Playing Doctor

"No… I'll… I'll be okay," she gritted out, but he could tell she was in a great deal of pain.

"Okay, I'll see you there." Daniel hung up and immediately went to change from his workout attire into a pair of slacks and a dress shirt. He pulled on a pair of dress socks and slid on his black dress shoes then grabbed his jacket, phone and keys and headed out.

He'd been about to head off to the gym when she called, but he hadn't made it out of the house. Now he was glad he hadn't been mid-workout when she called. He drove the few blocks to his office and then rushed inside as soon as he'd parked in his reserved spot. He pushed the button for the elevator impatiently and as soon as the doors opened, hoped on.

Unlocking the door to his office, he flipped on the lights and then got one of the exam rooms ready. Normally, Helen did this for him, but she wasn't here. Nobody was. He usually didn't open his office on the weekends, except for emergencies. He generally only worked at the hospital on the weekend and even then only if they had need of a cardiologist.

Ten minutes later, he heard the outer door open, and he went out to meet her. "Aurelia, come in." He rushed out to guide her back as she looked like she was close to collapsing.

Her breathing was labored as she walked, and his concern heightened. "Thank you… for… seeing me."

"Of course," he said, helping her to take a seat. "Now, just take a moment to get your breathing under control and I'm going to listen to your heart, okay?"

She nodded and closed her eyes as Daniel used his stethoscope to listen to her heart. He could hear a slight murmur and her pulse seemed a bit high, but it was slowing even as he listened.

"Good. Now, tell me what brought this on."

She nodded again. "My mother. I haven't talked to her since before I went into the hospital and she's…" She stopped.

Daniel knew a few words to describe her mother, just from having read the Facebook posts, but he couldn't very well tell her that, so he kept his mouth shut and let her explain. Which she did. In great detail. Her mother was extremely manipulative and bordered on emotionally abusive, but since that wasn't enough, she also went on more about Marcus and the posts he'd left on her Facebook page before she'd managed to block him and then set her page to private.

"I think that was a wise decision, blocking him. And from what you've said of your mother, I would consider blocking her as well, at least from your social media. I would never suggest blocking her from your life unless you feel you're ready for that, or if she was being especially harmful, which given this attack… well, I'm not going to say it was all her, not this time, though if she continues to drive your stress levels up so high, I may have to reconsider."

Aurelia nodded. "She is extremely stressful; I always end up so tense after talking to her. I guess that's what this was." She looked ashamed.

"Hey, not your fault. Your body is still recovering. You need as much rest and relaxation as you can get. I would suggest if you needed to talk to your mother, keep the calls to no more than five minutes and down to once a week for now, if you can manage that. I know, from what you've said she calls multiple times a week, sometimes multiple times in a day, but I think limiting the time you speak with her would be good for you."

Aurelia sighed and her eyes held a sadness that gave her a haunted look. "Okay."

"Aurelia, I don't want to overstep here, but have you considered speaking to a therapist about everything you went through with Marcus? Those kinds of relationships can leave lasting marks on your emotional well-being. I'm sensing a bit of depression and anxiety. A therapist can help you work through all that." He sat next to her, his hand holding hers as he continued to track her pulse, but really, he'd stopped feeling for the pulse and just took pleasure in holding her hand. When he realized what he was doing, he finally let her hand go, but he did it reluctantly.

"I hadn't even considered it." She glanced over at him; her eyes wide. "I didn't have insurance until just recently, now… well with my appointments to see you, I'm already missing so much time at work… I don't know when—"

He took her hand again, patting it. "Calm down, you're going to spike that stress level again." He smiled. "I can give you a few names of some therapists who have after hour appointments, so you wouldn't have to miss work to go."