Luca turned to him. ‘When did you decide this?’ he asked, bewildered.
‘Last night.’
‘Have you considered that our sessions might be forcing you to confront your issues and that they’re manifesting themselves into your insomnia and lack of appetite?’ said Jeffrey. ‘Perhaps we could explore this further—’
‘I studied medicine for six years before I became a junior doctor, Jeffrey; I didn’t log in to an online course, get a certificate for turning up and call myself qualified.’
Jeffrey allowed the dig to pass unchallenged.
‘So please don’t patronize me with a half-baked diagnosis. My work is the one thing I don’t have to defend to you. Under the terms of the Marriage Act, ruling three point one, each half of a counselled couple is entitled to up to five mental health recuperation days in any one bulk course of counselling. I am taking all mine together.’
‘If you can find a medical professional who signs off on it first.’
‘Check your emails, you’ll see I had a conference call with a consultant early this morning and she has approved it.’
Someone has done their homework, thought Jeffrey. He refreshed his tablet’s emails and located the message, which had arrived as he was preparing for today’s session. Noah had timed its arrival to disarm Jeffrey. Cunning recognized cunning.
‘Where will you be staying?’ Jeffrey asked.
Noah cocked his head.
‘Under the terms of the Marriage Act, ruling four point seven six, mental health breaks cannot be taken at the property in which you reside, or you risk a delay to the recovery process. So where will you go?’
‘Um, a friend’s house.’
‘Which friend?’ asked Luca.
‘I haven’t decided.’
‘As you’ve told me yourself, many of your friends view your Level Two status as “toxic”. Perhaps you had best start calling around now until you find one who is accepting of your situation?’
Noah’s jaw tightened before he left the room and disappeared upstairs, phone in hand. Luca followed, leaving Jeffrey alone. He inserted an ear pod and switched the Audite on.
‘It’s only for a few days,’ Noah said in their bedroom.
‘And how’s that going to help us?’ Luca replied.
‘You need to trust me.’
‘About what?’
‘What I said to you before about Jeffrey.’
Jeffrey’s eyes widened. He had missed that conversation.
‘While I’m gone, keep your guard up,’ Noah continued.
‘You’re being paranoid.’
‘We’ll know soon enough, won’t we?’
Jeffrey heard no more as both men began to whisper. And by the time Noah closed the front door behind him and Luca returned to the lounge, Jeffrey was trying to mask his frustration by pretending to type notes.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
‘I’m fine.’
‘I assume Noah’s decision has caught you off-guard, but it might be a good thing for you both to have some time apart. It will also allow you to process what we’ve been discussing. And I’m here to help in any way.’
