Page 12 of Black Widow's Kiss

With my brother gone, the doctor approached the side of my bed. She had kind eyes and there was something about her I trusted.

“I’m Dr. Rohit. You’re in Garrison Hospital Center because you were in a car accident,” she explained.

“I hit something,” I replied as my memories surfaced. “Was it a tree?”

“It was.”

“Someone shot me and I passed out.”

She looked at me confused. “I’m sorry?”

“Someone shot me. They hit me in the neck. It caused me to lose control.”

Still confused, the doctor gently held my chin and turned my head. When she didn’t find anything on one side, she tilted my chin to look at the other.

“Why do you think you were shot in the neck?” she asked with a furrowed brow.

“Cause I felt it. It was right here,” I said finally reaching from the spot again.

To my surprise, not only did my neck not hurt to touch, but there was nothing there. No wound, no bandage, nothing.

“I don’t understand. I felt it.”

“As far as our examiners have been able to tell, you haven’t sustained any injury that might have broken the surface. You will probably have a bruise across your chest from the seat belt and your head might be a little foggy from the impact with the air bag. But, miraculously, other than that, you’re fine.”

“I’m fine?” I asked confused. “Then, why did I pass out.”

The doctor stuck her hands in her pockets and relaxed.

“Yes. That is why I requested that I speak to you alone.”

“Okay,” I asked bracing myself.

“I know how important image can be in your world…”

“What world is that?” I asked interrupting.

“I’m sure I don’t know,” she said backing off her position. “But, I thought you would want us to be alone when I told you that you crashed your car after blacking out from a panic attack.”

Of all of the things that she could have said, panic attack was nowhere on the list. I processed it for a second.

“No. What else you got?”

“I’m afraid this isn’t a multiple choice situation.”

“Nah. Can’t be. I don’t have panic attacks.”

“Have you been under an increased amount of stress recently?”

Have I been under an increased amount of stress? Let me see. My idiot brother killed a Yakuza made man, I’m waiting for my father to make his move to remove me as head of the family, and I was tricked into marrying a man who has killed all of his past lovers.

“Not more than usual,” I told the doctor knowing it wasn’t true.

“None the less, all of your symptoms point to an acute panic attack that lead to you feeling light-head and briefly passing out, which lead to you running into a tree. Did anything stressful happen right before the accident?”

Let’s see, the man I married did kiss me in front of my brother and one of my biggest rivals, and it felt so good that my head almost exploded.

“Not that I can think of,” I told the doctor.

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