“Nah, but I do have cable and a mom who loves romance and seems to think I like hearing about the latest movies she’s watched.”
That brought a smile back to Megan’s face.
“Well, then I hope her belief in romance is more than just a fantasy. And I hope you are right.”
“I know I am. That’s why you pay me the big bucks.” He laughed. They were silent a moment and then Declan spoke. “Okay, but no getting out of it. I gave you an assignment.”
“I guess you did.” She replied shyly.
“So?”
“So…”
“What’s wrong?” Declan asked, concern starting to kick in.
“I’m lame.”
“Well, that’s not something I’m usually told by my patients.” He chuckled. “I’ve heard depressing, insane, and even awesome. Although, I’m pretty sure he was being sarcastic when he said that, but I don’t believe I’ve ever heard someone call themselves lame. So what exactly is the issue?”
“My daring feats? Well, they are lame.” Her voice was timid, expressing her obvious worry about what he thought.
“It’s not about what you did, it’s about how you did it. How you faced your fear.” He reminded her.
“Okay, fine, but don’t laugh.”
“Scout’s honor,” Declan mused.
“Were you even a Scout?”
“Nope.” He laughed.
“You’re laughing,” Megan pointed out, amusement lightening up her tone
“Well, I did say I wasn’t a Scout.”
“This is nice,” Megan said quietly as if she was afraid the moment would disappear once she acknowledged it out loud.
“What is?”
“Being able to just sit and laugh and talk with you like we’re longtime friends.” There was a longing in her voice that made Declan feel for her.
“We are friends.”
“No, you’re my therapist,” she stated dryly.
“That’s my job, Megan, but that’s not who I am. I am a person, first and foremost. And as a person, I like bantering with you.”
She lowered her head, and there was a sudden awkward silence that took over the room. Declan opened his mouth to speak, not really knowing what to say, but Megan cut him off, “Rabbits.”
“Huh?” Way to sound professional, Declan scolded himself.
“When I was a kid, one of my cousins told me that they had a pet rabbit that ended up going crazy and eating and killing his rabbit friend. He told me a bunch of gruesome details that turned out to be complete and utter bullshit, but I didn’t know that at the time. I was only like eight or something. And so, it stuck. I was scared of those cute, little fuzzy rabbits. It wasn’t a problem for a few years because come on, how often do you see rabbits, right? But then, when I was fourteen, I had a friend who invited me over to her house and lo and behold, she had a pet bunny. When I saw that thing, I freaked out. I mean, I went ballistic. I think I was screaming, ‘Don’t let it eat me’ at the top of my lungs, and I ran out of there like I was on fire. It could have been really bad for me at school if my friend had turned on me and told everyone what a freak I was, but instead, I got lucky, and she followed me out and tracked me down until I told her everything. She laughed. She laughed her head off while I sat there trembling.
“‘Oh my God, Megan, it’s just a little bunny,’ she had said. ‘Your cousin was an asshole. Bunnies are vegetarians. They don’t eat meat.’ She ran back into her house, grabbed some books and some printed materials and came back outside to sit with me for like an hour while I read everything she pointed to. Of course, she was right. She promised she’d hold my hand while she introduced me to Cuddles. How could a small, furry little thing like Cuddles be a problem, right? Well, I was sweating like a pig, and I literally took baby steps all the way to the rabbits’ cage, but with her help, I was able to walk up to the cage. It wasn’t until about two months later that I was finally able to pet Cuddles and be okay with it. And now, I’m cured. Bunnies don’t scare me. But it was embarrassing as hell, and if it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I would have overcome that.”
“Rabbits?” Declan smiled and covered his mouth to hold back the laugh that was bubbling up.
“Yes, dammit. They were scary!” she answered with a laugh.
“Oh, I’m sure. Extremely scary. Damn, those little noses and soft fur. Oh, the horror.”
“Not funny.”
“You know what, you’re right. When you’re a kid, you perceive things a lot differently than when you’re an adult. Someone you trusted told you something. Why shouldn’t you have believed him? I’m sorry, no laughing,” he said with as much of a straight face as he could.