[Geek]

“Sasha, may I call you Sasha?”, Henry continued without her assent, “I understand that your previous Doctor may have claimed to ‘believe’ you,” Carlisle could hear the air move around Henry’s stubby fingers as he made the universal sign for quote around the word believe.

“But I do not agree with feeding into my patients delusions. I will be straight with you from the get go. Voices in your head need to be treated with medication. I have seen good results with Mycocken.” Carlisle could not believe the audacity of Henry. The suppliers of Mycocken had dropped off a boatload of samples earlier that morning. The drug rep had promised the first Doctor to prescribe it to 20 patients free tickets to a Broadway show.

“Mycocken”? Who names these drugs anyway?” Sasha said, more to herself then to Henry. “Thank you for your time, Dr. Stoole. But I must be leaving.”

Poor Sasha had no idea how long Henry could make the walk from his couch to his office door.

“Wait, Sasha , please! I’m sorry, why don’t you sit back down. Let us not be too hasty, I really feel I need some background from you. Words on paper can be so misleading.” Carlisle googled Dr. Lavender with his free hand. A quick glance at the results on the screen determined two possible Dr. Lavender’s in New York State. One was a psychologist.

More quick vampire hand gestures brought up more information. Dr. Valerie Lavender was highly respected.

The tension in the next room grew. Carlisle heard Sasha take in an exasperated breath. Apparently, Henry had changed his demeanor enough to have Sasha sit back down.

“Ok. Where should I start?” Explaining her voices didn’t seem to come easy to her.

She answered her own question, “I have always had the spirits come to me, as long as I can remember. Even though they were part of my every recollection, I never felt at ease around them. I stuck close to my mother or sister, which they allowed. It was like I had no defenses, so many spirits came. By the time I reached school age, I was fearful of being without my parents and my sister was two grades ahead of me. I begin to try and tune them out. I got better at locking them out as I tried to let my teachers voices seep in.” She shifted her feet and smoothed what sounded to be a skirt over her legs.“Continue..“ Carlisle could picture Henry rolling his hand forward at the wrist.

“Well, I eventually began to talk to the spirits, It seemed to take less energy then blocking them out. I had always thought they were talking at me. Even if they asked for help, I didn’t know what good I could do for them. So, I just struck up a conversation with an older gentlemen spirit that had been following me around. I was sitting on the top of the monkey bars in what had to be about 3rd grade, and I just said, ‘Hi!’ He gave me a nod and seemed to want to talk about my day. I told him about my school play and he asked sweet questions, just like a grandfather.” Carlisle could hear the scratching of Henry’s pen on a tablet of paper.

“Why was the gentlemen so significant?” Henry sounded so coherent, very unlike him.

“He told me that, basically, spirits want someone to hear them. I didn’t necessarily have to do anything other then listen. And release them if I could. Sometimes a spirit needs to be reminded to move on.” Sasha took a large yoga inspired breath. Trusting anyone with this tale seemed to take a lot out of her.

“Move on?” repeating a patient words in a question, Henry was really trying, which worried Carlisle.

“Mostly, just guide them to the next level in their journey. I think that gentlemen’s spirit had been here a few times. I was very grateful for his help. ” Carlisle heard her eye lashes press together. She was squinting; Carlisle guessed she was trying to see the impact her words had.

“Well, there is only one thing to do Sasha, talk to a ghost of mine.” He set his paper and pen down in a rustling movement.

“It’s not how it works, I can’t call them like dogs, and sometimes people have a spirit lingering around them, sometimes they don’t.” Sasha stood up once more. The shuffling of his feet indicated he was blocking her from the door with his body.

“No one comes forward for you, I am sorry.” Sasha said it gently. Henry’s dry skin made a gentle crackle as he smirked,” Isn’t that convenient?”

“I need to leave.” She was being quite emphatic. Carlisle was out the door of his office so quickly he had to remind himself to slow down. He was not going to allow Henry to make this girl any more uncomfortable then she already was.

“Get out of my way.” The distinct noise of a struggle sounded from behind the flimsily fake wood door. Carlisle could hear Henry squeezing the tops of Sasha’s arm in an effort to keep her in the room. Carlisle opened the door to Henry’s office.

“Hello, Henry, is there a problem here?” The words were friendly and Carlisle’s face was an artfully composed mask of calm, but the energy that radiated from him was pure anger. Like birds roused from the shelter of brush, both humans in the room sensed danger. Carlisle had seen the reaction before, a human’s reptilian brain reacted before their reasoning kicked in. It is always best not to sneak up on them.

Sasha stepped back from Henry. Carlisle expected to see her face indignant, angry or even scared having been held by this stranger against her will. But he saw resignation there. This wasn’t the first time someone had lost his or her composure with Sasha.

Carlisle stepped inside and shut the door behind him, glancing at the notes Henry had left on the coffee table.

"-Good looking

-Well spoken

-Possible T.V. show like John Edward? Jewelry line, endorsed Bibles?"

Carlisle almost chuckled at the audacity. This man was here thinking of marketing this woman. He was Dr. Phil meets Jerry Springer (he mentally kicked Emmett for watching that junk, he did not want to be able to make those analogies.) Henry did not care how much clinical help she needed.

Henry hardly looked in Carlisle’s direction. His attention and red face riveted on the woman he had been holding. “You see, Miss Duncan, if you really could see ghosts, you would see my son. I was in a car accident when he was six. He was in the backseat. His last words were ‘Daddy, no.’ So he would be here. He would be here.” Every word snapped like a sheet drying in the wind. Henry’s hand gestures had gotten dramatic and angry.

“No, sir. I would not see your son.” She spoke gently despite Henry’s obvious rage. “I rarely see children’s spirits. They are pure innocence, when their life ends, their spirit has a tremendous job. The beautiful, positive energy that leaves their body immediately goes to the hearts of those who loved them. He is the glue that holds your heart together; he does not need to move on. He is right where he belongs. To get comfort from him all you need to do is concentrate on his love.” Sasha waited to see how Henry would take the message.