Page 71 of Her Wicked Plan

We discussed some things about Veronica, mainly how she has been acting with me, given her history with the previous doctors.

Dr. Bennett told me he'd handle it if she ever jeopardized my leaving and stated that I’m a great asset to the team. He also said my “breakthrough” with Veronica impressed him since Dr. Davis was the only other doctor who came close.

God, if he only knew what type of breakthrough we were discussing.

What I didn’t expect him to ask was if I would take on another patient. She is new, and all the other doctors have a full roster. Seeing as Veronica is my only patient, he figured he would ask first.

Here’s the thing: I could have easily declined the offer. I could have turned him down and said I needed to focus more on Veronica’s well-being, but I didn’t. I accepted the offer.

Who knows? Maybe having another patient talk about their issues will help me calm down on my feelings towards Veronica. I wouldn’t have the new patient start until next week, though, as she is brand new.

Dr. Bennett informed me that her name is Ruby, and she wouldn’t come until Saturday, giving me the rest of the week to schedule her. He said he didn’t want me to start a session as soon as she arrived.

They want to give her a couple of days to settle in before I pick apart her brain. All I know is that I have to add a day to Veronica’s schedule and work on a new one for Ruby.

Another thing I am sure of is that Veronica will not be happy to hear that she isn’t my only patient anymore. She also will not like that I need to cancel our Thursday session to get things ready for Ruby and to get my head on straight.

She was pissed that I canceled.

I’ve never seen so much hatred in someone's eyes as when I informed her we’d be skipping the session. I told her two days ago, and since then, I haven’t seen her around. She is avoiding me, which is fine by me. Not seeing her has helped clear my head a bit.

This morning, I worked from my bedroom. I had a bunch of emails from the old office to sift through and didn’t feel like making the journey all the way to my office to only respond to those.

With that, I also was reading over Ruby’s file courtesy of Edith. She gave me a copy when the paperwork was sent to the asylum to know what I’m walking into.

Ruby is something else, and if reading her file taught me anything, it’s that she and Veronica are going to butt heads.

Given all the screen time I’ve been dealing with here, I’ve had to break out my glasses so my eyes would not bug out. Plus, my contacts have been giving me issues.

Even with the glasses on, I can sense the exhaustion slowly creeping into my gaze. If I stare at this computer screen anymore, I will fall asleep. Glancing at the time in the upper righthand corner, I groan when I see it’s only eleven in the morning.

Coffee.

That is what I need if I have to continue responding to the rest of these emails.

Shutting the laptop, I leave the desk and go to the cafeteria. I should fuel my stomach with something other than coffee, or I’ll finish my drink and still pass out.

The hall is filled with the usual women, huddled into groups and gossiping about whatever they talk about. Their attention gets pulled from the conversation as I walk by, their jaws dropping slightly at the sight of me.

They don’t hide the expression on their faces. I smile at a group of women who can’t seem to take their eyes off me. One pretends to faint at the gesture, which earns them a quiet laugh. I’ve been here a little over a month now, and I’m finally getting used to all their gawking.

As I continue walking to my destination, my heart rate picks up when I sense someone has fallen in step beside me. I don’t have to look down to see who it is.

“Hello, Veronica,” I greet her without glancing her way.

“Hello, Dr. Madden.” She sounds cheery this morning. It’s a better mood than the last time I left her. Sensing her gaze on me, I give her my full attention. “Damn, you look good in those glasses.”

Here we go.

“How are you doing today?”

A long sigh pushes past her lips. “I’ve been better. It would have been nice to have our session the other day.” Her eyes stay on my face as we stroll down the hall. “I had loads to talk about.”

“I told you I was sorry for having to cancel.” I never told her the real reason. I didn’t mention Ruby or that I needed to stay away from her for a little longer.

“Yeah, yeah. You said you had some stuff to figure out.” She rolls her eyes, and it brings back the image of those said eyes rolling into the back of her head while my tongue was between her thighs. I inhale a deep breath, shoving the memory away. “This stuff you needed to figure out… was it thinking of ways not to get hard every time we are together?”

“Shh!” My hand meets her shoulder, and I suddenly guide her to an area of the hall with no one nearby. “You need to watch your mouth, Veronica. If someone were to hear you⁠—”