Chapter 166 - One Hundred And Sixty-six

A feeling of dread settled inside her as she answered it. "No, it does not."

"And what makes you say that?" Peterson continued the conversation with a gentle voice. The flow of it had to be carried on uninterrupted.

"I. I don't know what makes me say that." She admitted.

The doctor nodded. "Alright." She relented. "How was the rest of the week?" She changed the topic.

She pursued her lips and thought of what to tell. Not much had happened except she had been scared to death by her in-law.

"Nothing." She shook her head. "mainly it was all just. Netflix and chill with lots of greasy Chinese."

"That sounds nice. A little time to yourself that do wonders." Peterson smiled. "Did you feel better?"

Alexis answered with a smile. "Yes, I am. I have been wanting some time to myself given everything that has happened till date."

The doctor frowned and probed further. "What happened in the past says to make you feel like that?"

It shook her head. She had no idea how to talk about it. So she left it at that.

"Nothing. Just a few crazy in-laws." She shrugged. She checked the clock on the wall, there were still twenty minutes to go. 

"That happens to the best of us." She joked to which Alexis laughed. "I do have to ask, do you realise you're, forgive me for my lack of finding a better word, a mistake in their whole ordeal?"

Alexis shook her head with a confused expression. Why and how was she the one to make a mistake?

Peterson explained further, "You did what you were asked to but blindly so. What we do without thinking can often comebacks ms harm us, haunt us in many ways. Which leads me to ask this, when you knew that this is was not what you stood for, why did you do it?"

The answer was simple. "Because he said so and I understood that it was important." 

"Important to who, him or you? Did you ever think about that?"

"No, I didn't." She did not. She just assumed that since he said, she really needed it but now, she as she thought about it, she had no need to do anything of the sought. Rather she wanted to move out of the very conversation about them. 

She hesitated a bit but eventually asked, "But what is wrong in that? He is my husband and somewhere, he would have suggested it for my well-being." 

"Well, honestly, everything." The tone that the doctor used was for the first time not formal and something that came from within. What Alexis felt was this was held judging a patient but she kept quiet on it. "You are given the right to de use what is wrong and right for you. You will make mistakes and that is obvious, very human to exact. It's in our nature to make mistakes but it is obvious to learn from them." 

"But when someone knows better should we not accept the advice they offer?" 

"We should but only if we know that it would work out for us. If it's of no use then perhaps not taking it is better." 

Alexis didn't know what to say. To be out in a frank manner, she was not understanding it. 

"Angelo cares for me. So, what if he made a decision for me that he thought would be right?"  

The innocence there pinched the doctor's heart. She had to convey the truth but in a way that Alexis would understand the importance of. 

"Alexis, People will always want to say nice things to us, give us fancy gifts and take us shopping but the real question is, do we need the truth or the nice words? Would those fancy gifts come to use, or can we afford to shop when we have loans to pay?" 

Alexis could feel the shock coming in but she wanted to hear it from her. "Say it in clear words." 

The doctor looked a little uncomfortable but nodded and said it. "Do you need his help?" 

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." 

She clicked her tongue and continued her questioning, "do you need him to help you in standing up?" 

Alexis frowned, "No." 

"In washing yourself or.."

"No!" Came her immediate reply. 

"Well then, must be in communication." She concluded. 

"No, I can communicate her fine," Alexis argued.

"Ah, Money. Don't you have a degree?"

Alexis hated that question too much. "I do have one. I have worked before Marriage and after too." 

The doctor smiled and nodded at that. She was proud of that. "Then are you indecisive? Do you need help in making decisions?" 

Irritated now, she sighed. "No, I can make my own decisions just fine." 

"Then why is it that you think you need his help anywhere?" 

Alexis fell silent at that question. 

The doctor continued, "I did not say, love. So yes, you can want love from someone. Seek companionship for life or till you decide otherwise but the main question is, why do you think you 'need' it?" 

"I..love." she settled with it. "I am with him because I love him. I want to spend my life with him." 

Was it true? She had no idea. But she won't say that she was stupid to say that she needs it. 

"Yes," she agreed but not to the lie that Alexis just said. "You don't need it." 

"I don't." Alexis firmly repeated. 

"Then why do you let him decide it for you?" 

That again! She was frustrated with it. 

"I don't let him decide anything for me!" She hissed. 

Peterson continued, "He made this appointment for you. Patients usually come to seek therapy but your husband did for you. If it was a concerned parent then I would have understood it, but this means that you did not want therapy-"

"And I initially didn't!" She confessed as she threw her hands up. 

"Then why did you let me decide that? You decide to want help. It should co-"

Alexis abruptly got up with her purse, "Screw this. I am leaving." She moved to the door.. "and I am not coming back."