The Right Treatment Read Online Free Page B

furrow between his brows as he caught her observing him. She felt her face heat at being caught, but concluded that Matt had grown into one hell of a handsome man, or would have, if he tried putting a smile on that stern face.
    She cringed as he untied her stiff blue hospital gown, pulling it forward, dropping the stethoscope between her breasts,
    True, he had probably seen it all last night, but she was unconscious then. Now she had to suffer the humiliation of the man who had refused to take her virginity baring her tits while giving her a verbal dressing down to remember. The cool breeze through the open window seemed to conspire to cause her shame, mingling with his warm breath, creating a confusion of sensations, causing goose-pimples on her chest and to her total mortification, making her nipples pucker and peak. Matt neither did nor said anything to make her more uncomfortable, but he noticed. That much was obvious from how his eyes seemed to linger as he told her to turn around while he listened to her chest. The gap down the back of her hospital-issue gown was resting right on the crack of her bottom as he pulled it open to place the stethoscope on her back. She flinched, unsure if it was the cold of the instrument or the total utter humiliation that was the cause of the shiver.
    Aoife spent three days in the hospital before they evicted her for a more needy case. In that time, Matt had been in and out several times every day, lecturing her on the damage she was doing to her body. He harped on and on until he was blue in the face—he even managed to make her father seem like a pussy cat, which was quite an achievement. But at least Matt didn’t put her down—he talked about her stupid choices, not about how bad a person she was. And how she had the ability to take back control, as long as she wanted to. Had her parents known what was going on, she would be forcibly dragged back home to listen to a catalogue of how she had been screwing up her life from the age of four and all that without one constructive piece of advice or help. Matt had saved her from that at least by not calling her parents. In return, she could put on her attentive face, pretend to listen, and let it all go in one ear and out the other, both with him and the damn psychiatrist. Aoife knew she had no problems; she was just unlucky to get a bad E.
    “You are not to take any drugs without clearing it with me first. Nothing. Not even an aspirin or a beer. Is that clear? You have my pager, I won’t keep you waiting any longer than is strictly necessary. And I’ll call to check up on you daily,” Matt warned on Wednesday before discharging her.
    “What about my antidepressants and sleeping pills that the shrink prescribed?”
    “That’s Dr. Smith to you. Fiona has control of them; she will dole them out until you learn to be more responsible.”
    “I’m not a child!”
    “Then stop acting like one. You should consider yourself lucky Fiona is even agreeing to look after you after all that has happened. Frankly, if it was me, I would start by giving you a damn good spanking for your past behaviour, before moving on to discussing how I expected you to behave in the future.”
    Aoife bit her tongue, outraged at his suggestion. And yet, Aoife knew he had a point—her behaviour towards Fiona was unforgivable. To go off with her ex was stooping below even what Aoife thought was acceptable. It was different for her, she had never had a relationship to speak of, but Brian had been Fiona’s first love. She was totally ashamed of herself.
    The first three days passed without event. She let on to be playing by the rules and following orders. Sure, Aoife was having trouble sleeping, but somehow she got through it. She was still a shadow of her former self though, and she knew it. Every time she looked in the mirror, a ghost of a person stared back at her. Her weight was still way down from her ordeal, her skin tone pasty and grey. Her once glossy,