CONSPIRACY THEORIES ( & more )

I'm a therapist, and my patient is going to be the next school shooter [Part 3]

here's the part 3 :))

(uhh lowkey not as interesting as i thought it'd be sorryyyy

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A few weeks later, once they moved the bodies and resumed classes, I started clearing out my desk.

Yeah, I got fired.

They always fire the therapist when stuff like this happens. "Should have seen it coming," they say. "All the signs were there."

No kidding.

But it's the school's reason for termination that still burns in my mind: "Reckless behavior resulted in needless tragedy."

It almost sounded like the whole thing was my fault.

Maybe I was reckless, I don't know. Sure, it was the opposite of what you're supposed to do in an active shooter situation. But at least I tried.

If you really want to know what happened after the fire alarm went off, I've shared my version of events below. But as you're already quite aware, it's not a happy ending.

* * *

"Call him," I said.

"What?" Alex raised his eyebrows.

"If you really want to stop this, take out your phone and call him."

He looked hesitant, but he took out his phone. "What am I supposed to say?"

"Tell him you escaped with one of the officer's guns, and you want him to wait for you -- to join in the fun."

The last part made me sick to say, but this had to sound real.

"That's crazy--"

"NOW, Alex."

Just as he held up the phone to his ear, one of the resource officers burst into the room. I hurried over to him and whispered, "It's not Alex."

"What?"

"There's a second shooter," I said, as Alex mumbled into his phone. "You need to be quiet and let him make this call."

"No, I -- I can't do that." He stepped forward, but he looked terrified. "We need to wait for the police."

I moved in his way. "Listen. At best, the library is a sixty second sprint from here. How many unarmed students can a gunman kill in one minute?"

He looked around the room nervously.

"Alex is just buying time," I said. "Every second counts. You need to trust me. I know him."

He took a deep breath and gave me a small nod. I think he was actually relieved that I was taking charge, so he didn't have to. I could tell it was taking every ounce of courage he had not to run away.

I glanced at his badge and said, "Dave, I want you to listen to me, okay? Everything is going to be okay."

He nodded again.

"Dave, where is the other officer?"

"I don't-- " he trembled. "I don't know."

"Jesus," I muttered under my breath. "You've called 911, right?"

"Yes," he said. "They're three minutes away."

I shook my head. "That's too long."

I turned back to Alex and he was already off the phone. I missed the whole conversation. Shit.

"Did he believe you?" I asked.

"I think so," said Alex. "He said he's holding twelve in the library."