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Percy walked into the room as if on auto-pilot and sank down on the nearest chair. Nothing Leo could have said would have prepared him for the almost perfect physical specimen that stood in front of him. Di Angelo's eyelashes curved gracefully around his brooding brown eyes, set under delicately arched eyebrows that would have looked unnatural on pretty much anybody else. The doctor's hair, far from messy, was artfully groomed so it looked as if he had just rolled out of bed. His cheekbones were prominent in the olive-skinned face, lending enough definition to the otherwise plain face without sticking out too much. Dr di Angelo's mouth - oh, his mouth - was shaped like a cupid's bow and was just the shade of pink that Percy liked it.
Percy shook his head to clear his thoughts. Now was not the time to be thinking about how kissable his psychiatrist's lips were. To distract himself, Percy began to tug rhythmically on his sandy-blond hair whilst rocking back and forth on the armchair. Dr di Angelo cleared his throat. Percy jerked his head up in alarm, as if oblivious to the doctor's presence. After an awkward pause, di Angelo said,
"Now, Mr Jackson, how are you?"
Percy was taken aback at the non-psychiatric question. How was he? Nobody had bothered to ask him that question, ever since his mother had been taken away and he had been put in a care home. He didn't really know, so he decided honesty was the best policy.
"I don't know," he said, nervously tapping his feet. "I . . . Nobody asked me that . . . s-s-since . . . since my mom . . . went." He finished his sentence with a strange feeling of accomplishment. It was almost the first time Percy had admitted that his mother was gone since it had happened and that he had said 'gone' instead of 'left'. The latter gave the impression that his mom had vanished by choice, and dumped her only kid in a care home. But that wasn't true. Not at all. She had simply disappeared while Percy was at school. At first, he didn't mind. Nobody to boss him around and stop him eating all the junk he wanted to! After a few days, he got scared. Mom had never stayed out for more than one night without telling him so. He called the police, who put his mom on some missing persons list somewhere and shoved him into a care home.
"Okay, Percy. H-how did you feel about this?" Dr di Angelo seemed almost as uncomfortable discussing the topic as his patient did. Percy hunched over, picking at a loose thread on his battered jeans. It was as if he was eleven again, hiding behind the chair in the home counsellor's office. All the worry and fear bubbled up to the surface again and Percy felt as vulnerable as resentful as he had on that day, eighteen years ago.
"I'm angry. Why did she just take off and leave me like that? Mom wouldn't do something like that. I know she wouldn't. When I came home from school and told her about Jason's dad clearing off and ditching him in the home, she told me that she wouldn't do that, whatever happened. Andthen she left. Just like that. I don't understand. What could have made her do something like that? It's not possible that she wanted to. She loved me. Jesus, Dr di Angelo, she loved me." At this, Percy let out a heart-wrenching howl and slumped to the floor, back against the psychiatrist's chair.
Dr di Angelo crossed the space between them and crouched down next to Percy. Gently, he laid a hand on Percy's back, silencing the muffled sobs that he had been making.
"It's okay, Percy. I'm going to try and make you feel better about this. It is my job, after all."