Stolen Angel

Chapter 27: If God Had a Waiting Room

The next day Maddy slept in as long as she could before finally getting up around 2pm to get ready for her appointment. She was scared to be honest. She wasn't sure what kind of doctor this was or what he was going to do to her but she was comforted knowing that Frank would be there. She looked out of her window to see that he was right on time.

"Hey," she said cheerfully.

"Hey."

Looking at Frank's kind smile she realized just how much she had actually missed him over the past two days. It was a strange new feeling for her. Frank was trying desperately to conceal just how happy he was to see her. She'd been constantly in his thoughts and now just the sight of her face was enough to make him feel like he was going to explode into a million tiny pieces.

"So how's the new job coming," he asked.

"Oh it's okay," she said vaguely, "What about you? Did you guys get any songs done?"

"Yeah, well, not really, " he chuckled, "But we're working on it."

They rode in a comfortable silence for about 30 minutes before they pulled up in front of a pristine white building. They were in a fancy part of L.A. a part that Madison never came to. She suddenly felt underdressed as she noticed all of the other young girls walking around in their mini skirts, designer tops, and heels. She felt like a pigeon in a flock of white doves. The building they had stopped in front of was nice it was tan colored and had tan marble surrounding the front door which was tinted. A man in uniform stationed outside opened the door for her and extended his hand to help her out of the car. She took it reluctantly and watched as Frank handed the man his keys.

Frank began to walk toward the building but Maddy's feet were frozen almost like they were superglued to the sidewalk. He looked back noticing that she wasn't with him and quickly walked back to her. "Are you okay?"

She looked at him sheepishly with pleading eyes. "I'm scared," she admitted.

He pulled her into him holding her close and rubbing her back. At first she was surprised but then it felt kind of nice. "You know I would never let anything happen to you right," he asked pushing her away gently so that he could look at her face.

Deep down Maddy knew that already but hearing it straight from his mouth was 10 times better. "I know."

"Good. Now just take a deep breath and remember I'm right here."

With his arm around her waist, Maddy tried to muster up some courage as they walked through the tinted glass door. The waiting room was very serene painted in a very pale blue with a fountain on one wall with marbled rocks and comfortable cream colored sofa and chairs. Calming instrumental harp music was playing through the sound system and instead of a hospital-y antiseptic smell this place smelled like lavendar and vanilla. Maddy giggled at the brief thought that if God had a waiting room this is probably what it would look like.

She followed Frank to the receptionists desk where a very young-looking, overdone, blonde was sitting and talking into a headset. The woman put up a finger indicating that she would be with with Frank in one moment and then continued with her conversation.

"He didn't! Angela I told you about him, the very first time I met him I said 'that man is a player.'...Yes I did I specifically remember it was that time you brought him to Evelyn's cocktail party...Oh honey don't worry if he couldn't see what a wonderful, caring, beautiful woman you are then he didn't deserve you anyway." Maddy watched as Frank became impatient drumming his fingers loudly on the desk in front of him. The receptionist looked up at him in annoyance and then turned away so that she was no longer facing them. "Do you want me to come over later so we can burn his things...Okay I'll be there. Listen hon, I have to go there's some clients here. Alright love, feel better. Bye. May I help you," she asked plastering a fake smile on her face and swivling back around all in one motion.

"Yes we have a four o'clock appointment with Dr. Berman and it's now 4:05," he added just to make a point.

The corner of her mouth twitched in anger before continuing. "Can you please fill out these forms and Dr. Berman will be with you in a moment."

They took the forms and walked over to the couch. They filled out the paperwork to the best of their ability given Maddy "special circumstances" and waited for the doctor to come out. Finally an older gentleman of about 60 with a nearly bald head but a full white beard and mustache came out to great them.

"Hello you must be Madison, I'm Dr. Berman. I'm very excited to work with you Ms. Phillips."

"I'm Frank, we spoke on the phone," he said extending his hand.

"Ah yes of course, it's very nice to meet you as well. Shall we?" He gestured toward the back of the clinic.

Frank instinctively took Maddy's hand and she smiled at him thankfully. They followed the doctor to the examination room which didn't look much like an examination room at all. It was blue and cream just like the waiting room. There were very comfortable looking leather arm chairs and a leather sofa with pillows at each end. There was a well-kept glass desk with a laptop and a few light colored wood cabinets and bookshelves lined with textbooks.

"Ms. Phillips, Mr. Iero please take a seat. So Ms. Phillips I must say that I'm very excited to work with you. A case like yours is extremely rare."

"So what exactly is it that you do, doctor? How can you help Maddy," asked Frank like a concerned parent.

"Well there are a number of methods we could try but the very first thing we're going to do is talk. I'm going to talk to Maddy about what she remembers and then use your memories of her, any thing of hers from the past you might have, and various exercises to draw more out of her. It's important to get what we can out of that before doing anything more invasive."

"Invasive," Maddy repeated. She didn't like the sound of that.

"Let's get to that when the time comes okay? Now Ms. Phillips if you could just lie back on the couch for me we're going to make it nice and dark in here for you so it will be easier for you to concentrate."

Maddy felt a little silly but she was suddenly scared when the room became so dark from the black out curtains that she couldn't see around her even with her eyes open. "Frank," she called timidly.

"I'm right here Maddy."

"Alright Ms. Phillips now I want you to close your eyes and just relax. Take some deep breaths and try to focus. Now I want you to think. Think about the very first thing you remember. Go as far back as you can Ms. Phillips and I want you to describe it for me okay?"

Madison tried to concentrate at first the room was silent but then she started to hear voices.