Page 152 of Healed

“Oh. Dante’s not here at the minute.”

I didn’t know if Dante would be the one to deal with this, but considering he was the leader, it was the first thing I thought of to say.

“I know,” she said with a smile. “I saw them all riding near my office earlier. Vienna oh so generously rang every doorbell in the building and caused a security nightmare when they all unlocked at the same time.”

I chuckled softly at that.

“How are you doing, Gabriella?” she asked, placing the bag on the table and looking at me with concern.

“I’m okay.”

“Good. Now I’m going to ask you again, and this time you’re going to give me an honest reply and not your generic coping reply, understood?”

I looked at her, seeing a blank face with one eyebrow raised.

“I’m getting there, I promise,” I said, not wanting to argue with her.

She was a mental health doctor, for fuck’s sake. She’d see right through my lies, and I didn’t want her in my head any more than she already was.

“Rachel is going to try to get me an apprentice spot at the garage.”

“Is that what you want, or is that what Rachel thinks you want?”

Now that I did laugh at.

“It’s what I want. I love working with my hands, and I love cars and bikes even more. It will be nice to feel useful and not just the woman Vienna brought here.”

“You are useful, Gabriella. Here, I have something that may help you,” she said, reaching into her bag and rustling around.

She pulled out a bag, only for her face to pale.

“What is that?” I asked, my body stiffening.

“I… I don’t know. I packed this last night when Doc called asking for the supplies. It—it hasn’t been touched since. I took it to my car and then went to bed.”

“Open it,” I said, even though the last thing I wanted her to do was to actually open it.

In fact, I wanted to get as far away from that foul smelling bag as possible, but I already knew the contents would be aimed at me.

Doctor Ashleigh reached into the bag and pulled the contents onto the table.

“It’s just… rocks?” she said, looking confused.

I picked one up to inspect it, only for it to fall from my fingers when I noticed the blood on the other side.

“What else is in there?” I asked, swallowing heavily.

Ashleigh noticed the blood, and her lips twisted. She turned the bag upside down and emptied it that way, rather than putting her hand in any further.

Rocks, strands of my hair, and, of course, a note to go with it all.

“Shall I?” Ashleigh asked, her voice shaky as she gestured to the note.

I nodded.

She picked it up with the tips of her fingers and began to read.

“Hello, princess. Glad to see you’re finally getting that therapy you so desperately needed. How flattered I am that your calls are mostly about me. Seems we both miss each other equally. I can’t fucking wait for you to come home, we’re going to have so much fun together. But since you care so much about improving your mental state first, I thought I’d help.”