“How about you tell me what you hope to get out of our sessions.” He consulted the papers in front of him. “From your Army records you voluntarily discharged a year ago and you had a couple of sessions with an Army psychologist but nothing since. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Relax, Mitchell, you’re a civilian now and I’m just a regular guy with a fancy degree which gives me a few extra letters after my name.”
Mitch smiled and relaxed his shoulders a fraction. “In answer to what I want out of the sessions is an understanding of my PTSD attacks. I’ve been having them more and more recently and I don’t think it’s healthy for me to keep on ignoring them.”
“Acknowledging them and seeking help is the best way to start down the road to recovery. How about you describe to me what happens when you’re in an attack? Or tell me, if you know, the triggers that can cause you to have one.”
An hour later Mitch walked out of the building and breathed deeply. The sunlight hit his back, warming his shirt. The office had been cold and he welcomed the heat of the day. The session had been difficult and he’d had a minor attack while talking to Dr. Valero. The other man had helped Mitch out and they’d worked on how to combat the possible triggers. Mitch had also made an appointment to see him again in a couple of days. Now that he’d started the process he wanted to get to a stage where everything was manageable and he could go back to doing what he most wanted to do in his life—be a doctor. He loved being a doctor. Loved being able to help someone when they were injured. Operate on them to give them back their life. During his talk with his therapist he’d acknowledged that it wouldn’t always be successful that there would be times of tragedy and he would have to cope with that.
Mitch wasn’t about to march down to the medical center where Nadia worked to demand he be given a chance to be surgeon there, he wasn’t that dumb. To be able to get to where he wanted to be in life, he’d need more than just one therapy session. But in time, and after many more visits to Dr. Valero, he hoped he’d be able to get back to his purpose in life.
He couldn’t wait to tell Nadia what he’d learned and figured out in just one short session. The next chapter in his life was commencing and he wanted Nadia to feature on every page. She was becoming as important to him as breathing and he never thought he’d feel this way about a woman—ever.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Stop Cerise,that’s enough. I look like a glitter bomb exploded on me.” Nadia laughed and shook her head at the image gazing back at her. Her eyelids glittered and so did her cheeks. Although the glitter on her cheeks was very subtle, it was still a little too much for Nadia to cope with.
“Oh come on, glitter lipstick will finish the look.” Cerise cajoled and waved a tube of silver lipstick in her face.
“Umm that would be a hard no. I don’t want to look like something from a sci-fi movie for goodness sake. God, I’m going to scare Mitch away the minute I open the door.”
Cerise laughed. “Okay no glitter lipstick, but you’re no fun.” She finished with a pout and rummaged around her make up bag to extract another lipstick. Nadia braced herself for what color Cerise was about to show her.
“What do you think of this?”
Nadia’s relief was palpable when her friend wave a pale pink color in front of her. “Much better. The chances of him running out now, are down to about thirty percent.”
“Girl, that man is not going to run away from you. You look sensational and I’ve only enhanced it all.” Cerise commented as she cleaned up her paraphernalia.
“I hope so,” Nadia murmured as a wave of butterflies took flight in her belly. She was about to head out to dinner with Mitch. Work had been absolutely crazy for her, a doctor had suddenly left and so a few of them were pulling double shifts until a replacement could be sourced. Mitch had also been busy at the ranch and his volunteer firefighter duties. All of that meant they hadn’t been able to see each other since their picnic on his parent’s property, almost a month ago. But they’d texted and talked on the phone every chance they got. Nadia cherished those phone calls. Especially the ones after he’d been to see his therapist. Mitch had had three sessions over the past couple of weeks. In that short time she’d been able to tell they were helping him a lot. They hadn’t talked in too much detail about what was discussed in his sessions. It wasn’t her place to ask anyway. If anyone should understand doctor/patient confidentiality agreement it was her. But she’d let him know if he wanted to talk she was there to listen.
They’d talked about going on a dinner date for over a week once Nadia found out she would have the next couple of days off. She couldn’t wait to sleep in and lounge on the couch watching Hallmark movies. The time off would also give her a chance to catch up on her emails. She’d barely been able to keep up with the text messages from Mitch and her family. Her mom was hounding her about applying for a job at Boston General, she’d heard through the grapevine that a position was coming up within the ER. Nadia recalled seeing an email in her inbox about it, but she’d pushed it aside vowing to look at it when she had more than five minutes to breath. That was her excuse and she was sticking with it. The truth of the matter was she didn’t want to open it because she could be forced to make a decision she wasn’t ready to make.
“Okay. Now that we’ve got your make up sorted. What are you going wear?” Cerise tucked her make-up bag beneath her arm, her eyebrow rose in query.
“Umm I was thinking jeans and a shirt. I mean, I know we’re going into San Antonio, but Mitch hasn’t told me where we’re eating.” Which she found a little annoying because she wanted to make sure she was dressed appropriately. He’d been no help when she’d asked him in a text, his response had beenyou’ll look beautiful no matter what you wear.
His text had thrilled her, but still, she didn’t want to be too casual.
“Nope, jeans and a shirt won’t work. I think you need to wear the dress you wore to the community event. You’ll fit right in if you wear that.”
“Hmm I don’t think so.” Nadia screwed up her nose at the suggestion. While she liked the dress she didn’t want to wear it to dinner. It was a little too country for her. Sure, she was beginning to love being in Texas, but she was still a New England girl through and through. She went over to her closet and gazed at the shirts and dresses hanging up. “I’ll figure something out. Now you need to go rest. You’ve been on your feet too long.”
Cerise waved off her concern. “I’m fine. The doctor gave me the all clear to go back to work next week. You can stop being my doctor at home and go back to being my roommate and friend.”
Nadia paused in her perusal of her clothes and glanced over her shoulder. “I haven’t been that bad have I?” She’d been making sure her friend rested when she’d been home, but Nadia didn’t think she’d been hovering over her.
Cerise walked over and gave her a quick hug. “No, I’m just teasing you. I’m really grateful that you care though, Nads. I know you’ve been crazy busy with work, but you always made sure I was okay and I appreciate it more than I can say.”
Nadia turned around and gave her friend a hug. “I love you, Cerise. You’re my best friend and I don’t know what I would’ve done if I hadn’t met you.”
“I love you too, Nads.” Cerise sniffed and Nadia looked up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly so she didn’t mess up her make-up. Cerise would never forgive her if she did. After a minute they both separated and grinned at each other.
“Get back to picking an outfit. I give you permission to go New England on Mitch tonight. Knock him off his feet so he can’t resist you.”
Excitement flowed through her again. She was going to get an uninterrupted evening with her man. Mitch told her he’d arranged for someone to cover him should his team get called out to an emergency.
