Never Lie (27)
This is session 89 with GW, a 68-year-old widow who suffers from paranoid delusions.
“Hello, Dr. Hale.”
“Please have a seat, Gail.”
“Oh. Yes. Of course. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I want you to be comfortable when we’re talking.”
“Yes. I know. I just… I feel like…”
“Are you okay? You seem especially anxious today. Your hands are shaking.”
“I just…”
“Are you taking the medications I prescribed?”
“No. I’m afraid not.”
“How come?”
“Well, I… I know you’re going to tell me I’m being paranoid if I tell you this.”
“Tell me.”
“I… I think my pharmacist is trying to kill me.”
“Gail…”
“I know. You think I’m crazy. You think I’m paranoid. But this time, it’s true. I mean, he’s a pharmacist. It would be so easy for him to do it. He could just swap out my pills for something else.”
“Why would you think he wants to kill you?”
“It’s the way he looks at me. I can’t describe it. And after he handed me the bag with my pills in it, he winked at me.”
“So…?”
“Don’t you see, Dr. Hale? He was winking at me because he knew there was something bad in the pill bottles.”
“Maybe he was just being friendly? Or even flirting?”
“No. Definitely not.”
“Why would he want to kill you?”
“Who knows? Because he’s a psychopath. You know, people are walking around out there who are just crazy. They don’t need a reason to kill you. They just do it because they’re crazy!”
“Gail, I need you to take your medications.”
“But I can’t! Don’t you see what I’m saying? If I take those pills, I’m going to die!”
“Do you remember when you thought the mailman was trying to kill you?”
“Um…”
“Gail? Was he actually trying to kill you?”
“I’m still not sure. I mean, it’s possible. He was always outside my house at the same time. Right outside my door. Peeking in.”
“He was delivering your mail, Gail.”
“There was something funny about it.”
“The mailman was not trying to kill you. And your pharmacist is not trying to kill you. You really need to take the medications that I prescribed.”
“That’s what my son says too.”
“So there you go. You should listen to him.”
“But think about it, Dr. Hale. If I were to die, my son would get a big insurance payoff. So he doesn’t mind if the pharmacist kills me.”
“Gail, listen. You have to try to recognize that this… this…”
“Yes?”
“Hold on. I just… My phone buzzed. I have to make sure it’s not an emergency with one of my patients. It’s…”
“Dr. Hale?”
“Hang on.”
“Dr. Hale? Is everything okay? What does your text message say?”
“I’m sorry, Gail. I’m afraid we’re going to have to reschedule our appointment. An emergency has come up.”
Chapter 20
ADRIENNE
Before
I stare at the screen of my phone. It was horribly unprofessional of me to tell Gail to leave right in the middle of a session. But I didn’t have a choice. I read the words on the screen for the fifth time:
Hi, Doc. I have a little video I took of you from a parking lot in the Bronx. I thought you might enjoy watching it!
The message came from EJ. I didn’t delete his number from my phone after I terminated him as a patient. I wish I had, but it doesn’t matter. I have a feeling he would have found a way to get me this message.
Below the message is a link to a video. I haven’t watched it yet. The image on the screen is of me, frozen in time, dressed in the white blouse and gray skirt suit I wore to the free clinic the other day. My hair is whisked behind my head, although it had come partially loose during my hike from my parking spot to the clinic.
I remember that moment in time. And I remember what happens next.
I can’t bring myself to watch it. But I must.
I take a deep breath and tap my finger on the video to start it. Immediately, the image of myself unfreezes. The camera follows me for a couple of seconds, then zooms in as I pause in front of a red Jetta.
That asshole who took my parking spot.
The quality of the video is excellent. Naturally, EJ would have the most expensive phone money could buy. You can see the license plate of the car in perfect detail. You can see me fumble around in my purse for something. Then you can see me bend down beside the back tire of the Jetta and look both ways to make sure nobody is watching me. For a split second, the camera catches the glint of a knife in the sunlight just before it sinks into the tire.
Yes. I slashed that man’s back tire.
It sounds worse than it is. I was late to a clinic where my patients’ lives depend on me. The parking spot was mine. I was signaling to take it. He stole it from me, so he committed the crime first. I was simply retaliating.