The next morning, Saul awakes as he began to change himself out of his butler attire and iron it as him sleeping in it left a lot of wrinkles in it. He then hung it in his closet and hopes it’ll stay like that until the next time he works as a butler. Still overly exhausted as hell, Saul lays back in bed as he slowly falls back to sleep. Or at least he tries but then all the events of yesterday rushed back before his eyes that it spooked him wide awake. He released a huge sigh in exhaustion. He then gets his phone and headphones as he turns on his music. He raised the volume up nearly all the way until the music starts blasting so much that the headphones began to vibrate from his own music. He laid back on his bed and stare off to his ceiling and eventually into space. He lost track of time as he intents on forgetting the events he has gone through for the last few weeks. But then the music stopped playing as he was receiving a phone call. He gets back up and answers the call by a Dr. Madrazo.
“Hello?” Saul answers.
“Hello Saul, it is Dr. Madrazo. I was calling just calling if you’re still up for showing up for your appointment today?” he asked.
“Oh, it’s Today? Oh sorry, I actually forgot all about it. But what time was it at again?” Saul responded.
“It’s at 1 o’clock. Will that be alright for you or should reschedule it?” Dr. Madrazo asks.
Saul then looked at the time on his phone and sees that it was 12:09. Realizing this, he leaps out of bed and rushes to get his clothes.
“Uh yeah, that will still work. I just need to change and head on over there. Third floor, right?” Saul asked.
“Correct, see you soon my boy.” Dr. Madrazo answered as he hung up.
Saul then hung up and began grabbing some clothes from the closet and tries to pick which clothes to go out in a last-minute decision, he picked a normal t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a blue plaid jacket. After picking up his clothes he changed and quickly walked out the door and grabbed his wallet and keys.
“Mom are you here? Mom?” he calls out.
But no one responded. He looked in his parent’s room to see that his dad is still asleep from exhaustion from his graveyard shift at the casino. So, it was pointless to ask for a ride from him. Left with no choice, he decided to go walking to the phycologist’s clinic. But going outside, for the first time in a while was something that left him immensely tensed up. He hasn’t been outside on his own for a while. Even when he went out with Sara, it was only for a while. Especially after the “incident”, he feels like people would stop him and question him about it. He then grabbed a pair of sunglasses and a medical mask to covers his face. He then puts on his converse shoes and exits out as he locks the door behind him. He then puts on his headphones and puts on some music as he walks towards the psychologist clinic.
“How long has it been since I’ve walked on my own? I know the path but, at the same time, my own world is starting to feel alien to me. I feel adrift, almost lost in the light. The sun is burning me for sure but not because it’s the summer. It’s more like I’m forgetting what it’s like being in the sun. The people I pass by don’t look like people to me. They’re like faceless, shapeless beings that just floating around. I don’t even try to interact with them. I just move my way around them and try to get to the clinic as soon as possible. But even when I can see it in my sights, it still feels like I’m nowhere near close to it. Even though it’s the afternoon, I wish the day could just fast forward and be over already. I don’t like going here, but I don’t have a choice. Court’s order.”
Saul then took off his headphone but his music was still playing as he’s now in front of a three-story building which happens to be the psychologist clinic. The first floor was reserved as a parking lot while the second is for group therapy while the third is reserved for individual sessions. Saul walks to the center of the parking lot where there is an elevator surrounded by a spiral staircase leading upstairs. But he didn’t have the energy to climb up concrete stairs, especially in the summer heat. But while he was entering the elevator, someone is tailing Saul in a small green sedan. The Driver writes down his observations as he now waits in the parking lot. Saul then exits out the elevator to the third floor. It was surprisingly quiet as the last time he was there it was crowded. He walks over to receptionist's desk and speaks.
“Hi, I have an appointment at 1 o’clock.” He said.
“Name of the doctor?” The Receptionist asked.
“Dr. Madrazo.” He said.
The receptionist paused when she heard his name and she immediately knew who she was talking to. She didn’t bother making eye contact with Saul. She grabs a clipboard and prints out a sheet of paper for him to sign and then hands it to him.
“Answer the following questions and have your name signed at the end of it. Once you’re are done, I’ll call the doctor. In the meantime, you can wait over there.” The receptionist pointed but still not looking at Saul.
“Thank you-
“Don’t. Just sign it and go.” She rudely said.
Saul didn’t want to dispute with her. He takes the clipboard and takes a seat in the waiting area. The sheet of paper was asking some personal question that was rather, too personal to ask. Such as “How was your week so far?” or “Have you been thinking of recent thoughts of suicide?”. Like there was an easy for any of them. After all the chaos he has gone through for the past week and a half, how does one summarize the chaos he has endured in one word? He didn’t want to answer them but it requires him to answer them before he could see the doctor. Regardless of his dismay, Saul answers the questions as best as he could that avoid topics he doesn’t want to answer with honesty. Even so, answering them is tangling his heart as he still doesn’t want to be here at all. After filling out all of the questions on the form, the doctor comes out from the other room and calls out his name.
“Saul Torres?” he shouts.
“Right here sir.” Saul shouts back.
The doctor then gestures him to follow him before anyone else catches wind of who he called out to. The doctor then escorts him to a closed hallway as dozens of other rooms with other doctors having sessions with their patients or have their door opened while they’re filling out paperwork. Saul didn’t concentrate on what was going on around him. He’d rather not want to be here but he has to. Eventually, they both arrive in front of the doctor’s room, Room C13.
“So good to see you again my boy. Especially now that you’re walking again.” The doctor said as he opens the door to his room.
The room was small yet oddly comforting. At the corner of the room was the doctor’s desk with his computer. Next to the desk was a small yet comfy couch but above the couch was a small sign that says: “Sit only. Not to be laid down.” Probably not everyone got the memo when they saw the couch. But despite the comforting atmosphere of how the room looks, he still doesn’t want to be there at all.
“Slow and steady pace doc. Taking everything I can with one step at a top time.” Saul responds as he removes his mask and hangs his jacket at a coat hanger on the edge of the room.
“Well, even still, you’ve recovered so much in just one month. Most cases such as yours would take longer to recover. Let alone to be let out in public again under one month.” The doctor explains as he closes the door and sits down on his desk.
“I’d rather be at home and recover than to stay in bed and do nothing in a hospital bed.” Saul said as he sits down on the couch.
“I cannot blame you. Sitting all day in a hospital bed can be boring.” The doctor said as he sits down on his chair and takes out a clipboard with dozens of documents attached to it. “So how have you been since you’ve been discharged out of the hospital?” he asks.
“Well, it’s honestly beats being bored in the hospital. But other than that, I would say it’s been pretty chill. I’ve been mostly occupying myself by either cleaning or cooking at home. My parents have been working overtime so now that I don’t have much to do home, I’d figure I would do some of the chores.” Saul replied.
“And do you find it enjoyable to do them?” the doctor asks.
“Not exactly I mean they’re just chores. They’re annoying to do but someone has to do anyway. Mom is working overtime as a manager now, dad is working overtime at the casino as a dealer now, and my sister is mostly at college in San Francisco.” Saul responded.
“And your little brother?” The doctor.
“As if he’ll actually help out. Whenever he comes home from school he always goes off and play his game and is too busy screaming and throwing a damn tantrum every time he loses from his friends. And every time I tell him to calm down but he never listens.” Saul said in an annoyed tone.
“Still, I still question how your parents didn’t send him anger management class for his temperament?” The doctor responds as he writes on his clipboard.
“Cause they’re already spending their money on me with meeting you as my therapist. And the last therapist they tried with him quit after a week with dealing with him.” Saul responded.
“Oh right, poor Doctor Merida.” The doctor responded.
The conversation then drove on to the doctor asking basic questions about how Saul’s been doing and how he’s been spending his time for the month or so since he checks out of the hospital. Most of them were pretty standard questions to ask but at the same time, Saul had to lie enough to make sure he doesn’t tell the doctor about his adventures in the demon realm. Otherwise, who knows how he will react to such a tale like that. He’d probably be sent back to the hospital for mental examination or worse. He could be sent to a mental asylum. Either way, Saul still has to keep his secret of knowing demons from those around him. Eventually, their session went on for about an hour and Saul could breathe a sigh of relief as normally that’s all the time their sessions are. However, there was one more subject that Doctor Madrazo brought before Saul could leave. And it was a subject Saul didn’t want to touch upon in a million years.
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