A knock interrupted him, and the receptionist entered. She moved to his side, shooting a quick glance at Chrissy. “Here’s your water, Doctor Abrams. Can I get you anything else?”
“No, that’s all I need. Thanks, Lecia. And would you shut the door on your way out?”
After the receptionist left, Joshua handed a pill and the water to his patient. “Take this, Chrissy.” After she’d swallowed the pill, Joshua sat the water glass on a nearby table and took her hand. “Chrissy, what happened? Did Dale do this?”
Chrissy nodded without speaking. “It was my fault, Doctor Abrams. I woke him up.” She lifted her other hand to cover her mouth, and Joshua heard her choke with sobs. “He’s gonna be so pissed if he finds out I left!” she moaned, her words catching in her throat.
“Does he know you’re here?” Joshua asked.
“No,” she replied. “He was asleep when I left.”
“Chrissy, we’ve talked about this. None of this is your fault! Dale is responsible for his own actions. The fact that you woke him up does NOT justifythis!” He took both her hands in his. “Chrissy, listen to me! Let me place you in a women’s shelter. There’s a wonderful facility on Sachem Place. He won’t be able to touch you there!”
Chrissy pulled her hands free and tried to rise. “I can’t, Doctor Abrams. He’d only come after me, and then things would get a thousand times worse.”
“They can protect you at the shelter, Chrissy!”
“I’m not ready for that,” she stammered. “I’m just not ready!”
Joshua held onto her hands and started to speak, but Chrissy pulled free and stood. “I appreciate your help, Doctor Abrams, but I have to go home.” She hesitated and looked at him, her eyes wide with appeal. “Could you go with me, Doctor Abrams? Maybe you could talk to him!”
Joshua lowered his head. He understood Chrissy’s desire to interpose a buffer between herself and Dale, but Joshua knew it could not be him. Direct contact with a patient’s abusive partner was never a good idea. This was not a relationship problem. The crux of this problem was power and control. If Dale suspected that Joshua was trying to wrest control from him, he might well harm Chrissy in order to regain it.
“Chrissy, I can’t. That would only make a difficult situation worse. Your best solution is to let me place you in a shelter where you’d be safe from his abuse.”
“Doctor Abrams, going to the shelter would only make him madder. I’d have to go home eventually, and god only knows what he’d do to me then. I don’t have any family I can turn to.” She lowered her head, struggling to control her sobs. “Besides,” she said finally, her voice trembling with tears, “I love him. I honestly believe he can change.” She backed toward the door. “I have to go, Doctor Abrams. I don’t want him to know I was here. It would only make things harder for me.”
“Can you make it to your appointment this week? We can talk more about it then.”
“I’ll try,” she stammered. “I’ll call you if I can’t get away.” She inched toward the door. “Thank you, Doctor Abrams. I’ll be OK.”
“Chrissy, please. Don’t go back tonight. Just spend one night at the shelter. Talk to the folks there. Let them help you!”
Chrissy paused in the doorway, her eyes lowered, then she shook her head. “I can’t Doctor Abrams. I can’t.”
As Joshua watched, she turned and moved toward the clinic’s exit. He hissed out a frustrated breath and rose. At his desk, he stood for a moment staring down then slammed his fist onto the desktop. “Goddammit anyway!”
He understood that the reasons victims stay with their abusers were complex and multi-layered. Chrissy had been his patient for a month, and it hadn’t taken Joshua long to diagnose the violent emotional dynamic dominating her life. Two people, drawn together by their own emotional insecurity, lived out a delicate and precarious dance which moved them from stress-filled arguments, to violent outbursts, to tearful reunions, to short-lived honeymoons, to be followed again by more stress-filled arguments as the dance renewed itself.
Joshua had seen this dynamic play out more than once. He had lived it himself as the child of an abusive alcoholic. As a healer, he wanted to believe there was hope for Dale’s redemption. But years of experience had taught him that abusive situations like these only ended well when the victim managed to disentangle their life from that of their abuser. Leaving was usually the only option which had the potential to bring lasting healing.
But Chrissy refused to leave, and there was nothing that Joshua could do to change her mind. She had to come to that decision on her own. His only recourse was to plead with her to enter the shelter and sever ties with her abusive husband. He couldn’t even report her assault to the police, forbidden by the ethics of doctor-patient confidentiality. All he could do was wait and hope she would find the inner courage to leave the situation before something deadly occurred.
* * *
At homethat night he moped next to Colin on the couch, unable to wrench his mind away from his patient’s dire circumstances and overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness.
“What’s up, bud?”
“Oh,” Joshua sighed, “I’ve got a patient who’s driving me crazy. She’s in an abusive relationship but won’t let me place her in a shelter.” He turned to gaze into Colin’s eyes. “I’m afraid for her, Colin. Her husband is the worst kind of abuser. He takes no responsibility whatsoever for his actions and has threatened to kill her if she leaves him.”
Colin frowned and stared down at the sofa for a moment. “Can’t you report him to the cops?”
“I can’t! She’s legally an adult, and unless he has access to children or vulnerable adults, I’m bound by doctor-patient confidentially.”
“Well that fucking sucks,” Colin muttered, then reached to stroke Joshua’s hair. “Josh, promise me you’ll never get directly involved with this guy.”
“I’ve never even met him,” Joshua said.
