Katie opened a small refrigerator and reached for a soda but changed her mind and took water instead when she remembered her grandma telling her the previous week how bad sodas were for you. She sipped from the water bottle as she wandered around his office, stopping before his bookshelves and looking at a framed picture of Megan. Figured he’d have a picture of his precious Megan. She meandered to his desk and, as she stopped behind him, noticed a candid picture of herself when she was three or four. She didn’t recall seeing it before. She was in his lap, leaned back against him, with her cheek resting on his chest, and he was kissing the top of her forehead. She felt her throat constrict and turned away.

“While you’re on medication you have to be under the care of a doctor,” Dr. Drayton said. “When you’re med free, you can take this up with Dr. Jones. Don’t discount him before you’ve met him. He’s a good friend of mine. I think you’re going to like him.”

“Whatever.” Katie looked past him to the window.

“I’m as disappointed as you we can’t continue our sessions, Katie, but it’s out of both our hands. Our energy should be reserved for those circumstances in our lives where we have control. This isn’t one of them.”

“You sound like my grandma.”

“Wise lady.” He winked at her and then, at the sound of a knock on his office door, came to his feet. “There’s Dr. Jones.”

“Well?” Dr. Drayton asked after Dr. Jones left the office.

Dr. Jones was cooler than Katie had expected, but he wasn’t Dr. Drayton, and it hit her then that she might never seem him again. “Why can’t my parents be like you?” She stared down at her hands as a knot formed in her throat. Besides her grandma, he was the only adult who got her, and now she couldn’t talk to him anymore.

“As hard as it may be for you to believe, your mom and dad both love you very much. Being a parent isn’t always easy. None of us is perfect. There are times my son wishes he could exchange me for a different father.”

He was lying. His son never wanted to exchange him. He was just saying it to make her feel better. She continued to stare at her hands.

“I’m going to miss you too. Who is going to educate me on the hippest new bands?” He slowly came to his feet. “Come on. I have something for you.”

Katie wiped a stray tear from beneath her eye before following him to his desk and taking the book he held out. “My favorite poet,” he told her. “I discovered him when I was about your age. I think you’ll like him.”