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“This afternoon. As a favor to me.”
Before ending the call, Hammer gave me the man’s name and contact information.
* * *
Siren was still asleep when the doctor arrived midafternoon. He introduced himself as Dr. Paul Mansfield and explained that he was a psychiatrist who specialized in post-traumatic stress disorder.
I started to fill him in on Siren’s condition, but he held up his hand. “Hammer was able to get her medical records forwarded to me.”
How in the hell had he done that? I was the woman’s medical power of attorney. “Okay, well, the nurse can fill you in on her nightmares.”
After showing him inside, I came back out and sat on the porch, wondering if I should’ve told the man that Siren believed we were in a relationship that didn’t exist.
I’d been sitting in the same place, taking in the views of my ranch for at least thirty minutes when I heard the front door open.
“He’d like to talk to you now,” said the nurse.
I walked inside and saw Siren sitting up on the same daybed she’d been sleeping on. The doctor was sitting in the chair the nurse had used earlier.
“How’s our patient?” I asked.
Siren looked up at me. “Better,” she answered.
“I understand Siobhan will be visiting Asheville to meet with a stroke specialist.”
“That’s right,” I muttered, not knowing whether an appointment had been scheduled yet.
“To make things easier, I’d like to arrange for her and I to meet either before or after the appointment. Whichever is most convenient.”
“Whatever you want to do,” I said to Siren.
“After,” she answered.
The doctor pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. “Let’s say Tuesday at three, then.”
“I’ll walk you out,” I said when he stood and said goodbye to Siren. “Do you have a couple of minutes?” I asked, closing the front door behind us.
“Sure.”
“Listen, uh, Siren…err…Siobhan—” I stammered.
“You can call her Siren.”
“Okay. Well, anyway, with her amnesia, she…uh…thinks that she and I are in a relationship.”
“She mentioned you were.”
“That’s th
e thing. We weren’t.”
“I see.”
“Maybe I should’ve told her before now, but—”
He held up his hand. “You were right not to tell her.”
“I planned to today.”
