AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The man doesn't flinch, which Travis will admit is impressive. "No, Travis, I haven't. Have you?"
"You know damn well what I've done. They gave you my file, I'm sure."
"They have." Dr. Singh takes a file off the top of a stack, this one much thicker than the rest. He drops it with a heavy thump onto the desk. "This tells me a lot of things - numbers and names, actions and injuries. But it doesn't tell me what I care about. You will have to tell me that."
"Well, rape is an action, so there you go."
"Sex is an action. Consent is trickier."
"I fucked a man in his ass, taking his virginity, while he was tied down to a bench and sobbed for me to stop, as an audience cheered me on. Is that consent tricky, doc?"
"I don't know. Did you want to do it, Travis? Or did you have to?"
Travis shakes his head, refusing to see things the way the man is asking. "I'm a rapist. I raped him."
Dr. Singh studies Travis for a few seconds, then looks down at his notebook. "Him being Carter?"
Travis keeps everything steady, but he curls his hands into fists in his lap where the doctor can't see. "You already know the answer to that."
"You spent a lot of time with Carter. You had to do a lot of things to him you didn't have to with anyone else." Dr. Singh tilts his head like he's curious about this. Travis grits his teeth to keep from reminding the asshole of what curiosity did to the cat. "Would you like to talk about him?"
"Carter?" Travis asks, hating that the rasp of his voice probably gives away his feelings about the man.
"Yes. Carter."
"What's there to say? You have the details."
"But I don't have how you feel about any of it. How you feel about him. And that's what matters."
Travis shakes his head. "I raped him. More than once. And lied to him. I betrayed him."
The doctor inclines his head and Travis knows he just gave himself away. His stomach drops. "It's interesting that you use the word betrayed, Travis. Betrayal isn't something that can be performed with just anyone. It requires a level of connection first. It requires trust. Are those things you had with Carter?"
"I don't want to talk about Carter."
"Hmmm." Dr. Singh finally opens the file he had taken off the pile. He flips through it before stopping on a page with a lot of writing and something circled in red pen. "It says here that you were ordered to keep Carter in the dark until he was rescued. However, it was revealed in group therapy that he found out toward the end of the operation. Are you who told him?"
Travis's body goes cold. Will they kill him for this? Will they allow him to live but refuse to let him participate any further in their operations? Will Maison and Jake get in trouble too?
"The operation is over, Travis," Dr. Singh says quietly. "I give a yes or no answer on whether you are mentally stable enough to continue working for the organization, but I don't reveal details of what is discussed in therapy sessions. No one will get in trouble for this. No one will ever even know it happened."
Travis starts to bounce his leg. He wonders how much longer he'll have to stay here before he'll be allowed to leave.
"So, I'll ask again - did you tell him the truth, eventually? Or did he find out by accident?"
"I told him."
"Can you tell me why you decided to do that? What changed?"
"I can," Travis says evenly. "But I don't want to."
Dr. Singh smiles. Travis wants to punch his teeth out until he chokes on them. "Are you trying to protect Carter by not talking to me about him, or yourself?"
"Neither. It's not important.”
“Considering you were a perfect operative and have been talked about in our circle as being one of the best in the organization’s history, I think the fact that you disobeyed direct orders and took a risk that could blow your cover - and therefore your entire operation - is very important.”
Travis sighs. "He just – he needed to know."
