tw: suicide ideation, and mentions of trauma

She could feel her hands start to get sweaty as the cab stopped at the correct address, she quickly handed the driver the right amount before she opened the door and got out of the car. As soon as she slammed the cab door the driver took off making Norah squeak as she almost fell over from the wind that the car produced. Norah let out a shaky sigh as she looked at the address on the card one more time before making sure it was the right building. It wasn't like they weren't expecting her because she had made the appointment before this visit but it still didn't make Norah any less nervous it made her more nervous.

In less than 5 minutes they're going to call her back and Norah is going to have to tell her life story to a stranger who during this first visit isn't even her therapist yet, she's just assessing Norah to see if she can give her what she needs and that is scary for Norah. Her hands shake as she writes her name on the sign-in sheet and gives it back to the receptionist who gives her a kind smile before handing her a clipboard. "Please feel these out to the best of your ability." The receptionist says making sure Norah has a pen before she back down to her desk, Norah nods and turns around to walk towards a seat in the waiting room. It wasn't busy at all as she only saw three more people in the waiting room besides herself but Norah has to guess Dr. Tanner is with a patient right now because she can hear muted voices on the other side of the wall and she wasn't the only doctor who worked in this office.

Norah secluded herself as she wrote on the forms, she froze for a second when she got to the question asking if she has suicidal tendencies. She knew that she had sometimes when she thought the world would be better without her but she had no plans so she didn't know if that counted but she checked yes anyway knowing that she could explain more to Dr. Tanner when she sees her. She takes a calming breath as she signs her name at the bottom and stands up walking the board back to the receptionist who takes it with a smile, she drops the pen into her pen holder before she looks back up at Norah. "Just have a seat and I'll call you when she's ready." Instead of responding Norah nods in acknowledgment and walks over to the seat she was just in and waits, she takes her phone and she updates Karen before switching over to text her boss to thank him once again for letting her be off for today when she feels a rush of air next to her.

She flinches when she hears Hugh's voice. "Ah, so this is what a psychiatrist's office looks like? Looks, medical." Hugh mock shivered when he said the last part, Norah's hands shook as she gritted her teeth trying to block him out. She couldn't be seen talking to someone who wasn't there in the waiting room before she even met the woman, she needs to at least sit down in front of her before telling her that she still sees her dead ex-husband.

Norah managed to tune him out the best she can, but by doing that she didn't realize that her name had been called until she saw a blonde woman in front of her. "Oh shit, I'm so sorry. I'm Norah Bao." Norah quickly stands up and holds out her hand for the doctor to take. "No problem, I'm Dr. Nancy Tanner but you can call me Nancy, Tanner, Doctor, whatever makes you feel comfortable. Does that sound good?" Nancy waits for Norah to nod before she gestures towards her office and of course, Hugh follows.

Norah tries to ignore that he was sitting right next to her on the couch that was in front of Nancy's seat. "First off, My name is Nancy and I'm a psychiatrist, I specialize in people with anxiety and depression also a few other things too but that's just the main thing. I wanted you to know before we start that I'm not just going to be the doctor that gives you medicine and goes on, I'm going to talk to you and figure out what works for you whether that's medicine-related or other ways to cope. Does that sound good to you?" Norah rubbed her hands together as she nodded at Nancy. "Now that we got that out of the way, why don't you tell me about you?" Nancy smiles at her as she reaches for her notepad so she can start writing notes at Norah says them.

"Well, my name is Norah Bao. I used to be Norah Bao-Warner until last year my husband shot himself, in front of me." Nancy paused for a second before she nodded so Norah can keep going. "He was very manipulative to me, he died over 6 months ago. We were married for 12 years, high school sweethearts if you will." Norah paused to take a breath and Nancy took that in that Norah left her. "Now when you say manipulative, could you elaborate a little bit if you're comfortable?" Norah let out a slow breath as she nodded. "Sure, around our 1st year of marriage that's when I noticed he was isolating me. I'm originally from Taiwan, I was a part of like an exchange student thing and I fell in love with him and he fell in love with me. He would prevent me from going out, he made me sell my phone and he just got me a cheap little prepaid phone that only had his number on it. He didn't let me have any friends, he just ruined my life when he was alive and as he died he ruined my life."

"Because he died?" Nancy asks writing something down on her notepad. "No, because he handcuffed me and made me hold the gun as he pulled the trigger."