A New Essence

Chapter 3

"I am gonna drop you off and stay till your session ends with my jerk of a brother," Jackie said as he drove, with a scowl on his face.

"I am sure that I'll be fine, Jackie. Go to work," Caitlyn, Jackie's all time secretary, now girlfriend and soon to be wife, said with a smile. She smiled a lot more now and it was all thanks to Jackie's brother, Charlie. Charlie was the one who offered to treat her personality, by which he had to expose himself as a doctor to his family. Although there was a point in his life where he absolutely loathed Charlie, he bonded a lot more with him than he had ever imagined. That didn't mean that he was completely fine with Charlie, because he could be the world's greatest asshole when he wanted to be. And that was almost all the time.

He sighed. "Nope. I am not listening to you," he said parking the car in front of his parent's place and removing his seat belt. "Anyway, I wanted to meet my parents. It's been a long time," he made up an excuse. Caitlyn could easily see that it was not the case why he was stopping by, but then, she couldn't seem to stop him from staying.

"Alright, then. I'll make sure that I'll be over with the session as soon as possible. Okay?" She got down the car and started to go inside. As soon as they got in, they were greeted by wafting aroma of freshly made waffles and the family sitting at the dining table.

"Look whose here!" Lisa exclaimed as she got up from her chair and hurried towards Caitlyn for a hug.

"My sexy little secretary!" Charlie jumped off his chair and dashed towards Caitlyn for a hug as well, but before he could hug her, Jackie placed himself between the two and instead, Charlie hugged Jackie. "Ugh, that was gross, man!" Charlie got off Jackie and dusted himself, with a scowl on his face.

"That's what you get for perving on my woman," Jackie smirked.

"Sometimes I wish I never encouraged you to go confess to her. I would still have her for myself," Charlie pouted and Jackie narrowed his eyes.

"She would still be mine," Jackie smirked and swooped up a juice bottle off the table.

"Put it down!" Shrieked Charlie.

"What about a 'no'?" Jackie rolled his eyes at his dramatic twin and twisted open the cap.

"I said put it down! That is mine!"

"Ah, shove off!" He brought the bottle to his lips and Charlie lost it. He pounced on his twin, snatching the bottle and putting it to his lips and gulping it. Apparently, Jackie turned a lot more competitive towards Charlie than he was before and snatched back the bottle and gulped the entire thing quickly.

"You did not just do that!" Charlie screamed as if it were a war cry and pounced on Jackie. They both fell on to the ground and were at each others throats. "That was limited edition juice and it was the last bottle in the store! You should die today!"

"What the hell! Get off me!" Jackie tried pushing away Charlie, but to no avail.

"Boys! Stop!" Lisa and Caitlyn came to get them off, but remained a good two feet away, scared that they'll get into their blows once they were within reach.

Bored with all this, Jesse was picking at her nails, when she suddenly looked away and saw Cora, with tear filled eyes and quivering bottom lip. She was scared by the brawl of the twins and was almost about to cry. Realizing that she should not be put under stress of any kind, Jesse immediately got up and went to her twin siblings.

"Would you guys stop this?" She yelled at the top of her voice but to no avail. They paid no heed to her and continued with their girlish hair pulling. Jesse looked back towards Cora to see how she was doing, but she was not there anymore. She was by Jesse's side now, stepping into the brawl zone. She caught hold of their ears and dragged them up by brute force of her fragile hands. Separating them, she flipped each of them down, hard, without mercy. How she managed that with that tiny frame of hers, was beyond imagination. In that moment, she looked like a warrior princess to Jesse.

"Would you stop or do you want to get beaten?" Cora yelled and the twins cowered in front of her.

"Sorry, we're sorry!" Charlie yelled and Jackie took his lead.

"Yeah, we're sorry! We'll stop!"

Cora huffed, her body still shivering from what she had done and also fear and anger. She felt like it was a déjà vu, that she did something like this before. But placing that memory was so hard that she collapsed onto the floor, her legs giving in.

"Cora! Are you alright? Don't think too much! Here, drink some water," Charlie snatched a bottle from the table and put it to her lips. She was sweating profusely as if she ran a marathon. Charlie checked her pulse and it was hammering continuously. "Cora, try calming yourself. Listen to me, close your eyes and listen to only my voice. Try breathing steadily," he said but sets of images were flashing in her mind too rapidly. "s**t! She's going into panic mode! Jesse! Get the injection from my drawer, quick!" He yelled and kept rubbing her back and she crouched into a fetal position, holding her head and groaning. Jesse hurried back with the injection and he gave it to her immediately. "You're gonna be alright, okay? I'm right here and I am going to help you out," he said and lifted her into his arms and took her into his room.

Ten minutes later, he was out of his room, the groans now turned into soft snores. He looked exhausted and there was grave silence in the hall. The first to speak up was Jesse.

"How is she?"

"Sleeping," he sighed. "Looks like she had too many memories trying to resurface. This incident acted as a trigger to her locked up memories," he slumped on to the empty couch. He could still feel his heart hammering loudly because of what just happened. He almost felt like he was going to lose her for a second.

"Will she be okay?" His mother inquired worriedly.

"Yeah, she will. I'll have to take her to the hospital though. She'll get discharged today officially."

"Okay, so she is really a patient?" Jackie asked and Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you figure that out for yourself, genius?"

"I mean, is she only a patient? You looked quite worried there, you see? The different kind of worried. The one I would feel if Caitlyn went through something like that. That kind," he waggled his eyebrows in exaggeration.

"Jackie, she is my patient and I only met her yesterday. And," he stressed, "she is not my type."

"Fine," Jackie shrugged, "she is too pretty for you anyway."

"What do you mean? I've landed hotter girls before," he smirked. "They had long legs, curves at the right places and..." He continued and his parents shifted uncomfortably.

"Yeah, let's talk about this nonsense in front of our parents, shall we? Pretty smooth, brothers, pretty smooth," Jesse rolled her eyes at her brothers. They could get extremely childish when they argued.

Deciding that they shouldn't target their parents to such kind of things again, they stopped for a while and got back to the dining table to continue where they left their breakfast. Later, as promised, Charlie had a session with Caitlyn, where he was delighted to see such great improvement. He promised that it took her two more sessions and that would be the end of her treatment. She responded positively to his sessions and he secretly hoped that even Cora would do the same. After the morning episode, he was very much worried about her. That was when his twin's words were ringing in his head.

I mean, is she only a patient? You looked quite worried there, you see? The different kind of worried. The one I would feel if Caitlyn went through something like that. That kind.

Of course not. He didn't feel any kind of worry towards her. It was just the normal caring for patients that he usually felt. Just because they have never seen that side of his, they were now misunderstanding. He was going to take her to the hospital, get her to her parents, take a few sessions for her and he will be done with her. He wouldn't even have to see her again. Yes, that would be it. She didn't mean anything to him. She was a patient. Only a patient. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Where are we going?" Cora asked as they headed out.

"Hospital," he replied curtly. He was going to behave like a normal doctor towards a normal patient.

"Where is Jesse?"

"Office."

"She works?"

"Yeah."

"Why are you taking me to the hospital?"

"You are getting discharged today."

"Ah, that's right. So, when are we gonna come back home from the hospital? You see, I don't really like the feel of a hospital."

"You are going home. Your house. Not mine."

"What? But, I don't know anyone! You can't send me away with a stranger! You promised me!" She yelled, tension evident on her face.

"Miss Rhonda, they are your parents and they will care for you more than anyone else. And as for one being a stranger, I am more of a stranger to you than your parents, so your house is a better option. And, as for the promise is concerned, I have allotted time for that during our sessions. We can figure out things during that time. There is no need for you to come to my house everyday."

"So you don't like me anymore?" She narrowed her eyes. What was she feeling towards him? A sense of being abandoned? But then, why was the feeling so familiar? It was as if she had been through this feeling just yesterday.

"What do you mean I don't like you? What is there to like anyway? You are my patient, Miss Rhonda," he replied facing away from her.

"Then why are you not calling me Cora again? Why did you do that?"

He felt awkward. He had no answer to that question. What could he tell her anyway? I started feeling weird with you all of a sudden and I decided to cut it off with you for a while? Is that what he was supposed to say? Instead, he remained silent and just drove to the hospital. 

"We are here," he said and got off the car, not even waiting for her to follow him.

The discharge went by quickly and Charlie didn't even look into it anymore. He needed distance. Some personal space. He wasn't going to let some patient of his to indulge into his personal life.

"Dr. Baxter, Mr. Rhonda and his family are here to see you," a nurse poked her head in and he asked her to get them in.

"Dr. Baxter?" Mr. Rhonda came in with his wife tagging along and Cora maintaining a distance from them, looking down.

"Ah, Mr. Rhonda? I hope that the discharge went smoothly," Charlie forced a smile. But he didn't seem to take his eyes off Cora. She looked too vulnerable and sad and he knew that somehow he was the cause of it.

"It did, doctor. Thank you for all that you have done. I am sorry for the trouble you had to take yesterday. She has always been like that, she gets what she wants by any means. I am sorry again," he apologized.

"That's okay, sir. I can do that much for my patients. Now, coming back to her recovery, I would want you to take her back home and introduce her to the house and as few people as possible. Keep her away from violent acts and things which may trigger her memories very quickly. That way she will become unstable and will be hospitalized. Tell her bits of her memories which won't really affect her and will help in her recollection of major things. Alright?"

"We get it. I will take care of her," her mother replied, trying to embrace her daughter. But Cora wasn't so comfortable with physical contact yet. She squirmed and jerked away from her mother, which in turn made her mother upset.

"Don't feel bad when she avoids you," Charlie piped in before she could burst into tears again. "She is not really comfortable with people yet, so give her time to adjust to her surroundings. Physical contact may take a little more time to her."

"I understand," she sniffed and took a step away from Cora. Cora looked up and smiled in a thankful way, which Charlie was obliged to return.

"Day after tomorrow will be her first session. Don't forget to bring her, okay?"

"Yes. Thank you, Doctor," Mr. Rhonda said and took his leave with his wife behind him.

"I hope you do remember our promise, Doctor," Cora smiled sickly sweet, "I'm looking forward to our first session."

And with that, she was gone, leaving him to gape after her.