Tapping the pen she held against her cheek, Dr. Perkins thought of the best way to respond. "I believe that you believe that this happened."
Any hope that Hannah might have had faded away. "In other words you're like everyone else. So, this makes me wonder why I'm wasting my time. I realize that this sounds unbelievable but if you were inside my head you would know that what I'm saying is the truth. My name was Gabrielle and I lived in Ancient Greece where I fought side by side with my partner in more ways than one--Xena. You and everyone else don't believe that then fine. But I'll be damned if I pretend that it didn't occur just to please you all."
"I don't want you to pretend Hannah."
"There's not one good reason for me to be here." Standing, Hannah headed toward the door leading out of Dr. Perkins' office.
"Where are you going?"
Her hand on the knob, the small blonde glanced toward the doctor. "I'm leaving and I won't be back. I don't care what my parents say."
"Why?"
Hannah humorlessly chuckled. "Why won't I be back or why don't I care what my parents say?"
"This time just the first one."
Hannah smirked. "Because I feel like I just wasted $250." Not giving the doctor an opportunity to respond, she left the office.
Tucked away in her room, Hannah ignored the persistent knocking on her door as she continued sketching. Having been working on her drawing for the past three hours, she was almost done. As the knocking increased so did the volume on her stereo. Soon her parents gave in and just opened her door. Hannah made a mental note to purchase a lock tomorrow.
Continuing to ignore them, she kept her eyes on the large poster board in her lap, her pencil moving back and forth putting the final touches on it. She heard footsteps moving toward the stereo and turning it down far enough that she could barely make out the lyrics.
"Hannah, I know you heard us," her mother frustratingly declared. She didn't comment. "Don't you have something that needs to be done?"
"I'm doing what needs to be done," the younger woman quietly replied while erasing a tiny error. Just as she was about to press her lead against the thick paper again, it was taken out of her hands. Not bothering to ask for it back since she didn't believe that her father would listen, Hannah merely waited for his outburst. It didn't take long.
"What is the meaning of this?" He asked, glaring at the sketch in his hands. Moving toward him, his wife stared in open-mouthed shock. On the paper was a half-dressed Hannah along with an equally half-dressed bigger woman lying on a pallet with their limbs wrapped around each other, tiny smiles on their faces. Angry green eyes bored into Hannah. "Answer me young lady!"
"I believe that you know what the meaning of it is Father. That's Xena and I on no particular evening. Together…just loving each other." She flinched as her father's arm raised a fraction before it lowered. "I won't allow you to erase my memories, no matter how much they might disgust you."
Trying to change the subject, Hannah's mother said, "Honey, you missed your appointment with Dr. Perkins."
"I didn't miss it because I never intended to go. I don't need any help."
"But you promised that you would go."
"And I did go last week. I don't need to go anymore." I never needed to go in the first place.
Thrusting the sketch in front of his daughter's face, her father commented, "When you draw such filth you need to talk with a psychiatrist. I won't have this in my household!" While Hannah watched, he ripped the picture in half before crumbling the separated paper in his large hands.
That was it. Hannah exploded. "And you won't have me!" Jumping up from the recliner placed in front of her window, she hurried toward her walk-in closet retrieving her suitcase. Opening it, she threw various clothing inside not caring if they wrinkled. In Ancient Greece, she didn't have an iron and she'd survived just fine. She could do the same now.
"What are you doing?" Her mother asked her brow furrowed with worry.
"I'm packing and then I'm getting the hell out of your household! I don't need this! I'm 26 years old and I won't continue allowing you two to boss me around. I've had enough."
"Honey, you need our help whether you realize it or not. Mentally you are still a teenager. You need our guidance."
Deciding that she had packed sufficient clothing, Hannah closed the suitcase and zipped it up. She required toiletries but she could always purchase those later. Glaring at the woman who would never win a mother of the year award, Hannah picked up the suitcase, gripping the handle tighter than what was necessary. "You have no clue what I am and what I need." She glanced between the two people who had given her life yet had never made it easy for her to live it. "I'm leaving and there isn't a thing either of you can do to stop me. I'm tired of you trying to make me feel as though I'm a nutcase. It's hurtful and exasperating."