I sat down in an old brown chair.
"Do you know why you are here?" He said. He had short black hair, glasses, and a mustache.
"No," I answered.
"You ran out of a hospital and punched a nurse in the process." He raised his eyebrows as he read the document on his clipboard. I couldn't help but frown. "Are you afraid of hospitals?" He asked. I shook my head. I wasn't afraid of hospitals, I was afraid of the consequence of me being there. I would have to add all of this to my pattern. Oh shit.
"I have to do this all over again... Every day..." I muttered to myself.
"What? Why?" He questioned me. I had never outright admitted my pattern to anyone.
"Nothing." I said.
"Don't lie to me"
"I said it was nothing." I grunted at him. He began tapping his foot. One, two, three, four... Twenty-nine. Then he stopped. Why would he stop at twenty nine? My shoulders tensed in frustration.
"Tap your foot one more time." I demanded. He furrowed his brows but complied, tapping his foot once more. I relaxed. He waited a moment before speaking again.
"Tell me, Ms. Miles, do you have recurring thoughts on a daily basis?" I do. My pattern, of course.

"I think about my job." I lied.
"Only your job?"
"No..." I said. He leaned back in his chair, waiting for me to explain. I sighed.
"I think about work, my friends, and my mom." I lied again.
"Not your dad?" He asked. My eyes widened in realization. I do think about Papa, all of the time. The only time I don't is when I'm thinking about my pattern...
He looked at my reaction and scribbled down something on his paper.
"How often do you think about your father?" I couldn't say anything, frozen in shock. I stared at the linoleum floor. "Ms. Miles?"
"All the time. I think about him constantly." I blurted out before I had a chance to think.
"And is there any time when you aren't thinking about him?"
"When I'm thinking about my pattern" what was I saying? Why did I say that?
"Your pattern?"
"I have to do the same things everyday, in the same order." I needed to stop talking.
He began talking again but everything he said was muffled. The lights got brighter and I felt dizzy. Then everything went black, again.