Em was with her mom at the doctor’s office waiting for to be called in. Mom had suggested, or rather decided with dad, that Em needed to be checked out since she had been missing and ‘who knows what kind of effects it has had on her,’ as mom had expressed it.

Em was sure mom still suspected that she had taken drugs because of the story she had told. But to be honest, she was kind of happy to see a doctor. She hadn’t been feeling too well after coming back home. She had been home for a few days, but it had been rough. The food somehow felt unappealing and it made her feel sick, she couldn’t really sleep because of all the noise. She hadn’t been allowed to go outside either, so she felt like she’d go crazy being locked up in the house. And going to the town had been unpleasant as well, so many cars, so much pollution, so many people.

“Emeryn Dunn?” the nurse called. Em put the magazine she had been reading back on the table and got up. Mom followed behind her.

“Hello, Emeryn. I’m Doctor Cavanaugh. Nice to meet you,” the doctor said.

“Nice to meet you,” Em said quietly and shook the doctor’s cold hand. The doctor was a middle-aged man and he only had hair on the sides of his head. He had dark shadows under his eyes. He also shook Em’s mom’s hand.

“So, from what I understood, you were missing for a little while?” The doctor apparently wanted to get straight to the point. He gestured towards the chairs.

“Yes,” Em commented shortly and sat down.

“We wanted to make sure everything is okay,” mom said. “She has been a little…weird.”

“Mom,” Em muttered.

“In what way?” The doctor didn’t seem to care about Em’s quiet objection.

“Well, to begin with, she….she says that she is a werewolf,” mom said hesitantly. The doctor raised one eyebrow. “She also says to have spent time with some boys. So, you know… And of course I’m worried about her diet too. She hasn’t eaten much after coming home so I was thinking maybe something is wrong with her.”

“Interesting,” the doctor said. “We’re going to take some basic tests to make sure you are alright. Would you go with the nurse to get your blood test taken first so we can get the results as soon as possible? I want to talk with your mother a bit more.”

“Sure.” This definitely wasn’t a good thing, but could she do about it? Everyone would think she was crazy no matter what she said. So Em followed the nurse to the lab. The nurse was an old lady who didn’t say much as she prepared the equipment.

“Sit there,” she said to Em who obediently did.

“Soon we’ll see what kind of things you’ve taken.”

“I haven’t taken any drugs”, Em said but her comment didn’t seem to have any impact. Instead she just got a needle in her arm.

“So, your daughter thinks she’s a mythical monster?” the doctor asked. Em’s mom sighed deeply.

“Yes. I don’t know what is going on with her. She was missing for a month and then she comes back and says things like that.”

“It’s understandable that you’re worried but I’m sure there is no need for concern. The experience may have simply shocked her, and this is her coping mechanism for it.”

“I guess that’s possible, but I don’t know… She seemed so determined about her story.”

“I understand you. If you want, I can get her a meeting with an expert. I know a good one who can help Em with whatever she’s struggling with.”

“I guess it doesn’t hurt to try. Thank you very much doctor.”

“I’m just doing my job,” he said smiling.

Soon after that Em came back to the room. The doctor did the regular health check to her.

“Everything seems to be fine,” the doctor said. “You have lost a little bit of weight but that is easy to fix. Just have a bit more ice cream and chocolate. I shouldn’t really recommend it since I’m a doctor but don’t tell anyone,” he continued, apparently trying to be funny. Em smiled out of politeness but she really just wanted to get out.

“But on a more serious note,” the doctor continued, “for now focus on foods she likes to eat. The blood test results will tell us more about what the situation is. They should be ready by tomorrow. And I’ll talk with Mrs Brown and let you know when you could have an appointment.”

“Thank you so much,” mom said.

“Who’s Mrs Brown?” Em asked but didn’t get a reply since the doctor started shaking their hands.

“I hope you’ll feel better Em,” he said. “We’ll talk again later. Good bye for now.”

“Good bye. Have a nice day,” mom said.

“You too.”

“Bye.”

Then they left the room. Their footsteps echoed in the hallway.

“Who’s Mrs Brown?” Em asked again.

“She’s a psychologist or therapist or something like that,” mom said. “Doctor Cavanaugh thinks she could help you talk about things…”

“You think I’m crazy!” Em stopped walking and looked at her mom shocked.

“No, not at all. I just think, and doctor Cavanaugh thinks too, that this whole month has been very stressful for you and it’d do you some good to talk about it to a professional.”

“I don’t need to do that. I’m fine!”

“Are you really?” mom asked. “Would a person who is fine say that they are a werewolf? They don’t exist Em. Werewolves aren’t real. You’re just shocked or something and Mrs Brown could help you process it all.”

Em opened her mouth but closed it right away. It was no use to try and argue with mom. She had clearly decided this already.

Em was quiet all the way back home. She was angry at mom for not believing her. In a way she could understand. She knew that her story sounded crazy, but she had thought that her parents would know her enough that they could tell she was telling the truth. But now they were gonna take her to some kind of therapy where a complete stranger would try to understand her and tell how everything would be better after a little bit time. How could anything be better if she was here and Remy was somewhere else? She missed Remy so much. It was like an ache in her chest, constantly nagging there and growing bigger and stronger. Sometimes, usually at night when she went to bed alone, it grew overwhelming and she burst into tears. Em didn’t even know for sure why it was so hard to be away from him. Sure, they had become very close during the month, she’d call Remy her friend for sure, a very good friend and a mentor too, help, support, cr...

“Would you like some pizza?”

Em turned to look at mom and without replying returned to looking out of the window. Mom sighed.

“I know that you don’t like the idea of seeing a therapist, but it could help you. I think it’s worth a try. You don’t have go back if you don’t like it.”

Em didn’t say anything. She hated the idea since it wouldn’t work. There was nothing wrong with her that needed the help of a psychologist. It’d be a complete waste of time. But maybe she could do it for mom... At least then she’d stop bothering her about it and maybe feel better too. But what if the woman thought she was crazy too? What if they locked her up somewhere because they thought she was nuts? That wouldn’t be good at all. Maybe she should just try to act as normal as possible, so mom and dad would think she was fine. That her weird behaviour was just because of the shock. No need to go see anyone if she was fine, right?

“I’d like some pizza actually,” she said. “Maybe mozzarella and chicken.”

“Okay, sure,” mom said and from the corner of her eye Em saw mom smile a bit.

The smell of the pizza made Em’s stomach turn. This was her favourite pizza. The one that she always had when they ordered pizza but now it was gross. It looked so greasy, the chicken clearly wasn’t fresh, there was too much spice. She was able to smell it all and it was disgusting. But she had to show that she was fine. So she took a bite as dad and mom ate their pizzas, pepperoni & salami superior, and onion and mushroom pizza with peppers. Those smelled gross too.

“How does it feel like to have pizza after a long while?” dad asked.

“So great. This is so good,” Em said forcing a smile and swallowing the piece quickly. She felt sick.

“Good to see you’re doing better,” dad continued.

“Yeah. I don’t think I need to talk to the therapist really,” Em said and looked at mom.

Mom looked back at dad. “Well, honey, we think it’d still be good to talk with Mrs Brown. At least once.”

“What? I’m perfectly fine, don’t you see?”

“Well, having one pizza doesn’t really mean anything…,” dad said.

“But I’m fine! Have I been acting weirdly?”

“Well, you talk in your sleep.”

“What?” Em coughed, almost choking on a piece of tomato.

“Yeah, you keep calling out that Remy’s name and crying.”

“Wh…what?” Why didn’t she remember any of this?

“Honey, try to understand that we’re just worried.”

“Fine. But just one time no matter what she says. I’m fine.” Em decided to give up. What point was there in arguing when mom and dad had clearly decided everything already? “I’m finishing this in my room.”

She ran to her room, threw the pizza on the bed and then rushed to the bathroom.

I’ll never eat pizza again, she though while sitting on the floor, leaning against the toilet trying to gather enough strength to get up. She took a deep breath and flushed the toilet and the sipped some water to get the disgusting taste of pizza from her mouth. Looked like Poppy was in for a treat today. Maybe they should switch. Pizza for Poppy and dog food for her. What an amusing thought. But maybe…. No, that would be too much. She’d just make sandwiches later. And maybe eat the crust from the pizza since it wasn’t too bad.

“What do you think of Em, darling?” mom asked downstairs, listening to the flushing sound of the toilet.

“I’m really worried about her. She’s not alright but she doesn’t talk to us about it.”

“I hope Mrs Brown can find out something. Or the doctors. I don’t know what to do…”, mom said and sniffed. She was so worried but Em was so stubborn.

“Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be alright.”