Chapter Twenty-Five

Chantelle

In the afternoon we got slammed with intakes and didn’t have a chance to meet about Jeremy’s discharge until after 7. It was a fairly simple procedure. After I updated the staff on Jeremy’s progress, Dr. Billingsley proposed moving one of the more recently admitted patients out of the locked section of the clinic, since she had stabilized on her meds. When Dr. Billingsley asked if any staff had an objection to the plan, I shot lasers with my eyes at Head Nurse McAdams. He kept his mouth shut.

Early the next morning before rounds I stopped by Jeremy’s room. He was sitting patiently on his bed, impeccably dressed as usual, his suitcase packed.

He held his laptop in an attractive carrying case, strapped around his shoulder.

“Dr. Bichon! Bonjour.”

“Bonjour, Sheremy. When are you leaving?”

“I was told a cab would be here in a few minutes to pick me up…”

“I only have a minute, rounds are about to start. I wanted to tell you… what a pleasure it was to get to know you this week.”

“I enjoyed getting to know you too, Doctor. I suppose I have you to thank for my discharge,” Jeremy said, smiling.

“Now you can finish your novel in the comfort of your own home,” I said.

I handed him a pill jar of his medication.

“I thought I’d pick this up for you, so you didn’t have to stop at the pharmacy on the way out. I’ve given you three refills of Cymbalta, but at a much lower dosage. You’ll need to meet with your private physician to get a fourth refill.”

He took the meds.

“How very thoughtful of you. Dr. Bichon, I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable, but I like what you’ve done with your hair. You look very pretty this morning, if you don’t mind my saying so. The eye shadow brings out the beauty of your eyes too…”

I blushed and looked down. He noticed.

“Thank you, Sheremy… So, what’s your plan?”

“I’m going to take a cab out to BWI and catch a flight over to surprise my mom and spend Thanksgiving there with her and her sister. After that, who knows…?”

“Wonderful. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you…”

He stared at me with a relaxed and charming smile. I wondered if he could tell that I was nervous.

“Did you work on your novel last night?”

“Yes, thanks for asking, Dr. Bichon. But I’m having a little trouble with the ending.”

“Oh…”

“There are a few loose ends that are troubling me. The climax and resolution of the story depends completely on you, of course. And that notoriously fascist organization, the American Medical Association.”

I suddenly felt quite nervous. My stomach clenched, just like when I first saw him on Monday at group, after he winked at me.

“What do you mean?”

“The ending of The Harem depends upon whether you’ll open your heart, Chantelle…”

Once again, I didn’t know how to respond. I felt my cheeks grow warm. I just shook my head, smiled.

“Sheremy…”

I actually felt sad my patient was leaving, but it was for the best. I took a step toward the door.

“Oh, before you go, Doctor, please look inside the gap of the bed frame. I’ve taken off the silver top. Perhaps maintenance can fix it.”

I looked inside and saw a pile of white pills stacked inside.

“Sheremy, what are all those pills inside the bed frame”

“When I was given my medication, I hid the pills under my tongue and swallowed the cup of water, without ever swallowing the pills. Thinking I was totally out of it, the staff never checked under my tongue when they administered the meds. I stashed them all inside the hollow portion of this bed post. So, I won’t need this prescription,” Jeremy said, handing me back the pill jar.

“Sheremy, that’s… remarkable! Are you telling me that you were able to recover from your depression without the use of anti-depressants?”

Jeremy leaned forward and whispered very softly into my ear.

“One look from you, and I was cured, Chantelle. You are my anti-depressant, Dr. Bichon. I only wish I could bring you home with me hidden under my tongue and take you into my mouth two to three times daily…”

My heart raced and my head spun as I listened to his seductive words.

Jeremy looked me deeply in the eyes with such a passionate desire it made me blush. I had no other choice but to break eye contact and look down. It was the sexiest and most romantic thing a man had ever said to me. Once again, my patient had rendered me speechless. I could tell he knew I felt uncomfortable, so he graciously broke the long silence.

“I think my cab is supposed to be here in a minute. Do you have time to walk me out?”

“Sure.”

We walked silently through the ward, our heels clicking in unison on the white tiled hallway that smelled strongly of Lysol. I unlocked the main door into the psychiatric ward and freed Jeremy from Potomac Fields. His cab was waiting at the curb. Jeremy held out his hand and I shook it. My eyes watered.

“I assume you never showed Dr. Billingsley the contents of my novel, or else I guess I’d be tied up to the table right now, with several thousand volts of electricity surging through my brain.”

I smiled, trying not to allow a tear to escape down my cheek.

“Don’t worry, Sheremy. After I read your manuscript Tuesday night, for your protection and the confidentiality of your work, I deleted it from my computer.”

“Perhaps that’s for the best. Thank you, Doctor.”

He opened the door of the cab.

“Sheremy…”

He turned back to me, raising his eyebrows in that innocent, flirtatious way of his.

“Yes, Doctor Bichon?”

“Oh, nothing… Au Revoir.”

He got in and looked at me once more as the cab drove away.

I went back to work, trying to put thoughts of Jeremy aside. After finishing my rotation at Potomac Fields, I took time off to study for my Boards. By the start of my vacation, I was both physically and emotionally exhausted.

I arrived in Nice and my parents picked me up at the airport. It was so great to see my mom and dad again. We got kind of lucky with the weather. Though it was the rainy season, it was bright and sunny outside. I went to the beach every day with my parents to relax and read. I was having a nice, relaxing vacation.

About a week into my vacation, I was unwinding, staring out at the blue Mediterranean. I saw a person swimming, without a wet suit, in the cold December water. He made a turn and swam in a straight line toward the shore. The figure of a slender, lightly muscled man gingerly emerged onto the rocky shore in tight swimming trunks. He walked toward me.

The sun was at an angle shining directly into my eyes and I didn’t have my contacts on, so the figure looked a little hazy to me. I put my hand up to shade my eyes from the glare of the sun. He seemed to be walking right toward us as if he wanted to ask us a question. My father and mother put down their books and sat up a little straighter.

My father asked in French if they could be of assistance.

When the man’s body blocked the glare of the sun, I was able to look up into his face. And I could not believe who I saw…