fans, too. After dinner, we stand outside the restaurant.
“So how was it?” Robert asks.
“Dinner? It was delicious.”
He smiles. “No, I meant your first dinner date in a decade.”
“Oh.” I laugh. “I had a really nice time. Thank you.”
But then I get a feeling, the kind that prickles the hair on the back of your neck because you’re certain someone is watching. My eyes dart around the street until they land on a figure down at the end of the block. It’s dark out, so it’s hard to see. But there’s definitely a person leaning against a building. As soon as I spot them, they pull up a hoodie and turn to face forward. The fabric drapes over the sides of their head so I can’t even make out a profile. But when a puff of smoke billows into the crisp air, my eyes widen.
Is that…?
Gabriel bought cigarettes once.
I squint to get a better look, but whoever it is shoves their hands into their pockets, pushes off the building, and starts walking in the other direction.
God, I’m really losing my mind.
Robert turns and looks over his shoulder. “Is everything okay?”
I keep staring, watching the person turn the nearby corner and disappear from sight. “Um, yeah. I’m sorry. I thought I saw someone I knew.” I force my attention back to my date, my heart racing wildly. “I’m sorry. You were saying?”
Robert reaches out and takes my hand. He laces our fingers and swings our joined palms playfully. “I was trying to work up the courage to ask you if you’d like to come back to my place and check out my Elvis collection and maybe have a drink. But no matter how many ways I practice saying it in my head, it sounds pretty cheesy.” He smiles, and I can tell it’s a nervous one. “I’m not ready for the night to end. It would just be a drink, I promise. I get that dating is new to you.”
Someone yells from down the block, the direction the person leaning against the building just went. But a few seconds later, two teenagers pop out from that same corner. They’re laughing as they jog across the street hand in hand. One of them is wearing a hoodie. Is that who it was? Just a kid? Though the hood is down now, and the color doesn’t look as dark as the other one. At least, I think it doesn’t. No, I’m wrong. It’s probably the same color. My mind is just screwing with me.
Isn’t it?
When I finally drag my attention back to my date, he smiles. “What do you say? One glass of wine and one Elvis album and I’ll call you an Uber?”
I look over his shoulder again. The street is empty now. Even the teenagers are gone. The stalker I’ve made up in my head is nowhere to be found. God, I really need to let this paranoia go. To let everything to do with my past go. And since there’s no better way to put the past behind you than to take a step forward, I force a smile. “Sure. I’d like that.”
CHAPTER 27 Now
Rebecca, I’m so glad to see you today.” I pull out a pen and a notepad, writing her name at the top. She sits in the same spot on the couch, legs crossed, wearing high heels and a short sundress she had to tuck carefully under her bottom, as though it’s July. Once again, she’s dressed revealingly—which in and of itself is fine. People can express themselves however they want to. But it’s a cool day, overcast, wind rustling through the early spring leaves just budding, and she must be freezing.
“Thanks.” She’s folded in on herself, shoulders curved. Hands pressed to her knee, Rebecca studies the bookshelf to my right as though it’s filled with something besides out-of-date, boring medical texts. Today I’ve kept my mind on work. Kept focused on my patients, and only occasionally let my mind wander to Gabriel. I’ve been texting with Robert, flirty texts, full of winking emojis. It feels cozy and warm, and I know that when this session ends, I’ll have messages from him.