9. Veronica
The common room is full of the same people who come here every day. It is part of their daily routine. To my left is an older woman who has been here for over ten years, attempting to play the piano.
More patients are sitting at the tables playing either card games or checkers while the end of my pen is tapping anxiously against the paper in my journal. The clock ticking on the wall shows it is ten until one.
Today is my first official session with Dr. Madden, and I can’t wait to begin.
An out-of-tune key sounds throughout the room, causing my body to fold into itself. It’s followed by an incorrect key, which makes my already folding body want to break in half.
Julia, the old woman with faded pink hair, can’t seem to get the right fucking key during the song she is playing. Ever. No matter how often she plays the stupid song, it’s never right. It makes me want to rip my hair out.
Five more minutes pass. My eyes dart between the door and the clock, the movement matching the ticking of the clock”s hands. Leo told me he would meet me in the common room at one and take me to his office.
Caroline and Abbie are arguing over a card game. Caroline thinks Abbie is cheating, which she is most likely to be. She is a known cheater in this ward.
Two minutes pass, and one guard has to break up a fight between the two girls, all over a stupid ass game of Go Fish. I’m still sitting in my chair as I tune out the girls being pulled off each other.
Their outburst muffles in my ears as I watch another minute tick by.
I’ve watched the large hand on the clock for the past ten minutes, focusing on the ticking noise with every move it makes while I wait impatiently for him to show up. It’s past one.
Where the hell is he?
My leg bounces, the telltale sign that I’m growing aggravated. If I tap the tip of the pen onto my journal any harder, the brass might break.
Two minutes go by. He’s fucking late.
I swear I’m going to punch someone…
The door opens, and he steps in, avoiding the two guards now separating the woman to opposite sides of the room. With the chaos happening merely inches from him, his focus is directly on me. Gesturing with his hand, he motions for me to follow him to his office.
I close the journal in my lap, tucking the pen into the spiraled spine before I follow him out of the room. The door slams shut, and neither of us says anything to the other on our walk.
As we trail down the long hallway, the other patients catch our eye, watching me intently as I walk calmly behind Leo. Their looks are pure jealousy because I’m with him—because he is my doctor.
Of course, they are. He is the most attractive man who has ever stepped through the doors at Black Lake.
Swiping his keys, the door clicks, pulling my attention away from the others to the tall man holding the door open for me. He has to be six-two. Maybe add one more inch. As someone five foot three, he appears as a giant.
After stepping through the doorway, I let him step around me to lead the way. I’ve been down this wing before. This is where I met with Dr. Davis, but I don’t know where his office is.
We take a couple more steps and stand in front of his office door. This was the same office as Dr. Davis. Of course, they gave him her old office.
Leo opens the door, allowing me to enter first, and then shuts the door behind him. I look around the room. It’s like Dr. Davis never left. Everything is the same as it was.
She was the only doctor who was okay with being alone with me. All the others had to have our sessions where there were witnesses in case I did anything to harm them.
Well, there was that one doctor who wanted to meet in his office. And the woman who got her nose broken by my fist.
Leo walks over to his desk, expecting me to sit in the chair position before it, but I don’t. Instead, I walk along the side of the wooden structure while he gathers some things from a drawer.
I scan the items on top of the desk before I go toward the window to see the lake.
When Dr. Davis and I had our sessions, I always liked to sit here, not only for the view but also because sitting on this window bench made it feel less of a session. Sometimes, having to sit in the chair opposite a doctor is too much.
“Don’t you think it’s weird they built this place right by a massive lake?” The question leaves my lips as my eyes stay trained on the still, dark water.
“Not really.” Leo is now standing next to me, staring out the window. Given that it is winter, multiple clouds are in the sky, turning gray right before our eyes, threatening to release the rain or snow that never seems to end. “It is a lot of land. Perfect for a building this size.”
“Yeah, but...” I turn my head, inspecting his side profile. “For a place where a patient could go there and drown themselves if they wanted.”
Leo’s eyes leave the window quickly, staring down at me. “I guess it’s good that the patients aren’t allowed to wander around the lake.”
My eyes hold his gaze for a moment longer before drifting back to the window. He has a point. Patients are no longer allowed out there, but what is stopping them from attempting to break the rules?
“I wonder how many dead bodies are at the bottom of the lake.”
“Veronica,” he says my name abruptly, almost in disbelief that the statement came from my mouth.
“What?” I shrug, turning my body to him. “The amount of people that have died here? They have to do something with their bodies, right?”
“I don’t think they would dump their bodies in the lake, Veronica.”
“Why not? I would. It’s quite perfect, actually.” I roll my lips together before continuing. “It’s an easy way to get rid of a dead body. After some time, your fingerprints vanish from their skin, making it hard for the police to figure out who killed them.” A small smirk pulls at my lips. “That or a fire. Burning someone after killing them is also another perfect way to cover your tracks.”
Leo says nothing. I don’t think he can find the words because what I said sounded completely insane, but it’s the truth.
Finally, after a moment, he clears his throat. “Why don’t you have a seat so we can continue our session?” My eyes scan over to the chair he tells me to sit in, but I don’t feel like moving. “Or you can stand.”
He backs away from me, sitting in his chair after giving the options.
“You never asked me how I did it,” I speak up, slowly walking over to the corner of his desk.
“You’re right. I didn’t,” Leo states, leaning back in his chair.
He looks so damn good right now with his dark hair styled to perfection and how his glasses are framing his face today, making my mouth almost drool at the sight of him.
His gray dress pants are a little too tight, but he wears them well. My eyes trail over his body, blatantly checking him out. He shifts in his chair, unsure what to do with how I look at him.
“Aren’t you going to ask me?” The tip of my finger presses down on the surface of his wooden desk, my eyes flicking up to his.
He lets out a breath while he opens his drawer, pulling out a small voice recorder. He hits the red button the same way he did when we met the other day. “How did you do it?”
“I guess I can start from the beginning, yeah?” My finger draws a circle against the wood. “This man was dating my sister. I never approved of him. Wasn’t a fan of the way he treated her. She would always come home crying about what he did that day to upset her.”
“You say approve as if you were a parent.”
“We are not talking about them.” I suck in a sharp breath before I continue. “One night, I took matters into my own hands since she wouldn’t leave him. He made her feel like shit all the damn time, and yet, she stayed with the bastard. I waited outside of the gym he worked out at. He always went at seven at night, working out for about an hour. When eight hit, he walked out to his car, putting his gym bag in the backseat. As he pulled away, so did I—careful for him not to see me because that would blow my cover, obviously.”
My finger stops making the circular motion, and I bring my eyes to gage Leo’s reaction, but his stare is blank while listening to me intently.
“By the time he made it back to his house, it was around eight-thirty. He pulled into his driveway while I was smart and parked down the street. Climbing out of my car, shutting the door quietly behind me, I started following him up the little path that led to his front door.” Leo swallows hard as the story escalates. “A few feet away from the door, he stopped. Like he could feel my presence, slowly, he turned around to face me with an unamused expression.”
I step closer to Leo, who does not move an inch in his seat. The poor guy looks like he is listening to a ghost story next to a campfire.
“He asked me what I was doing there, and I told him how much of a dick he was to my sister. That I would not let him continue to treat her the way he was, and you know what he had the nerve to ask me?”
“What?” Leo asks without missing a beat.
“He asked what I was going to fucking do about it. Can you believe that?” A small laugh leaves me from the memory before going on. “I told him I was going to kill him, to which he laughed. He didn’t flinch when I took my knife out of my back pocket.” At this moment, the letter opener slips out from my sleeve. My fist wrapped around the silver handle.
Leo’s eyes glance down at the object, and he leans forward, eyes confused. “Where did you get that?”
“Snagged it from your desk while you were rummaging through your drawer.” I smile down at him while he looks over where he had the letter opener on his desk. “Knives were always my favorite choice of weapon. There is something about them that is just so...” I bring the pointed tip of the opener into my sight. “Beautiful.”
“Veronica, give me the letter opener. Right now.” He demands, and it”s hot—it really is. Leo stands from his chair, towering over me as he holds out his hand, but I don’t obey.
I take a step toward him instead, closing the gap between us. “I haven’t finished my story yet.”
“You can finish it without the opener in your hand.” Leo takes another step toward me, asserting his dominance. The scent of vanilla mixed with cedar fills my nose. I wonder what cologne he uses to smell this good. Or maybe this is his natural scent.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Leo. Never would.” My eyes turn innocent for a moment. “He didn’t believe that I could kill him. He just laughed at me, and when I approached him, he never moved. Not even a faltered step backward. When I brought the knife to his throat...”
I raise my hand, placing the side of the letter opener against Leo’s throat, my head tilting menacingly to the side. “Not one muscle in his entire body flinched, but he didn’t know what I was capable of.”
“Veronica…” Leo whispers my name with a shaky voice. It causes my eyes to shut from the intoxicating sound. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over how my name rolls off his tongue.
“Without even thinking.” My eyes shoot open, turning dark. I gently swipe the edge across his throat, only leaving a white line trailing across his throat from the slight pressure. It fades away in an instant. “I slit his throat.”
Leo lets out a breath of relief, and that’s when I hand him the opener. He takes it from me and sets it on his desk, far, far away from where I am standing.
“I had been following him for weeks to get his schedule down. It was the perfect plan. Until it wasn’t.”
“Because you got caught.” His breathing is almost back to normal.
“I almost made it out of there, but as soon he dropped to his knees, body falling over, his front door opened, and you know was standing there?” My eyes harden. “My fucking sister!”
Leo looks almost confused, as if this is the part of my story he didn’t know. Sure, he knew how I killed the guy from my file, but I didn’t go into that much detail on the how with the court.
“Her eyes moved frantically between mine and his lifeless body lying on the ground between us. She kept yelling, ‘What did you do? What have you done?’ I can still hear screaming to this day.”
My fingers tap against my temple, attempting to nudge her cries out of my head. Some days, it’s louder than every other thought stirring in my mind. “She cried and cried while she held him in her arms, his blood getting all over her pretty blue dress. Then she called 911. She fucking ratted me out! After everything I did for her.”
“Veronica, do you think maybe he wasn’t treating her the way you thought?” Leo questions as he returns to his seat.
“What?” My eyes snap up to him.
“Maybe you dramatized the idea that he treated her terribly because you didn’t like him, that her crying and complaining about him were because they had a simple fight.”
“No! Not at all!” I shake my head in disagreement. “Leo, I know how he treated her. It wasn’t all in my head. I’m not that much of a fucking insane person! I wouldn’t have killed him if he wasn’t actually hurting my sister.”
“It just seems, the way you described it based on her reaction to seeing him dead,” he says, but I wave him off.
“He had her brainwashed. That’s all there is to it.”
“If you say so.” He shrugs nonchalantly.
My eyes dance between his, trying to read his reaction and find a deeper meaning in the words he said.
“I’m done talking about this. Can we move on now?” I hoist myself onto his desk, my legs dangling over the edge next to his chair. “You seem stressed, Leo. Is it because of my confession?”
“I am stressed, but no, not because of what you just told me,” he states, watching the way my legs sway. “I knew the extent of what happened that night. Guess the rest doesn’t surprise me.”
“Hmm.” I hum, letting my eyes scan down his body again. His eyes stay trained hard on mine, waiting to see what wild words tumble out of my mouth next. “I can help, you know? With the stress.”
His eyes go wide because he knows exactly what I’m insinuating. The way his cheeks flush gives it away. Leo shakes his head, lowering his eyes to his lap, and I can’t help but follow his gaze.
I know he isn’t looking where I am, but I can’t help but wonder how big he is. If I’d be able to take all of him. Sue a girl for her mind wandering. As I’ve said, I haven’t had sex in a long fucking time.
“I can manage my stress on my own,” he assures me once he gains the courage to meet my stare again.
“Oh, I’m sure you can.” A smirk plays at my lips, paired with a wink. His cheeks turn red. This is exactly what I want. “Doesn’t mean you couldn’t have a helping hand.”
His eyes dart up to mine; darkness clouds them as his face seems to cool down. It is as if he realizes what is happening and attempts to hold back whatever he feels is necessary to remain professional. I love my effect on him, and I’m not trying.
“Veronica, we will not be discussing me anymore. That is not the point of our sessions.”
“I”m just trying to help you out, Doc.” I hop off the desk and move behind his chair. My fingertip traces along the top of the headrest, and I don’t miss how his body stiffens in the leather.
When I reach the other side of his chair, my hands find a home on the armrest as I lower my mouth to his ear. “I would be such a good helper.”
He snaps his head in my direction. Our lips are close enough that if either of us leaned forward, we would be kissing.Leo’s breath is hot against my lips, spearmint with a hint of coffee.
I want so badly to lean forward on my toes to consume the taste filtering through my nose. That way, I can see what it would be like to have his lips on mine.
Satan, it’s been forever since I’ve been kissed.
“Veronica, if you don’t sit down, I will end our session.” His words pour out of him just as quickly as his eyes dart down to my mouth.
The smirk on my mouth falls from the serious tone in his voice, and I slowly back away from where he is sitting. I didn’t think it would be this hard to break him, but I guess he has a good strength of willpower.
“I told you I didn’t want to talk about all that anymore.” I drop my gaze to his full lips, wetting my own.
“And we aren’t continuing our session so you can flirt with me,” he states authoritatively. “Now, sit down, or I can walk you out of the office wing.”
My eyes narrow at him, and Leo holds his dominance. “Then, by all means, walk me out.”
He nods, stands up from his chair, and walks to the door. I follow behind slowly, angry that I didn’t get under his skin as much as I wanted to. He might be more challenging to break than I expected.
I follow him silently, thinking of different ways to implement this plan. Maybe the sex appeal isn’t going to do it for him at this early stage. I’ll have to come back to that. But I mean, he reacted to my words. He just won’t act upon them yet.
Leo opens the door for me. “I’ll see you at our next session. Prepare yourself to talk about what you’ve done and how you feel about everything. I will not keep dismissing the topic simply because you don’t want to talk about it.”
I huff out an annoyed breath. “Fine.”
Stepping out into the hall, Leo doesn’t follow behind me. No. Instead, he turns and walks back to his office. The door slamming in my face.