Never Far Away (The Never #2)(53)
Had she normally started dating a man three months ago, she could only imagine that she would probably keep the fact that she needed a shrink to herself. But here they were, with only really three weeks of actually being together under their belts, and they were seeing the doctor together. One thing was for sure: where she and Porter were concerned, nothing was ordinary.
She pulled up to the building that housed the office of Dr. Evans and was nearly giddy to see Porter leaning up against the tailgate of his truck. His blue jeans hung deliciously from his hips, tee shirt stretched against his muscles as every shirt he owned tended to do, brown hair pointing in every direction imaginable. He was looking at his phone but saw her car pull up behind his truck and gave her a heart-stopping smile. When she made it out of the car and walked up to him, she wrapped her arms around his middle, resting her cheek against his chest.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said.
“Me too.”
When she pulled away, he took her hand and laced his fingers through hers. He used his other hand to open the door for her. When they found the right door to Dr. Evans office they went inside and Ella was greeted with a smile from the receptionist.
“Hi, I’m Ella Sinclair and I made an appointment earlier today over the phone.”
“Right, of course,” the receptionist said. “Here are the forms I need you to fill out. And I also need to know, will this be billed to insurance?”
“No, I’ll be paying cash,” Porter answered, before she could get a word in edge-wise.
“Perfect,” the receptionist beamed a smile right at Porter. Ella noticed that the woman’s eyes did a poor job of remaining on Porter’s face, as she watched her rake her gaze over the same muscles Ella had admired right outside the building. Before she knew what was happening, Ella’s hand threaded itself through the crook in Porter’s arm, staking claim. Porter didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, but Ella saw the receptionist’s eyes fall on her hand laying gently on his forearm. More than ever, at that moment, Ella wanted a ring on Porter’s finger, just to send a message that he was most definitely taken.
“Just bring me the forms when you are done filling them out and the doctor will be out to greet you in a few minutes.”
“Thanks,” Porter said, without giving her another look. Ella simply nodded at the woman as she turned to sit and fill out her form.
After all the forms were complete, a door in the office opened up and a woman who looked to be about forty stepped into the waiting room, just far enough to peek around the corner at them.
“Ella Sinclair?” Ella and Porter stood and he took her hand in his again, threading their fingers together.
“Good afternoon, I am Dr. Evans. Please, follow me.” They trailed behind the doctor as she led them through the office and to a door with her name engraved on the front. She opened the door and motioned for them to go in ahead of her. “Please, take a seat and make yourselves comfortable.”
They both sat in arm chairs that were opposite Dr. Evans’ desk, and even though Ella knew there wasn’t anything to be nervous about, she was anything but comfortable. The doctor took a seat behind her desk and shuffled some paperwork around making neat piles. She had shoulder-length brown hair that was so straight Ella wondered if it was made to be so. Her eyes were dark and hidden behind large framed glasses. She wasn’t wearing any jewelry apart from a thin wedding band. Her face was friendly and when she finally looked up at Ella and Porter, she gave them a reassuring smile.
“Ella, my receptionist noted that you were referred from Dr. Andrews at OHSU. He is a colleague and good friend of mine for many years. I had him fax over your medical file. However, I have no information on you, Sir,” she said looking at Porter.
“My name is Porter Masters and I am Ella’s boyfriend. Medically, there is nothing really to know about me.”
“Ok, nice to meet both of you,” she said, all business. She brought out an iPad from a drawer in her desk and then looked Ella in the eyes. “Ella, why don’t you tell me why you’re here.”
“Well, the last couple of months I’ve been put in a lot of unusually stressful situations and it seems I am having some problems dealing with the stress of it all.”
“I saw in your file that you were involved in a shooting, and then suffered from retro-grade amnesia which eventually went away and your memory then returned.”
“Yes, when the memories returned is when the panic and anxiety started,” Ella said, exhaling a deep breath. Porter reached over and laid a hand on Ella’s thigh, giving her a gentle squeeze. She placed her hand over his and clasped her fingers around his hand, willing him to keep his there.
“Tell me about the attacks,” the doctor urged her.
“Well, the first one came outside of my store where I was shot. It was the first time I had been there since my memory came back and it kind of came out of nowhere. We pulled up to the store and as soon as I saw it, my heart started beating really fast and I felt like I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs. I was shaking and trembling,” Ella’s voice petered off and she swallowed hard. Remembering the attack was almost as bad as living through it. She took a deep breath and looked up at Dr. Evans. “I had never experienced something like that before and I was scared.”
“She had another attack that same night at her apartment,” Porter added.