Chapter 11

'Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign'

'I'm Listening'

'Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Come On In'

'Pick-up at Window 1408'

It has gotten colder since they were last outside. Sigrid walks with Dantius along the path toward the main classroom buildings. Puffs of vapor exit their mouths as they breathe. Sigrid turns to Dantius.

"So, what class do you have now?"

He thinks for a moment then remembers that he has an appointment. He is too embarrassed to tell her about it.

"Uhm…psych—psych class."

"Really? Who is your professor? Son'ya has a psych class now. You must have met her already."

"Ohh…I doubt it." His phone rings again. He ignores it. Sigrid smiles sheepishly.

"Are you sure you're not trying to avoid an old girlfriend?"

"No...no...it – it's nothing really. I set it to call myself as a reminder to get to class."

"Oh...I see." She is not convinced but decides not to press further. It is none of her business who is calling him. Dantius is obviously uncomfortable about it. Suddenly he can seem to get away soon enough.

"Well, thanks again for …you know…" He holds up his bandaged hand. I should really be going now."

"But the psych department is this way."

"I—I forgot to do something…I should go."

Sigrid senses a weird moment. She watches as he slowly backs away from her.

"Okay…"

"Perhaps we could get together later."

"Okay…sure."

"Goodbye."

Sigrid waves tentatively as she watches Dantius almost back way into a tree. He is waiting for her to turn away. The wind is picking up momentum. Dead leaves encrusted with snow whip around violently. Sigrid finally turns and heads off to her class. The tassel on her hat twirls in the wind. He waits until she is far enough away so he can change his direction. Well, he ruined what could have been a nice friendship or better. She will never speak to him again, that is for sure.

He looks up at the sky. It is a strange phenomenon when the sky suddenly turns grey and dreary. The sun was shining so brightly moments ago. He runs for shelter as hailstones suddenly appear out of the sky. They sound like a million little rocks pelting him and the ground. He takes refuge in a nearby Jedi chapel. He is out of breath. His heart is beating like that of a frightened animal. He stands in the doorway until the storm subsides. Just as quickly as it appeared, the hailstorm subsides and the sun peeks through the clouds. He darts out of the doorway and back onto the path. He is off campus for the second time today. He has missed two classes so far and there is a good chance he will miss the third. Something or someone is very angry with him. He can feel it.

He crosses the road. He is once again on the grounds of the Theed University Medical Complex. He is walking in the opposite direction of the Outreach Centre about 100 meters. He stops for a moment and searches his pockets for his appointment card. He checks his rucksack. There it is. He finds it in the small pocket flap. He reads it:

Jennifer Melfi, JPhD

Psychotherapy/Counseling

In Practice for 25 Years -AGA

He turns left and walks a bit longer until he arrives at a terracotta building with a patina dome. He looks up at the plaque:

Theed University Psychotherapy Associates

Dantius is feeling a sudden wave of depression. He does not want to be here. He tries to fight this feeling before he enters the building. The last thing he wants is for this doctor to see him vulnerable. If he can get through this session, and any subsequent ones, the visits will be expunged from his academic record. If there has to be a mention of this visit, the most it will say is 'attitude adjustments needed'." Well at least it would not say 'certifiable.' That will not help his job prospects…except for one.

He walks into the building and stops at the reception area. It is quiet with the exception of canned music performed by the Original Mon Calamari Orchestra playing over the sound system. It is a popular music choice for those in the mental health profession. Years of research proves this calms the patient before their sessions.

A white-haired woman sits at an ornate wooden desk. A mural hangs on the wall behind her. It is a holo-art display with swirls and muted colors of gray, white, and violet moving randomly within the frame, similar to a kaleidoscope. The woman wears a blue chiffon sleeveless robe. Her hair is upswept. A pair of wire-rimmed eyeglasses frames her narrow face. The glasses rest on the tip of her thin nose as she peers at Dantius above the rims. Dantius clears his throat then speaks.

"I have an appointment."

He is tempted to give her a false name, possibly one of his recently acquired aliases but the receptionist, Laodice Nu, is two steps ahead of him.

"Ah, yes. Dantius Palpatine. We have been waiting for you." With a beat she then snaps," You're late."

Dantius gets defensive.

"Late? I'm not late. It's one o'clock."

Laodice Nu studies a copy of his chart from his student records. She contradicts him.

"No, it is two-fifteen. You are one hour and fifteen minutes late, young man. Dr. Melfi does not like to be kept waiting."

Dantius looks at the clock on the wall over a credenza. He is confused and wonders where the time went. He particularly remembers leaving the co-ed dorm on time. How he lost an entire hour and fifteen minutes baffles him. That flash hailstorm lasted only seconds. He would later learn that the lost time was no accident.

Madame Nu removes her spectacles. They are attached to an ornate platinum chain around her neck. She rises from her desk.

"Follow me." She takes his long down coat. It has been making an annoying sweeping noise as it brushes the marble floors. She grabs his rucksack too. He sits at a desk and completes some forms. The questions are detailed and deeply personal. The electronic questionnaire pad triggers a voice from a remote computer to ask the questions again that he missed or purposely omitted. It startles him the first time. The voice is decidedly female but void of emotion.

"Dantius, please answer question number 15-A. Waiting…waiting…waiting…thank you. Number 15-A 'Did you experience a fast heart rate or heart palpitations or a pounding heart?' Answer: Affirmative.' Thank you." The list of questions becomes deeply personal and downright embarrassing. He is forced to respond to things he believes to be private. Blasted computer! If it were a live being, he would have reached through the device and strangled the woman.

As soon as he completes the questionnaire, Madame Nu directs him to the main seating area. She ignores him for another fifteen minutes as she inserts his questionnaire pad into a slot of the main computer.

Dantius wonders why he is waiting if he is already late. He is about to doze off until he feels her standing over him. He flinches and sits up. Madame Nu folds her arms across her chest and speaks.

"The doctor will see you now."

Dantius stands and walks down a hallway. There are three doors. He stops, looking utterly confused.

"Uhm…"

Madame Nu speaks without turning away from her paperwork.

"Door number one."

Dantius rolls his eyes. The woman is useless! He approaches the first door. Before he can reach for the door handle, it clicks and opens. He pokes his head in for a cursory look, in case he changes his mind. A voice from across the room addresses him.

"Come in, Dantius. Don't be shy."

Already he feels that this is not going well. He is not going to enjoy this one bit. The door closes and makes a clicking sound automatically locking him inside like a prisoner. He slowly turns around and backs away. The voice comes from across the room. It is calm but sounds detached.

"Sit down, Dantius."

He looks around the office. It is large but sparsely furnished along with a large Alderaan area rug in the middle of the floor. There is a window running the length of the office (just over 7 meters) with three types of floor to ceiling shades, ivory gauze, and smoky gray and black opaque. The shades seem to operate by remote control; there is no way anyone would take the time to pull the entire floor to ceiling panels into position. On the far end of the room where the voice is coming from, there is another window about half the length of the long side of the room. There is a desk made of glass and Sullustan cherry wood. There is a white leather chair with a chrome base. It is empty. The voice is coming from a bigger orange Andromeda chair facing the long window. The chair turns. The occupant is now facing him.

An attractive middle-aged woman, possibly in her mid-forties, looks at him through a pair of wire-rimmed eyeglasses. Her shoulder length auburn hair is parted on the side. She is wearing a brown velvet robe over an ivory colored crêpe de chine pantsuit belted at the waist. Her suede designer shoes are the same color as her robe. They are practical but elegant with a grosgrain ribbon cinched with a gold Jedi emblem at the toe.

No more words are exchanged as she waits for him to sit. He sees a long white leather upholstered relaxi-chair. It look like something that will be difficult to get into and more difficult or get out of after. He looks around the room and spots the only other chair in the room besides the three he already sees. It is across the room in the farthest corner from the relaxi-chair.

It is a plain hardback armchair with a red velvet seat. Dantius points to it.

"Can I sit in that chair instead?"

"I typically recommend that my patients sit in the white chair, however, if you think you would feel more comfortable, sure."

Dantius rolls his eyes. He finds her to be somewhat condescending. He is determined to defy this woman. He walks over to the corner near a potted palm then drags the chair across the area rug covering the middle of the floor. The chair makes an irritating screeching sound against the granite floor then a muffled sound across the thick rug. He stops halfway between the odd-shaped recliner and the orange leather high back armchair occupied by a patiently waiting Doctor Melfi. Her chair swivels slowly from side to side as she watches him perform these maneuvers in her office. Once he positions, then repositions the chair a few times, he finally sits. Melfi waits. A data clipboard is in her hand. Dantius is certain that she is taking copious notes. She has done nothing of the sort but she does occasionally glance at her data pad...

He wishes he were allowed to bring in his coat into the room. Stupid rules! What harm could a down coat cause? It's not as if he were going to suffocate himself with it.

The two sit staring at one another. Melfi glances down at the clear patient data clipboard.

"Are 'we' all settled now?"

Dantius begins to read everything into her remarks. The use of the word 'we' annoys him. It is as if she assumes he has a multiple personality complex.

"Yes."

There is a soft humming sound coming from the direction of the window. The shade panels automatically change from ivory to smoky gray. The room is almost dark but he can still make out the doctor's silhouette in the chair. The gauze panels allow enough light through for him to see her shift position. He does not like this at all. Dr. Melfi tries to put him at ease.

"Relax, Dantius. I find that patients can process their thoughts better without distractions. Are you sure you wouldn't rather lie on the chaise?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"So, Dantius, what brings you here today?"

"Don't you know? This wasn't my idea."

"I know who recommended you to come, but why do you think it got to this point?"

"Listen, we're wasting time here. I've missed all of my classes today."

"The dean has already notified the professors for your afternoon classes that you would be out, however, you have not been excused from your morning classes. Would you care to explain why you did not attend? Looking at your academic record, you have never missed a class or an exam. Has anything changed?"

Dantius hesitates. He refuses to answer at first. Finally he speaks.

"Not really."

"I understand that you have anger management issues."

Dantius tries to remain calm but this session is already ruining his day. He is on the defensive as he barks at the doctor.

"Who told you that?"

"Would you agree?" Dr. Melfi calmly makes some notes on the data clipboard then crosses her legs. He imagines that she must have been a model in her younger days. Her legs are beautiful.

Who is she to judge him? Jotting down every little word he says, counting the number of signs, whether he smiles, checking for involuntary twitches. It is a safe bet that she is trained to catch all these behaviors. Bit*h! Dantius bites his bottom lip; he is quite aware that he has just proved her right. Score: Doctor 1 – Patient null. His day was just beginning to look up too. There is another long period of silence. Melfi notices something and leans forward in her chair. She points using her blue lapis stylus.

What happened to your hand?"

He is like a stunned Eopie looking into speeder lights. He tries to cover it with his left hand but it is too late. Her eyesight is amazing in the darkened room.

"There was a sharp edge on a table in the dining hall."

"That's some serious dressing you've got there."

"It's nothing."

"If you insist. So...what caused you to blow up in class that day?"

"I never blew up. You're not listening."

"But I am listening, Dantius. You cursed out your philosophy professor and stormed out of his class. What brought that about?"

"That was between us."

"It didn't seem very private since it happened in front of your classmates. The poor man must have feared for his life during your outburst. He is a guest professor. He may never want to return if every student turns their hostility towards him the way you did."

"I said it was personal."

"Is there anything inappropriate going on that I should know about?"

Dantius rolls his eyes.

"No! I just don't like being called out in class."

"So you're being picked on?"

"I'm not saying anything else."

"That's okay too."

There is a long palpable silence in the room. Dr. Melfi is patient as she sits on her 'throne of judgment' jotting notes in Basic shorthand on that blasted data clipboard. A funny though goes through his head. She must have taken speedwriting in school because that stylus in her hand is moving across the data clipboard like a seismograph needle during a 6.5 earthquake. She stops and looks up from the data clipboard. Her blank stare bothers him.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"I sense much anxiety in you, Dantius. You need help in channeling your emotions. How is your social life coming along? "

"Okay, I guess. Who wants to know?"

"I take it that your time at home gave you a chance to reflect." She shifts her position in the chair again.

"Reflect what?"

"Possibly a chance to rethink your life?" She shrugs as she places her elbow on the armrest with her chin on her index finger.

A soft bell chimes and the lock on the door clicks. Dr. Melfi sets her stylus and data clipboard on a small side table near her chair.

"Our time is up. I will see you next week. Stop at the reception desk before you leave."

Dantius wastes no time leaving his chair. His bum is numb from sitting for so long. He exits her office without saying a word.

As he gathers his possessions from the closet, Madame Nu hands him a data card. He reluctantly takes it. They look at on me another. He eventually turns and leaves the office.

Dantius walks across the path at the complex to a white stone building. The above the entrance reads: 'Kik Camarillo Apothecary.'

He enters through the stainless steel doors and steps up to the dispensary window. A pharmaceutical attendant takes the prescription data card given to Dantius after his visit with Dr. Melfi. The attendant does not make eye contact with him and speaks in a laid-back tone.

"Sit down, have a seat, take a load off, relax…thank-you."

Dantius backs away from the drop-off window. He takes a seat in the waiting area along the wall. There are three rows of empty seats to his left. Two other people sit in the waiting area across from where he is. He tilts his head back and closes his eyes. He has not taken a break all day and he is tired. He hears a shuffling sound. He opens his eyes to find a Gungan taking the seat beside him.

As soon as the tall creature sits, it goes into a violent sneezing fit. Dantius recoils in disgust. What really sends the 'sith-in-training' over the edge is the intensive scratching. Flakes of Gungan skin float off its shoulder and drift to the tile floor. Dantius quickly moves to another seat. Dantius had never met a Gungan before, not up close and personal anyway but he knows that he does not like them... This is the first time he had such a close encounter with one. This is not a pleasant experience for him.

A few of the patients waiting ahead of him receive their prescriptions. Whoever is at the counter speaks to each patient with a soothing voice. They leave satisfied. Dantius closes his eye and waits his turn. After five minutes, someone shouts his name.

"Palpatine, Dantius!"

Dantius grabs his rucksack and hurries over to the dispensary window number 1408. A tall dark skinned man wearing wire rimmed glasses and a lab jacket shoves a data signature pad across the counter. A stylus is tethered to the pad by a chain. The man glares at Dantius.

"What are you waiting for? Sign!"

Dantius quickly signs his name. A light pulses on the signature line and a computer-generated voice speaks:

'Signature confirmed. Thank you.'

A brushed aluminum comes out of an opening on the counter. Dantius reaches for it, but before he can take tit, the pharmacist gives him a few instructions. He speaks like a drill sergeant.

"Okay, listen up. Take one a day with food. That means a full meal. No alcohol….and no Felucia Gold 'sith*', Death Sticks or other illegal drugs…and don't even think of taking more than the recommended dosage. We don't want to see your sorry ass in the Emergency Room. Can you remember that?"

"Of course I can. I'm not stupid."

"If you had your act together you wouldn't be here in the first place."

"You can't talk to me –"

The pharmacist cuts him off mid-sentence.

"Okay, you're done. Get out of here."

Dantius scowls at him then takes his prescription and stuffs it into his rucksack. He is able to get a look at the nameplate and identification badge the pharmacist is wearing:

Ray Arnold, Ph.C.

Theed University Hospital Apothecary

Dantius imagines what a great joy it would be to see the surly pharmacist eaten by a Nexu or some prehistoric beast like a velociraptor.

As Dantius exits the apothecary, his mobile phone buzzes. He ignores it. He finally looks at the display. He knows who it is and what they want. He is not yet ready for an encounter. He will not leave campus for any more meetings. There are things he must reconcile with himself and he is not is the right state of mind to deal with certain parties. His anger will get in the way…which is exactly why he is being summoned. He turns off his phone.

Today has been full of highs and lows. Dantius reaches into his rucksack and pulls out the aluminum vial. He wonders if this medicine will truly help him. He wonders if eight out of ten doctors recommend Telezan Anafil II to their patients. He wonders about the remaining two doctors. He unscrews the cap then reseals the vial. He remembers what that rude pharmacist said, 'Take with food.' He will have to wait.