The Psychiatrist: Trilogy to The Doll Collector

Chapter 17: Maria

It was a long hour before Kris was settled enough to leave alone. I walked him to his bedroom so he could lie down, then made it to my office. Trent's file was sitting on top of my desk. Soon there'd be a 'deceased' stamp over it.

A light knock on my office door met my ears. I casually turned finding Zach there.

He wore a serious expression and calmly told me that Dr. Lamb needed me to gather my files to give them to Ayanna for the time being. I was a little concerned about handing Kris' file over. I didn't trust anyone with it other than myself. I was the only one who knew it forwards and backwards because I'd been a co-author. Things about me were written in there, and they always would be.

I detected a strange tone in Zach's voice as I nodded and opened my drawer. He was usually never serious with me, at least not like this.

I called out his name, shutting my drawer again. He should know better than to act strangely. It was hard to turn off the psychiatrist in me, and I wasn't about to start now.

"Who are you?" he asked.

Those three words stunned and shook me to the core. That wasn't a question I thought I'd ever hear in this place. Going back to my old identity meant that I could hide in plain sight.

"What are you talking about?" I laughed, but it was all too evident in my voice that I knew exactly what he meant.

"Look, I get that sometimes you have to comfort patients, but it's never like that, and never with these patients."

I remained focused on his eyes, trying to read his thoughts. He was right, we weren't supposed to engage this way with patients. While it was our job to treat them, that was personal, and he knew it.

"You're her, aren't you?"

There was a sense of hurt and dejection in his voice. That was weird to hear. Was I her? Adrian had been exceptionally thorough in omitting my name from the reports. He had promised to keep me out of the mouth of the media. He'd also promised to keep Kris' whereabouts a secret. When it came to that, he was a man of his word.

"Shut the door." I said.

I thought I would have much more time before my true identity was exposed. It looked like my run here was short-lived. If he told, I'd be blacklisted for having been involved with a patient. My reputation would be tarnished, and I'd never work under that name again.

He took a seat in front of me and looked at me attentively. Though my name had been kept hidden in a shadow, I'd become pretty famous. Everyone knew about the one victim that survived because they fell in love. The thing was, when they arrested Kris, they raided his home and pretended that he had someone living in there. Stating he'd kept someone alive would point to me. This was the only way to protect me. Believe me the things they said about me and him were vile and disgusting. None of it was true, it was nothing like the torrid love affair they painted.

"Who are you?" Zach repeated.

"... Last year, I met a man through a dating app. He was one of the nicest men I'd spoken to, very well mannered and funny. We spoke for a little while before we decided to meet. We settled on a bar I used to frequent in my undergrad. He took me out to dinner and paid in cash. It wasn't the best date, he kept talking about his doll collection. I thought it was strange that a man his age would be so drawn to having a doll collection. As he drove me back to the bar, he invited me to his place for a night cap. Against my better judgement, I accepted. Once at his home, he handed me a glass of wine. He'd slipped something in there which made me groggy. I could feel that something was wrong, and I tried to escape. I hurried into a room which turned out to be his doll room. I realized who he was, so my fight or flight kicked in and I had to fight him. We struggled in the living room and I stabbed him in the thigh, but in the end, he overpowered me and held me captive for 6 months."