The Luckiest Girl In The World

"Next?"

The receptionist was a pleasant looking older woman with a cloud of white hair, kind of like somebody's grandma had taken up residence behind the reception desk. Kathy gave the woman a small, nervous smile as she stepped forward. "Hi," she said softly, hands clutching each other so as to not start wringing them. "My name's Katherine? Uh, Katherine Li?"

After so long of only being called 'Kathy,' using her full name sounded a bit strange to her ears, like a shirt that didn't quite fit anymore. "I, umm, called on Thursday?"

"Ah yes!" The woman looked up at Kathy and smiled, with an honest-to-god twinkle in her eye. "There was a last-minute cancellation and we were able to fit you in. I'm glad, honey. You sounded like you needed someone to talk to."

"Err, yes," Kathy said. "I did. Or, umm, do." After spending part of Halloween sleeping on Ezra's porch roof 'someone to talk to' was probably the least of what she needed. "And I'm told this office serves...special?...cases?"

It was vague, but the receptionist seemed to understand exactly what she was getting at. "This office specializes in dealing with issues relating to the supernatural," she said quietly, so her voice wouldn't carry much beyond Kathy. "With everything that happened last year, Dr. A figured that people would need a lot of help processing what happened. She likes to say she never expected to treat people for demonic entities, but every session is already like an exorcism." The receptionist pushed a clipboard over the counter and gave Kathy an encouraging smile. "You're not the first person who needs help with this and you won't be the last, sweetheart. Now you fill out that paperwork and we'll get you started on your intake visit."

"Thank you," Kathy said, giving the woman - Delores was her name, she saw - a shy smile before heading back to the waiting room proper. Her stomach was still doing flips and turns and that feeling only got worse as she saw all the questions that the forms were asking, but she bit her lip and resolutely started answering them to the best of her ability.

She could do this. She could.

[Establishy!]