The Family Gathering (Sullivan's Crossing #3)(54)

Sedona pushed back into her chair. “Anxiety!” she said. She laughed as if in relief. “Of all the—”

“It can be very serious, as you can attest. You’re not out of the woods, Sedona. Anxiety and OCD have complicated your life, your relationships, your peace of mind, even some cognition. You have work to do. Drug therapy and counseling.”

“But it’s just anxiety!” she said emphatically.

“You thought about suicide,” Dr. Tayama reminded her. “The anxiety was so alienating and frustrating it caused depression. Not following a treatment plan—”

“I think I’ll go home now,” Sedona said abruptly as she stood to leave.

“Please take a seat and hear me out,” the doctor said. “If you leave now it will be exiting a mental health hospital against medical advice. You don’t have the best pharmaceutical protocol in place. I can’t just write you a prescription or give you a handful of pills. You need treatment, Sedona. Anxiety isn’t a state of mind, it’s a brain chemistry issue, just like depression or schizophrenia. You are not in control. Not yet. But your prognosis is good.”

“I’ll be fine now. Now that I know it’s not my father’s disease the anxiety will go away.”

“Not likely,” the doctor said. “You’re a psychologist, Sedona. You know severe anxiety isn’t nervousness or phobia...”

“I spent years recommending behavior modification for students with test anxiety and it’s been very successful. Thank you, Doctor. You’ve been a lifesaver!”

“I realize you’re feeling much better but leaving treatment now is a very big risk. I think we should talk with your husband or siblings, arrange for aftercare, get you set up with psychiatric coverage for medication and a good counselor.”

“I can handle it,” she said. “I know exactly what to do!”

The doctor stood but she had to look up to meet Sedona’s eyes. “This has happened before, Sedona. Often with disastrous results. I wish you would stay for a while, let us complete an evaluation so when you do go home you have the best possible opportunity for a better quality of life.”

“I appreciate your effort,” Sedona said. “But I hate it here. Hate it. I want my home, my family, my bed.”

“So would I,” Dr. Tayama confessed. “It won’t be too much longer. Please. You’re not entirely well.”

“I know—my version of normal, you said.”

“It’s manageable. But we need time. You need time. Patience.”

“Thank you. Goodbye, then.”

“Sedona, take my card,” she said. She scribbled on the back. “My cell number in case of an emergency. Call me if you need me.”

Sedona, feeling brand-new, took the card, smiled, turned and left the doctor’s office.

Nan Tayama sighed heavily and followed with her chart. She made a notation and handed it off to the nurse. It was not a locked facility. Sedona could pick up her personal items at the nurse’s station—items they kept locked up mainly to keep them from being lost, borrowed or stolen—her purse, her cell phone, her laptop, her charging cords. About an hour later Dr. Tayama watched from her office window as Sedona, suitcase in hand, opened the back door to what she assumed was a private car company like Uber.

*

It was very late on a Saturday night when Dakota held Sid in his arms, in his bed, in his cabin. “When I rented this place, it didn’t cross my mind that it might be a perfect hideaway for lovers.”

“I like it here,” Sid said. She patted his chest. “You’re a wonderful pillow.”

“I’d like to take you somewhere. Away somewhere. You can tell your brother you’re going shopping for a couple of days in Denver and we can—”

She cut him off with laughter. “He would never believe that. Besides, I don’t have to make up a story for Rob. He’s a grown-up. He’s not shocked that I have someone in my life.”

“And the nephews?”

“Well, I explained a couple of weeks ago that I was dating someone. They don’t know you so I just said you were the brother of a friend. I wanted them to know that if I was extra late or even seemed to be missing, I was not kidnapped—I was with you. And if they’re worried, they should call my cell.”

“How’d they take it?” Dakota asked, propped up on an elbow.

“Finn said, ‘Go, Aunt Sid,’ and Sean said, ‘Ew.’ I think that means they both understand what dating means to a thirty-six-year-old woman.”

“So should we go away?” he asked hopefully.

“I suppose we can. Or we can just have breakfast here...”

“You’ll stay the night?” he asked.

“Would that be good?”

“That would be so good,” he said, leaning over her and kissing her again. “I’m willing to grab a little time with you whenever we can but I’d love it if we weren’t on the clock for twenty-four hours.”

“At the moment, I don’t have commitments...”

“Do you have any in the morning?” he asked.

“No,” she said with a laugh. “I did promise to make Sunday dinner for the family. Would you like to come?”

Unbelievably, he blushed. “Sure. I’ve gotten used to Rob giving me that look like I might be debauching his baby sister, but Sean and Finn are at that special age. I don’t know what to expect from them. Could be demoralizing.”