Chapter 8

  Katie Benson 38 years old

  A soothing melody filled the room. Brent opened his eyes slightly, then closed them again, choosing not to pay any attention to the alarm from his fiance’s phone. Katie opened her eyes slowly, the darkly lit room coming into focus. The sun’s rays poured in through the clear windows and gave the room it’s only light. The ginger haired lady remained still. Her thoughts began to gather in her head. Her mind told her to go back to sleep, but her memory told her to look down at the time. She reached out to her night stand and blindly tapped her phone screen til the music stopped playing.

  She propped herself up on her elbows and glanced over at her window. Her gaze shifted over to her fiance, who lay there asleep and motionless. She grabbed her phone and stared down at it til the screen flashed the time and the words of the notification flashed in a bubble across the screen. “Doctor’s Appointment,” were the words she read. Why did let her curiosity get to her? She buried her face in her palms at the very thought of it. It all sounded so ridiculous to her. The whole concept of it made her utter a very quiet giggle. She took a deep breath and sat herself up all the way, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. She battled with it in her head as she rubbed her eyes carefully trying to wake herself up. This whole thing just sounded like one big joke to her, but her curiosity grew rapidly. After wrestling with it for a minute, the red head hoisted herself up to her feet. She gathered her clothes that were neatly folded inside the laundry basket and scampered off to the bathroom shutting the door behind her.

  Katie spun the steering wheel of the car, forcing it to make a sharp turn and pressed on the gas. The oncoming car let out a loud honk, just barely missing the girl’s car. She drew a deep breath finally pulling into the familiar parking lot of the hospital. Katie glanced back at the passing car and rolled her eyes. Her mind was racing. Maybe she’d just go into his office and see if she could find another patient to ask about this doctor. None of the nurses ever talked about anyone named Aeryn.Katie pulled into a parking space and slowly drifted to a halt. She set the parking brake and sat there, staring at the hospital building for a few seconds. Maybe she didn’t really need this. Maybe Brent would come through for her and help her feel better. She didn’t need a doctor to talk to about it. For a second, she considered how much of a waste of time this might be. She glanced up at the building, her eyes gravitating to the window where that patient that flirted with her could be seen. He really hadn’t been the first one to hit on her, but his memory stuck out in her mind. She opened the door and snatched the keys from the ignition.

  Katie crept quietly through the doorway. The office was closed. A subtle melody filled the room as she slowly made her way over to the reception desk. The receptionist looked familiar to her. His hair was a chocolatey brown color and his complexion showed a light tan. She tilted her head to the side and curled a brow. “Have we met before? I get the feeling I’ve seen you somewhere.” His eyes were focused on the computer screen in front of him, not even looking up at her to take her ID. If anything, The man seemed rather attractive to her. His shoulders were broad and his scrubs were black with the picture of a small devil on it.

  “Oh hey! It’s me Luci.” he said, his head poking out from behind the screen. “We met at the bar the other night. Nat is always dragging me to bars late at night.”

  “Oh Luci? Hi” she said, her face lighting up at the sight of the handsome stranger. “You know? Jeff won’t stop reminding me of the bet from the other night.”

  “Is he still sore about that? I told him not to take any offense if I beat him.” He said stifling a chuckle. “I know how to really . . tempt girls.” He smirked.

  “Jeff thinks he’s tempting to any girl.” she glanced at the clock on the wall across the room. “So I’m here to see Dr. Love. . I have an appointment.”

  “Of course!” he said, looking down at the keyboard and starting to fiddle with it. “Go have a seat, I’ll call you when he’s available.”

  The office looked nothing short of empty to her. The melody to “Time After Time” started playing over the radio. She closed her eyes and let the melody take her away. This had to be one of her favorite songs. She sang to herself Quietly muttering the lyrics beneath her breath. The office was empty, but the Doctor sure seemed to be taking a while to come get her. She drew a deep breath before she finally heard another voice. Her eyes gravitate back to what looked like a tall slightly curved woman in pink scrubs, with blond hair. The closer Katie drew to the woman the better a look she got. Her cheeks were a light rose color and her skin had a Porcelain quality. Katie found her to be very beautiful with angelic qualities. “You’re very beautiful.” Katie started offering a hand for her to shake. “My name is Katie, You absolutely must tell me what cream you use.”

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  The lady giggled in response and shook her hand gently. “Fortune must be on your side. Call me Atro Darling, the office is this way if you’ll follow me. And You’re too kind.” the lady said, holding open the doors for Katie. The two proceeded down the hall passing two other nurses with what Katie could only see possessed similar features. “These are my Sisters Cloey and Lacey.” Atro gestured to the two ladies that waved back at her. One had jet black hair and the other was Dark brown with Silver streak down the side.

  “It must run in the family” Katie said with a warm smile to Atro. “All three of you are very gorgeous.” Shesaid, waving at the other two ladies before disappearing behind the door.

  “The Doctor will be in soon. Just make yourself comfortable on the couch.” Atro said gathering a stack of papers in her hand and proceeding to organize them.”If you need anything, My sister’s and I will be just outside here.”

  Katie replied with a nod and smiled as the woman left the room, shutting the door behind her. Something seemed off about those girls. Katie had worked in this hospital for years and could swear up and down that she hadn’t seen any of them. Maybe she’d ask Dani if she heard anything about a new string of nurses that got hired. Her thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the door. The man that walked through the door had long blond hair and a lab coat. His face was Scruffy and his eyes were a pretty blue color. Katie couldn’t help but admire their beauty. “You must be Dr. Love. I’m . . “

  “Kathrine Benson. . Soon to be Kathrine Moore.” The Doctor said, offering her a hand shake. “I understand you have a Wedding coming up this coming Sunday.”

  Katie’s jaw dropped. The look she gave the doctor was bewildered. “Umm Yeah. . .” she paused, tilting her head. “That didn’t come up when I made the appointment. How did you. . ?”

  “I’m no stranger to the rumors.” Dr. Love said, making himself comfortable in the chair. “So tell me, what brings a soon to be happily married woman into my office?”

  “Curiosity for Starters Doctor. I’ve worked in Healthcare for years and never heard of any specialty. . .” The Doctor uttered a Sigh and smiled at her.

  “So you want to know what human affairs is.” Aeryn cupped his hands together making himself comfortable. “I guess you could say I specialize in . . Personal Problems.” Katie gave him a confused look as if He was speaking an entirely different language. “You seem confused so allow me to explain.” He said, taking a deep breath and setting his notebook down on his lap. “Say You have a friend that goes through a nasty break up. You refer them to us and we can help your friend feel more at ease and relaxed about their situation.”

  Katie looked at the Doctor as if he was completely insane. This was by far the strangest thing she’d ever heard. “So. . You’re like a Counselor of some sort?” she asked, leaning back into the chair.

  “Sort of,” The doctor said, leaning forward a little more. His expression seemed fixed on Katie as if utterly fascinated by her. “There’s a lot more we can do here than you can get at a Counselor's office.” Aeryn rested arms on his legs. “We don’t just deal with matters of love, we deal with other stuff too. Like if a Family Member Dies or. . . Someone loses their job. We can help them fix or deal with the emotional sadness that comes with Loss. Our prescriptions are made with non addicting chemicals.”

  “Uhh huh. . So like Loss Prevention?” Katie was utterly confused. This seemed new to her. This sounded too much like some major psychobabble. “I’ve never heard of a Hospital having Loss prevention of that caliber.”

  The doctor began rubbing his temples. He paused and struggled trying to think of ways to get across to the woman. “Let’s try finding an example to help you understand. Please, tell me about something that’s going on in your life. Something that’s causing your stress or weighing on your mind.In this Office, we understand that everyone goes through trials. Some bumps in the road are harder to get over than others. That’s where we come in.”

  “Okay. . .” Katie said, scratching her head as she tried to gather her thoughts. “Well I mean. . . My Fiance has been spending time with some girl he met at a club the other night. I’m starting to worry that he’s getting cold feet before Sunday.” Dr. Love stared at her with fascination, his eyes perked up while he listened seemingly intently. He nodded and gestured to her to continue. Katie fell silent for a few seconds.”Umm there’s this patient in the department I work in that keeps asking me out.”

  “Really?” The Doctor said, intrigued by the conversation. “Tell me then, Are you considering it? Have you told him that you’re not interested?”

  Katie was utterly dumbfounded. Her mind filled with questions, wondering just where exactly the Doctor was taking this conversation. “Well not in so many words. I guess. . I’ve been getting cold feet too.” she said, dropping her shoulders along with her head. She didn’t like admitting it. She’d always had a hard time talking about her problems. Even when Brent tried to ask her about them, she didn’t say much. A sinking feeling washed over her.

  Aeryn’s disposition didn’t seem to change. “What if I told you that I could help you over that bump?” He said with a half smile reaching into his white lab coat and pulling out a small bottle of what looked like clear color pills.

  “How?” she asked, reaching over and taking the pills from his hand. “With Pills? How are Pills going to help me not question my relationship?”

  “These aren’t just pills,” he said, taking them back from her. “What if I told you that this is Time? Tell me Miss Moore, Have you ever looked back on a past relationship and wondered if something could have been done to fix it. If you could go in time and fix a mistake, knowing what you know now? Would you take that opportunity? All you’d have to do is take one of these pills before bed and let yourself think about that past mistake. Think about what went wrong and the pills will give you the chance.” Dr.Love handed the bottle back to a very dumbfounded Katie. “Just give it a try, if you will. You know where to find my office if you have any questions.

  “ . . Okay. . “ she replied, stuffing the bottle into her purse and rising to her feet. “Thank you for your. . . time Doctor.” The whole thing sounded insane to her. How could a bottle of pills take you back in time? This Dr.Love sounded like a total quack. Katie took the bottle from her purse as soon as she left out the office door and examined it intently on her way up the stairs to her floor. She contemplated just throwing them in the trash.