Dr Lee was still in his office that night when Sophia called him. He was already having plans to call her the next day but then was very relieved when he saw her call that night.
He had gathered little information concerning the case, seeing that he had been in such a case before and was not able to push ahead with it because it was abandoned halfway.
" Dr Patel, I was planning to call you by morning. I hope you are doing well", Dr Lee said to her with a tone of concern from the other end of the phone.
" Yes, I am doing very well, and I hope it is not a burden that I had to call you that night?" Sofia asked him to be sure that she was not a burden to him at that moment.
" No, not at all. It is, in fact, the right timing as I think I have some information that you need to know about the case you reported to me. " Doctor Lee announced, and Sophia was immediately intrigued.
She sat up on her couch and crossed her legs, immediately holding the phone tight to her ear as she waited for Dr Lee to give her his information.
" What did you find out? " She asked with curiosity in her voice.
She was feeling a little anxious to hear what Dr Lee was about to say about the same case. It was as if this case was sending her into a strange state of fear and despair whenever it was about to be discussed, and she feared for her clients how much trouble it was causing her.
Having been a psychologist for years now, Sophia was easily bonded with her clients whenever they were in trouble. She would have to feel it with them to help them come out of it, and this was exactly what she was doing for Emma.
Why it seemed to be a little more important this time, because she understood how it felt for a young girl of her age to feel utterly alone.
Emma explained to her how she felt like the whole world was against her and how she was about to give up on life itself. They had talked about different things in different sessions until she finally opened up about this big secret and never showed up again after that.
In their few sessions before the last one, Sophia found herself bonded with this client as she was thinking of the best possible ways to help her come out of those troubles until, all of a sudden, Emma disappeared into thin air.
" I know this will sound a little complicated to your doctor, petal, but please, I want you to believe every word of what I say." Doctor Lee remarked, and Sophia wondered why he had to say that.
" Dr Lee, is there an issue?" she asks, sounding polite and curious.
" Yes, Dr Petal, I must agree with you that the reason is an issue. I once had a client who presented a case similar to what you explained to me when you came here the last time, and we were about to start working on this case when he all of a sudden came to my office and was acting quite strange", Dr Lee said to her in a low voice over the phone.
Sophia was silent all the while as he spoke, as she tried to get every word he said.
" How strange?" she asked in a low voice when Doctor Lee stopped speaking.
" I cannot explain exactly in words, but he came into my office after presenting the case to me shivering and begging me to drop the case. I tried to understand why he wanted me not to dig into that case anymore, but then he left without a word, and I have never heard from him again since then," Dr Lee said to her.
Curiosity was eating deep into Sophia concerning this case as she suddenly asked, "How long ago did this happen, doctor?" she asked him in a low voice.
" I already checked, and it's just three months ago. For one month, I tried reaching this client, and he never reached back to me, nor did he respond to all of my messages. The truth is that I did not have enough information about him considering the nature of my investigation. I am limited to getting information about my clients. Else, I would have gone deeper into finding him to know why he wanted the case to be cut off," Dr Lee said.
" And the case? I mean, since he already presented the case to you, were you able to dig into the case to know why he must have asked you to abandon it?" Sophia asked him in a calm voice.
" I could not do that either, Dr Petal. My job has rules and I can not breach them. If a client insisted that I abandoned a case, I do that, but believe me; I am curious about this case now that you have reported the same thing to me," he said.
Sophia let out a sigh as she understood perfectly what he was talking about. Dr Lee was one person who helped her deal with complicated cases, and many times, she could not even reward him enough for his services.
She felt perplexed knowing that this case could be a very difficult one to crack, and the two people who she trusted were going to help her unravel the tough case seemed to be stuck with her in this.
" Dr Lee, do you know if there is anyone else who might have gotten this case given to them to investigate before? I mean anyone in your team or group of workers?" Sophia asked him in a low voice, hoping that this time a positive response was going to come out of it and help her ease up a bit, knowing that a lead to the case could be possible.