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“Tell me about that.”
I launch into the story of the stranger who bumped into me and Bhodi’s overreaction to the whole thing, answering the doctor’s questions as I go. I tell him about seeking refuge in the library and why I liked it there, Summer’s intervention and the tablets that I still need to take.
Was it weird that the stranger freaked me out and Bhodi’s touch didn’t? Yes. Can I explain why? No.
The doctor listens, never offering his thoughts, only his ever-patient attention until I run out of things to talk about. Today’s session has left me feeling more drained than usual, and I already have lots more questions scribbled down in my notebook to contemplate this week.
“Okay, our time is nearly up here. Are you ready for this week’s assignment?”
“Yes.”
“It was going to be to go to a place on campus that you feel safe, outside of your room, but it seems like you’re ahead of me. So this week I want you to listen to a playlist I’ve put together for you and keep a journal of your reactions and thoughts of the music. How does that sound?”
“Manageable. It’s nice listening to music again.”
“Well maybe once you’ve listened to my playlist, you can share yours with me.”
You’ll have to share yours with me sometime.
I blink.
“Malia? Are you okay?”
“Yes. Sorry. I just had a…memory of something I guess.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Someone said something similar to me once. And I remember thinking they had just asked me to bare my soul to them.”
“What do you think that means?”
“I guess it means that, once upon a time at least, music meant a lot to me.”
“Music is an excellent way of exploring and expressing emotions, as you’ll see with this week’s assignment. I look forward to you baring your soul to me,” he says with a gentle smile that lets me know he’s joking.
“Thank you, Doctor. I’ll see you next week.”
“I look forward to it, Malia. But if you need me before then, I’m only ever an email away.”
“Thank you.”
We say our goodbyes and I close down my laptop, feeling tired. I’ll just lie down for a minute, I think as my eyes flutter closed.
* * *
Summer goes mental when she turns up to give me my nighttime medication and finds out I hadn’t taken the daytime pills she left for me. I forgot. And honestly, I felt fine without them. I feel fine now, apart from being woken up from an intriguing dream of flashes of dark hair and bottle green eyes.
But Summer is in a spin over the whole thing. I was all for just missing the day meds and taking my night ones, but Summer is worried about adverse effects so she’s called her parents to find out what to do with me.
Personally, I feel she’s being a bit dramatic, but her parents want me to go back to the hospital just to be safe.
Which is why I’m sat on the ferry to the mainland at stupid o’clock at night, currently in a bit of a strop with my bestie.
Better today than tomorrow. I don’t want to miss my date with Cove.
“Don’t be mad, MT. They just want what’s best for you.’’
“Who’s ‘they’?”
