Just another psychiatric consultation

Cassie had no idea how she was saved, but when she opened her eyes again, she found herself lying on a bed; and judging from how the place looked like, it was not that hard to guess that she was brought to a hospital.

"Are you okay?"

Ana asked her, with a worry-stricken face. The other party was jolted awake as soon as her friend stirred on her bed.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Gosh! I don't know what to do if something bad happens to you."

Ana said sobbing as she trapped Cassie with a tight hug.

'Err... Something bad, indeed, happen to me.'

Cassie refuted Ana's word, but only inside her head.

"When we were on the ambulance, you keep telling me about this man who attacked you as well as of how his face looked hideous. We already got the CCTV footage and police were already after him. In the meantime, I think it is better for you to come and see a doctor again."

Ana suggested.

The other party was aware of Cassie's bitter past as well as the fact that she used to go to a mental institution for her psychosis.

It was no secret to her that Cassie often has episodes of strong hallucinations. That was why when she heard about her friend's story, she decided to contact a psychiatrist right away.

It was not that Ana did not trust her friend enough. But it was just that, she had already seen the footage and the man who attacked her did not have a face that looked anywhere near to being a skull

Ana left the room after confirming that Cassie was fine. Then it did not take that long before another person came to see Cassie. The other party peeked his head at the door right after knocking at it.

"Ms. Cassiopeia Everdeen?"

"Come in."

The girl on the other hand muttered under her breath without much of an emotion. She was told beforehand that a doctor would come to check on her so she was no longer surprised when a stranger knocked on her door.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I am Dr. Harrison from Psychiatry Department. The consultant asked me to come and talk to you"

The doctor said as part of perfunctory. But when he looked at his patient, he found her sitting on the chair with a completely dazed look, reminiscent of a lifeless zombie. Her eyes were staring blankly at the ground as if someone had stolen her soul.

"Cassie?"

The girl did not reply right away when she heard the doctor call her by her nickname.

"I mean, can I call you that?"

"Sure"

Cassie answered with the same lack of enthusiasm.

"May I???"

The doctor added afterward as he asked for Cassie's permission to touch her so he could do his physical check-up with her.

'Hmmm...'

Cassie, on the other hand, mumbled her consent.

"That look's painful."

Dr. Harrison commented as soon as he got a closer look at Cassie's bruise.

The blunt force that came from the pipe that hit her left a purple mark on her forehead. Aside from that, she also has this small cut on her cheek. It was not that deep to cause scarring, though.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"It sounds ridiculous."

Cassie had been to this kind of countless talk and she was tired of seeing the looked on their eyes as though they were seeing her as an object that has to be observed.

"Cassie, I want to help you."

Dr. Harrison insisted.

"And I can only do that if you tell me what really happened."

He said as he sat next to Cassie. He no longer spoke another word after that. He just waited patiently for Cassie to share her thoughts with him.

"I see things that others can't."

Cassie revealed after a short while

"What do you see?"

The other party inquired further. Unlike the previous doctors that Cassie used to talk to, Dr. Harrison did not have a clipboard with him.

He was not jotting down and taking notes of her answers. Somehow, he made Cassie feel like she was just having a chat with a friend.

So for a moment, Cassie allowed herself to be fooled that they were not doing an actual consultation. Besides, Dr. Harrison also gave her the impression that he seemed to be really interested to hear what she was about to say.

"People. Their faces"

"And what do they look like?"

"Horrible. Like they were burning inside."

"And I assumed this has happened before, has it not?"

At this point, Cassie nodded her head slowly.

"They came back."

"Well. this must be very confusing for you and you've just come off your medication. These hallucinations can be the result of chemical changes in your brain."

"But they feel so real, doc."

"Oh, I'm sure they do."

"I'm going to make an appointment for you to come and see me and we can try to figure this out together. How does that sound?"

"Okey."

Cassie did not think much about it as she reckoned that it would be just another psychiatric consultation for her; just like the rest of what she had before.