Olivia sat next to Quinn and rubbed her back to offer comfort. “It’s okay. Cry as much as you need to.”
Quinn sniffled and wiped her face again. “These are tears of joy.” She inhaled and closed her eyes before releasing a breath with slow deliberation. “No one has come to visit me. You know people are uncomfortable with anything related to mental illness.”
“It’s a lack of understanding much of the time,” Olivia said. “I’m here now and I am glad to be with you.”
Quinn’s face brightened with a smile. She couldn’t stop staring at Olivia. “I need people, other than the staff, to care about me. It’s hard being in here.”
“I know it isn’t easy being away from your home and what you’re familiar with.”
“I hate being in a place where I used to come to do rounds with my patients. I shouldn’t be in this hellhole.” Quinn’s bottom lip tremored.
“Which is why I’m here. I know how important it is to have your friends and family around when going through treatment.
Although you have Blair, who loves and cares about you, I wanted to be here for you, too,” Olivia said.
Quinn’s face clouded. She grabbed Olivia’s hand in a grip tight enough to cut off blood flow. She stared with intensity at Olivia before speaking through clenched teeth without moving her lips. “Blair poisoned me.”
“Whoa.” Her words were surprising to Olivia. She widened her eyes and leaned closer to Quinn. “What did you say?”
Quinn squeezed her hand and lowered her voice to a whisper. She tilted forward and placed her mouth close to Olivia’s ear, making it hot from her breath. “Blair tried to kill me.”
Olivia sat upright. “What do you mean Quinn?” Olivia’s stomach tightened with knots from Quinn’s words. It took everything in her to not yank her throbbing hand from the death grip.
“No one believes me. Blair laced my food and drinks with drugs. They made me psychotic. He wanted me dead. He resorted to making everyone think I’m paranoid.” Quinn’s eyes darted around in maniacal dizziness. She released Olivia’s hands and began to rub her fuzzy head at a frantic pace.
Olivia didn’t know what to believe. Could her friend be delusional? “Quinn. Why would Blair try to harm you? He loves you.”
“No. He loves you, Olivia.” Quinn pounded her fist on a table. She raised her finger to point at Olivia. Her eyes blazed in anger. The nurse in the corner stood and observed with concern on her face. Olivia raised her hand to signal they were okay. “He has always fantasized about you. He’s told me more than once about how he settled for me after you rejected him.”
Shocked, a chill crept through Olivia. She remembered the uncomfortable hug from Blair. “Quinn. We’ve been nothing more than friends. I respect him as a peer which is why I’m seeing him as my doctor. That’s the extent of our relationship. I made it clear to Blair, many times when we were in school, I didn’t want to date him. Not then, not ever.”
“Exactly. He obsessed over you. You broke his heart. I wasn’t anything except his rebound chick,” Quinn snarled. “We never should’ve married. Our relationship has been toxic from the beginning.”
Olivia crinkled her eyebrows in confusion. “I had no idea. You two always seemed to be perfect in love.”
Quinn released a menacing laugh. “We were experts at fooling everyone. We needed each other to accomplish career goals and family expectations. Nothing more.”
“Why would you accuse him of drugging you?” Olivia questioned.
“Because he did,” Quinn spat. “I’ve never been one to use medicine for anything. I’m in tune with my body to the point I know how it should feel with everything I put into it. A few months ago, I experienced nausea, stomach cramps, and disorientation. I couldn’t get from one side of the room to the other. My speech became slurred and hallucinations set in. I started having paranoid thoughts about everything and everybody.”
Quinn paused and stared at Olivia who sat in silence. She nodded for Quinn to continue.
“It got to the point where I remember crying nonstop. I mean, there wasn’t a moment in the day where I escaped from despair.” Quinn shook her head. “Blair told me I must’ve been going through hormonal changes.”
“Did you see a doctor to get checked out?” Olivia inquired.
“No. I didn’t. I figured it would pass in a few days. Embarrassment shackled me from consulting with my peers. Since Blair is my in-home therapist, if anyone could diagnose me, he should’ve been able to.”
“Okay. So, why do you think he did something to you?” Olivia asked.
“I told him I wanted a divorce. I’m tired of living a lie. He refuses to let our marriage go and told me we are to be together until death do us part. It’s ironic. Although he hates being married to me, he feels divorce is only for deplorables,” Quinn let out a shaky breath. “He said the only way we wouldn’t be together would be if one of us lay dead in a casket. Shortly after the discussion, my body had strange sensations.”
“Do you think he meant it as a threat?” Olivia couldn’t wrap her mind around the idea of Blair doing anything to harm Quinn.
Quinn leaped to her feet. Her brown skin turned raging red. “He wants to kill me. Do you hear what I’m trying to tell you? Blair poisoned me,” she bellowed. Spittle flew from her lips and landed on Olivia’s forehead. “He committed me to this place after giving me drugs to drive me crazy.”
Startled, Olivia rose to her feet and attempted to console her. “Quinn. I hear you. It’s okay. I’m sorry if I upset you.”
The nurse sprinted to them and spoke in a voice to deescalate the situation. “Dr. Quinn. Calm down. You need to relax.”
Quinn flailed her arms like a bird and shuffled around in circles. “Stay away from me. He’s trying to kill me. He poisoned me. Get me out
