Julienne was still the youngest doctor in the clinic. At age thirty it wasn’t that surprising, she supposed. Not as many people were getting into the profession, and this clinic tended to be geared towards the more wealthy side of things. Specializing in the stressors that affected  those heavily entrenched in high society and the corporate world. Honestly, she had debated going to a different clinic when she met her favorite client.

Hannah Kerr. The heiress to the Kerr Tech and its related foundations and charities. Her father had wanted to help feed the world and make the tech to do it. Or so Hannah said. Getting Hannah had been pure luck. Julienne had been sitting at the front desk, writing out some drafts of a resignation letter. Her clients never stuck around long and were often transferred to other doctors within a few weeks. It was very frustrating. 

Dr Fry had assumed it was because of her unconventional appearance and methods. She considered herself a bit of a ‘punk’ therapist. She still used standard practices of course, but sometimes you needed to dig deep, to go against what society expected, in order to find your own happiness. As a result, someone would come in thinking they were going to see someone in a sensible blouse and perhaps a short bob. Instead they got bright rainbow streaked hair flowing free. Pink leather jacket with spikes. Chains going across various piercings. Sometimes she even came in with ripped jeans if she was in a more casual mood.

Well, she did until they changed the dress code. That had been a fun two weeks. Just to make a point, Julienne found every type of clothing that wasn’t ‘professional’ but not actually against the dress code. It had been a good laugh to see them try to find where it said the skull patterned pajama pants were against dress code. Or the clown make up. Even when they waited for client complaints, they didn’t come because she had carefully chosen her not rule breaking appearances to go with the type of clients she had that day. Due to constantly outthinking them, the head of the clinic proceeded to work out a deal of what would be acceptable. 

And then clients kept getting transferred out of her books. Only faster this time.

Retaliation sucked big time. 

Going back to Hannah, she had come in that day dressed in black and dark blues. The poor girl was wiping off what had been her most recent attempt to wear make up as tears had ruined it. Through attempts to prevent sobs, Hannah managed to get out a few words.

“H-Hannah f-for D-Dr. Kent.” Was all the timid 25 year old could get out. Her body language screamed not just grief, but feeling overwhelmed. A lack of confidence. 

“Oh Yeah, sorry. She was supposed to send out the email. She was sick last night and couldn’t come in.” 

Sick. Had way too much Vodka at the bar last night. Same difference.

“O-oh I… I guess…” Hannah pulled out her phone and started to look through the calendar app.

Julienne had seen this far too many times. Someone finally got the nerve to get the help they needed. Some bump kept them from going in. Then they never showed up again. Sometimes it worked out. Sometimes it didn’t.

It’s not like she was going to steal the girl away. 

“Hey. Hannah. How about you talk with me? I can pass on the notes after, if you want to come back to Dr. Kent.” She calmly stood up, making sure she didn’t spook the girl. “She is an amazing doctor. Lots of satisfied clients. But you look like you need help now.”

“I… I do need someone to talk to. There’s so much going on.” Hannah wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “And everyone is so busy.”

“That happens to even the best support systems.” She offered a box of tissues. “And I promised I’m licensed as well. I’m Dr Julienne Fry.”

Hannah had frozen in place as she pulled the tissue out. “Julienne Fry?”

Julienne remembered the panic that rose in her chest. Thinking the well had already been poisoned. And if it would possibly prevent her from finding other work. She had too many student loans to not be able to work as a doctor.

Instead she heard laughter. A chuckle that quickly turned into a full hard belly laugh. 

“A sign. A sign from dad!” She had cried out before they went into the back and started talking. Julienne found out that Hannah and her brothers were all named after types of potatoes. Even her mother’s first name and their family name could be connected to potatoes. To the still grieving girl, this felt like the first proper sign that things would be ok. That she’d be ok with her dad gone.

Sadly moments where Hannah spoke so clearly, without the stutters and stops and starts, were painfully rare. It had taken a full six months of 5 days a week sessions just to get Hannah to talk calmly around Dr. Fry. Even with that, if something happened at home or with the board she was often a wreck again. The clinic was charging an extra fee to Hannah since the poor girl often called the hotline to talk to Julienne. She didn’t mind though. Hannah needed the help and avoided calling at unreasonable times. She sometimes just sent a text message instead.

Today though, was the eight month anniversary of Hannah being her client. Julienne had even gotten some “potato candy” to help celebrate. Sadly Hannah didn’t take it. She winced at the attempt to put it in her hand. Julienne knew Hannah was stressed to the point of chewing pens to death. As it was, when Hannah came in she was a mess. She had started wearing those cute cloud sweat pants to the sessions and the pink pink shirt with the picture of Idaho on the front. The back said in faded letters ‘come for a spud-tacular time’. But her bun was done so tight Julienne wasn’t sure she could actually close her eyes properly. The nails were obviously freshly done the day before. And her makeup? Non-existent. Meaning she’d been crying a lot.

Not surprising. Some issues had come up with the wedding and now her first major project was underway. The poor woman was hugging her legs close to her chest as she had started rambling and stuttering through her worries, every so often looking like she was about to chew her nails before stopping.

“And-and the d-dress is a s-size too small. C-Chip says I can probably lose we-weight for it b-but,” She closed her eyes, some tears squeezing out as she laid down on the couch, reaching for a beaded pillow. “T-the project I-I”

Julienne watched her body language carefully.She was hoping for a chance to offer a supportive hug. Hanah had been refusing them for a while now. It started as a concern about germs but had turned into the idea she somehow didn’t deserve to have affectionate forms of physical contact.  If Julienne hadn’t been watching so closely, maybe she never would have believed what happened next. Hannah’s body suddenly relaxed. As if forgetting the entire conversation. 

Spoken with years of wisdom and regret behind them. “If I only knew back then what I know now…” 

Hannah’s voice was soft. As if accepting a dire fate. There was no stuttering or tripping over words. Not even an apology. Julienne needed to approach this carefully.

“And what is it you know now that you didn’t back then, Hannah?” She put on her most gentle and supportive voice. This wasn’t the time for firm affirmations. ” Did you learn something since our Saturday session?

And then, everything exploded. As Hannah spoke - not only spoke but interrupted Julienne. Standing being Julienne now was a woman she’d only seen faint flickers of in the past 8 months. Someone who was justifiably upset. Someone that at least knew a good part of her worth. The woman who could run her father’s company and stand up to the family members who were constantly stepping on her ego and dreams.

And the girl sounded like a loon. At the same time, this didn’t feel like a psychotic break, or as if she’d been playing a game with the good doctor. No. This was someone who had been through years of therapy that worked for them. This was someone who was ready to kick the system’s ass.

This was someone that had somehow turned into a bad anime or k drama plot. But hey. Worse things to be. Better Hannah than Julienne, at least.

Still, who wouldn’t want to be the helpful side kick in something like this? 

 “So, I need to know exactly what is going on so I can help you properly.”

Hannah slowly sat back down and took one of the candies off the tray. “ I’ve been seeing you for six years from my perspective, I suppose. And I don’t know if my death was an accident or murder but, I had come back from a session with you to overhear Mother, my brothers, and Chip all talking. After they left I looked in the room they were in and found all sorts of papers that showed they were trying to get me out of the picture.”

“They were trying to kill you?” Honestly, Julienne had been afraid of that. Some of Chip’s actions alone sounded like attempts to drive someone to depression. But also just could have been the actions of a controlling asshole.

“Well that was a few of the plans at a glance. But there were some to get my shares from me. Or put me in an institution. Or worse.” Hannah rubbed her arms. “Oh my god… I died and they wanted me dead. I…”

Ok. Whatever shock was making her power through was wearing off. Julienne went and grabbed a nearby weighted blanket. It was one her own Aunt had made for clients. A simple design of quilted squares filled with beads. It was Hannah’s favorite. 

“I missed this one… a client walked off with it two years ago.” Hannah gently rubbed the beads.

Julienne was mostly convinced this wasn’t a case of DID. It didn’t feel like it. Still, the idea of her coming from the future was something else as well. Especially since the only sign was the sudden change in behaviors.This could be a massive delusion. Not harmful from the looks of it. It could also be something her mind was doing to protect her from everything going on.

“So, you need help keeping yourself safe.” Julienne leaned forward. “Is there anything you can do at home?”

Hannah shook her head. “I found out they had cameras everywhere. Even the bathroom. Anything they could use to get evidence on me. They were going to start installing some speakers too.”

Hm. Paranoia. But it wasn’t unwarranted. Not from what Dr Fry knew. But if she was from the future… “I think you can understand I need a bit of proof. Do you know anything that is going to happen that you can tell me?”

Maybe if Julienne was lucky and this was true, Hannah would have winning lotto numbers. 

The good doctor had student loans to pay off.