#i realized it has two fireplaces??? one on each side? which is hilariously excessive

[hypocratic]

@evirsor for raynne canem.

In his hands, standing by the unlit desk-side fireplace, Frederick cradles a book he randomly plucked from one of the shelves. Most of his collection is past volumes of academic journals—medical and psychological. Old to very old. A given; nearly all academic journals have gone digital in this day and age. He does not read it. He only pretends to—he knows she is coming. He watched Dr. Canem enter the hospital on the security cameras. Over his desk phone, he alerted the check-in nurse to guide Dr. Canem to the empty waiting room adjacent to his office and then let her in after five minutes.

The door opens. Frederick turns his wrist to note the time on his wristwatch. Six minutes. He smiles to himself. He'll read the hospital's rotation chart later, find that nurse's name, and silently reassign any unsavory shifts to check-in instead. She could do good there.

A bright and immediate switch: “Sorry.” Frederick slams the book shut, one-handed, and glances (fleeting, discreetly) at its spine: Psychological Bulletin embossed in gold lettering. The title isn't important; all journals are the same: nothing more than finely bound gossip (it's why he has so many). He looked in case she asks. “I am so terribly busy.” He walks over to his desk chair, softly tosses the closed journal onto a stack of un-submitted session notes, and sits. He gestures with an open palm to one of the upholstered leather seats across from him.

“Let us not further delay the issue.” His smile is a sharp slit of perfectly white upper teeth; self-amused. “You may have been granted access to his brain, Dr. Canem, but what you do not have access to is my hospital.” He leans forward, aware of how imposing such a movement looks (regardless of the wide girth the desk between them sets), then diverts and defuses the motion into a smaller, still-weighted purpose and fixes the golden nameplate at the edge of his desk so it is no longer crooked—𝙳𝚁. 𝙵𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙲𝙺 𝙲𝙷𝙸𝙻𝚃𝙾𝙽 𝙷𝙾𝚂𝙿𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙻 𝙰𝙳𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙸𝚂𝚃𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙾𝚁. His attention drifts back up to Dr. Canem. “My jurisdiction is bigger than yours.”

#ic #evirsor #evirsor: raynne. #me editing this reply to say desk-side fireplace b/c after examining many pics and angles of frederick's office #i realized it has two fireplaces??? one on each side? which is hilariously excessive