Day 6

                                    

                                          
"It wasn't my fault!  I don't do these kinds of things, I shouldn't be in here!" He screamed, lunging towards me. My eyes widened and I scooted back. 
                          
"Nick, I am not saying it's your fault!  I repeated what you told me!" I tried to calm him down. It's moments like these that I wonder why I work here. 
                          
"No, you twisted my words!" He screamed, grabbing my neck. 
                          
I screamed myself now, slamming my hand down repeatedly until I hit the emergency button.  Within seconds, police came in and took Nick back in cuffs and out of the room. I stood there, breathing heavily and still able to feel where his hands were. 
                          
"Dr. Hartford, are you okay?  Do you need medical assistance?" Mack asked me.
                          
I shook my head. "No...I'm fine...just shaken up. I'll be okay," I assured him, clearing my throat.
                          
"Are you sure?  You still have ten minutes until your next meeting and you can..."
                          
"Mack, I'm okay.  Thank you though," I assured, giving him a smile. 
                          
He stepped back, nodding. "Okay...just making sure. But you do know your next meeting is with Jason McCann, right?"
                          
I nodded, letting out a breath. "I know.  You can go get him."
                          
Mack nodded and walked out to get Jason.  I sat in my seat, taking deep breaths and running my hand through my hair. I've never had a patient touch me, and I never expected someone like Nick would. The crime he committed was stealing, which he claimed not to have done.  
                          
The sound of the buzz made me jump and look over, Mack and Jason in sight. Jason sat down and went through his normal procedure before Mack left. 
                          
"Hello, Jason," I breathed, smiling as if I wasn't nearly murdered a few minutes ago.  "How are you doing today?"
                          
Jason stared at me, his eyes moving to my neck. "What happened?" He ignored my question. 
                          
"What?"
                          
"I heard screaming and yelling, and there's hand marks on your neck," he replied, staring at my neck once again. 
                          
"Someone was upset with how the session was going, that's it."
                          
"They tried to kill you?" He raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised. 
                          
I gave him a strange look. "I guess, why are you surprised?" I asked him. 
                          
Jason shrugged. "I don't know.  It's not like it's your fault.  You're actually trying to help, you care. Why would someone kill you?"
                          
"Yeah, why would someone kill someone who's innocent?" I questioned, now referring to him and hoping this would make him think. 
                          
Jason scoffed. "You can't turn this on me, what I do is different. It's business," he defended himself. 
                          
"To that guy, this is all a misunderstanding. He doesn't belong here, yet he's still hurting other people."
                          
Jason sat there, shaking his head. "This is ridiculous.  I was trying to be nice, but it always comes back to me and what I've done," he muttered. 
                          
"That's why you're here, Jason," I reminded him, but thinking back to the last part of his sentence. "You were trying to be nice?" I asked softly. 
                          
Jason looked down, shrugging. "Maybe..."
                          
I took a deep breath, being cautious now. "Can I ask...why?"  Jason looked at me, staring. I shook my head. "You don't have to answer."
                          
His eyes moved back down at the table as he spoke up. "I guess I feel like I need to. I know I've killed people, but when someone else is hurting someone I know, I..." He trailed off, unsure what to say. 
                          
"Care?" I finished, taking a guess. 
                          
"No!" He snapped, glaring at me. "I don't care about anyone, especially not you!"
                          
I bit my lip, looking down at my notes and nodding. "It was just a guess," I said, picking up my pen and writing. 
                          
There was silence as Jason sat and I wrote. Then I heard him mumble a word that wasn't very audible, but just loud enough for me to hear, "Sorry."
                          
I stopped, looking up at him. I was afraid to say anything, afraid he'll snap again. "Good job today, Jason."
                          
He just looked away, avoiding my eyes. The buzz went off and Mack walked in, unlocking and taking Jason. I continued to write, glancing up and watching as Jason walked out. In my notes I wrote one key thing: Jason apologized.