I watched her for several stretching moments, noting that the tension hadn’t entirely left her body. Even now, her fingers curled slightly inward, like she was holding on to something invisible.
I exhaled through my nose and stepped back.
This wasn’t the moment to ask questions and chase answers, not when she couldn’t meet me halfway. So I turned around and left the room with a soft click of the door behind me and went back to my bedroom.
I moved to the window, nudging the curtains wide open. The day outside was bright and warm. The sea in the distancesparkled blue while voices from guards or staff traveled on the breeze.
Those details registered while the same question circled over and over at the forefront of my mind, looking for a seam to pull when it came to Lykos’s wife.
I tried to focus on what I could identify and maybe fix. Nobody deserved to live in that state of mind, and the psychiatrist in me wanted to fix it. After all, that was the reason I’d picked this field.
I turned back to the small vanity table and sat, then reached for the phone and dialed the clinic’s records department, tapping a pen lightly against the desk while it rang.
“Records.”
“This is Dr. Violet Freud,” I said. “I need full access to Amara Costello’s file. Intake notes, prior evaluations, anything archived.”
I heard papers shuffling on the other end, typing against a keyboard, then the receptionist said, “Those files are restricted.”
“I’m aware,” I said, keeping my voice even. “But I’ve been hired to treat her while under Lykos Costello’s roof. If there’s a clearance issue, escalate it.”
I was well aware that I was stretching the truth since Lykos was clearly surprised to see me show up at his door, but there was no need for them to know that.
“I’ll submit the request,” the receptionist answered. “Where would you like me to send her information?”
I recited my email, then added, “I need it today.”
“Understood.”
The line clicked.
I set the cell phone down and leaned back, eyes drifting across the screen, almost expecting the information to show up immediately. Much to my surprise, it only took five minutesbefore my phone buzzed with the notification of the email from the clinic.
Snatching the phone eagerly, I opened the email and scanned it, reading it twice. The file and notes were remarkably short. That part was almost expected, considering a certain flavor of my own patients also had very thin files. However, the part that surprised me was that her medication wasn’t listed.
I scrolled up and down through the almost empty pages but couldn’t find a single piece of information that could be useful.
My eyes locked on one incomplete sentence.
“Episodes triggered by—” The sentence cut off mid-line, as if the writer had been interrupted. Unless it was on purpose.
I stilled, reading the three words over and over again as if they would magically give me answers. It didn’t.
Triggered by what?I wondered.
I leaned forward, elbows on the desk, and closed my eyes briefly, replaying everything Lykos had told me about his wife. There wasn’t much to go off of.
However, if her episodes were triggered by something, then all we had to do was find the source.
My jaw tightened slightly, and I opened my eyes.
I would try to help Amara, and maybe if I succeeded, she would forgive me for betraying her with her husband. Granted, I hadn’t known at the time, but that didn’t absolve me of my part in the matter.
Honestly, I didn’t quite think I could blame Lykos for it either, because remaining a faithful husband for such a long time without any hope of getting her back must have been hard for him too.
I exhaled slowly, steadying my hands against the keyboard of the phone.
I couldn’t predict how Amara would react if I could somehow help her, but I could learn what triggers she had and understand her and her condition better.
