Chapter sixteen
One week later- September 19th
8 weeks old
She needed therapy, oh god, did she need therapy. She needed to pay somebody to help her deal with her crap. But yet why did she feel so bad being here and paying somebody to help make her problems disappear? It just didn't seem natural.
"Josephine? Josephine? Are you okay?" Dr Wyatt asks gently as Jo sits on the lounge in her office.
"I...I... I don't know what to say," Jo replies.
"How about you start from the beginning," Dr Wyatt prompts.
"I was a few weeks away from 19 when I met him... he was 39... I was in pre med..." Jo begins.
"I want you to start from your childhood. In order to get a sense of you as a person and to understand the choices you've made I need the full picture. It will help you to understand as well," Dr Wyatt explains.
"Okay, um... my mother left me at a first station when I was 2 weeks old. I've been in and out of over a dozen foster and group homes until I aged out of the system and even lived out of my car when I was 16 and I've been in and out of Juvie. The homes I was in... they were abusive and when I was 10 I had acute myeloid Leukaemia. I remember one safe home... I thought they were going to adopt me but then social services showed up one day and took me away... I was 13. The home I was in after that was the worst home I'd ever been in. I was raped and abused. He tried to rape me again and I pushed him back. He fell and hit his head. He pressed charges and I went to Juvie. I went to Juvie for 6 months for defending myself. I never had a chance to be believed, after all, all the judge see's is a file... that's all they ever see. It was a pretty horrible experience. Conditions weren't great and it was over crowded. When I got out I went to a group home. I stayed there until I was just shy of my 16th birthday. When I got out I went to another foster home but they kicked me out so I lived in my car," Jo explains.
"That must have been very hard for you. I'm so sorry that you had to go through it," he replies.
"It was incredibly hard. I'd never had a single second of anything real in my life and when I met Paul I did... or I thought I finally did," Jo replies.
"You said 'you thought.' Why's that?" Dr Wyatt asks.
"I guess because in the end he hit me... and he beat me. That's not love. I said 'I thought' because it wasn't real," Jo replies simply.
"How did you both meet?" Dr Wyatt asks curiously.
"We met in a bar..." Jo begins.
February 1st 2006
18 year old Josephine Alice Wilson sits alone in a local tavern in Boston. Today she had begun studying her two year pre medical degree and was one step closer to achieving her dream of becoming a doctor. She hoped that somebody would be able to celebrate with her, anybody would do. They didn't have to be best friends, or even friends, just an acquaintance would be fine. But the truth was that she was alone, sadly for Brooke being alone wasn't a new concept, she'd been alone most of her life so what was it to be alone right now, celebrating one of her best achievements.
As Jo orders a sparkling water a gentleman sits next to her, "has anybody ever told you that your eyes light up your face," the man says.
"You haven't even seen my eyes," Jo says before turning to face the man. He was tall, had brunette hair and was very good looking. He ticked all of her boxes.
"Well now I have and I was right," he grins. Jo blushes just a little. "I'm Paul Stadler," he says.
"I'm Josephine Wilson," She smiles.
"Can I buy you another drink?" He asks. "What do you like?" He continues.
"Wow, you don't waste any time do you?" Jo asks looking at him inquisitively.
"Well, life is short and you're a very pretty lady. So can I buy you a drink?" He asks.
"Wow, you are a go getter aren't you," Jo says, "But um, no, but you can buy me this sparkling water," she says holding the Sparkling water up in her hand.
"Straight shooter, I like that," Paul says.
"Well there's no point in sugar coating things to a grown man now is there?" She says.
"Well no," he replies. "Now, what's a pretty lady like you doing sitting here drinking alone in a tavern?" He asks.
"I just started pre Med school today. I'm celebrating," she replies.
"You're celebrating alone?" He asks.
"I know, it's pathetic really. I could be at my apartment drinking sparkling water in the comfort of my own pyjamas and I could be watching cheesy soap operas, but yet I choose to get semi dressed up and come out to the tavern," she replies.
"It's not pathetic. Had you chosen to stay at your place I wouldn't of met you. And you are one of the prettiest women I have ever seen," he adds.
"You really are a go getter. You've known me for like five minutes and already you are flirting with me," she says.
"Well, like I said, life is short," he replies.
"If you're so interested in getting to know me then why don't you tell me something about yourself?" Jo asks politely.
"I 'm a general surgeon at Baltimore hospital. Research and innovation are what I'm passionate about. I grew up in Florida and I have two sisters, both younger, and an older brother, two cats, three birds and a very nice dog. My parents have been married for 41 years and are still very much in love," he says.
"Wow, that's more then I expected," Jo admits.
"I like to be upfront," He replies smiling. Jo looks at him blushing. She never thought he'd be so charming, and she never thought she'd meet the guy that she could possibly spend her life with in a bar. She'd known him for all of ten minutes and already she could picture a future with him, it was stupid and she knew it. But for some reason Jo couldn't get those thoughts out of her head. He was a handsome, charming man and she could see them together.
"Now, tell me about you," he says.
"Okay then. I'm a 18 year old Med student. I'm from right here in Baltimore. I've lived in many different houses. I have lots of siblings," she says. She wasn't lying to him, it was just what Jo wasn't saying that was key. She did live in many houses, they were just foster houses. And she had lots of siblings, just all of them were foster siblings that she had no contact with.
"Med student hey? So you're going to be a doctor?" He asks curiously.
"Um, surgeon actually," she says.
"It's not easy, I know. The hours are long and the pay sucks at first, but it does get better. What kind of surgeon do you think you'll be?" He asks her.
"I'm keeping my options open. I don't want to rule anything out until I try it," Jo remarks. "What made you pick General?" She asks curiously.
"I wanted to make a difference in the world buoy saving as many lives as possible, general was the best way for me to do that. I know you didn't ask, but for the record I didn't always want to be a doctor. I mean I once had surgery when I was nine and I didn't know what it was called until I was in Med school. All I remembered from that time was a very very sharp pain in my lower abdomen," Paul recalls.
"Ah, that would have been an appendectomy. It's one of the most common surgical procedures and it's so easy that even an intern could preform it. Well, that's what they tell me anyway. And I don't know why I said that because you'd already know that," Jo smiles. "Besides, you were nine and it was probably a very traumatic experience for you and our brains are programmed to block out and forget traumatic experiences. So it's not uncommon that you don't remember what the procedure was called," Jo says rambling. "Oh God, I'm rambling. Just stop talking Jo before you say too much," she says burying her head in her hands.
"You are the most beautiful, cute and funny person I have ever met," he grins.
"Say what?" She asks surprised.
"The way you over share and just keep talking without knowing when to stop is so cute. You are a beautiful girl and funny. You are as smart as you are beautiful, it's very intriguing," he replies.
End flashback
Dr Wyatt hands Jo a tissue, she was beginning to become emotional, after all, recalling the moment where she thought she met her sole mate. Jo uses the tissue to dry her eyes and blow her nose and then holds it in her hands.
"You were in love," Dr Wyatt states.
"Wh...What?" Jo asks shocked.
"The way you just talked about him indicates that there was love at some point. When you spoke there was a tone in your voice and a sparkle in your eye. That tells me there was love at some point... that the love was real and that it wasn't always bad," she explains.
"No...I...I guess it wasn't," Jo replies faintly.