“I’m so angry right now!” she said, getting up from behind me and walking towards the window.

“Bette, he said he couldn’t handle it, that’s why he left” I said, tears forming in my eyes. “What if you can’t handle it either?” I whispered as tears made their way down my cheeks.

She took a deep breath walking back towards me, sitting down next to me on the couch putting her arms around me.” This is not about me Tee, it’s about you”

“But it affects you too” I whispered, enjoying the comfort of being in her arms.

“Did you love Eric the way you love me?” she asked softly.

“No, Bette it doesn’t even compare” I sighed. “I love you so much more”

“Tina, Eric did not love you” she whispered. “But me baby, I love you more than anything in this world” she lifted my head and wiped my tears as she looked deeply into my eyes.

“We’ll get through this baby, together” she leaned down planting a soft kiss on my lips.

A few hours later I woke up from a nap. The talking and crying had tired me out. I searched the house for Bette and found her sitting at the dining room table with her laptop in front of her. She must have heard me because she lifted her head and smiled at me.

“Come her, I want to show you something” I walked over to her and she pulled me down onto her lap.

“I found this therapist, she seems really good”, she said showing me the page.

“I don’t know Bette” I said slowly.

“Tee… I really think you need to talk to a professional who can help you with this” she said softly holding me close.

“Ok” I said finding no energy to argue.

“Good, baby you should call to make an appointment” she said lifting me up so that she could get up and grab the phone. She handed it to me and pointed to the number on the laptop screen. I stood there for a few seconds, my mind racing trying to figure out what I would say. Bette must have seen my insecurity.

“Or I can make the call for you” she said looking at me. I gave her a small smile handing her the phone watching her dial the number.

“Hi my name is Bette Porter, I’m calling for my girlfriend Tina Kennard” Bette paced the floor and disappeared into the other room as I heard her answering questions about my age and condition.

She came back into the room a few minutes later smiling.

“They just had a cancelation for tomorrow so we’re in” she smiled.

“We?”

“Yeah, they said it would be good to have someone with you the first time, like a family member or a friend, you know someone close to you”

“Oh ok” I gave her a small smile relieved that Bette would be there with me. “What time?”

“It’s at ten in the morning, so I was thinking we could go to the Planet for breakfast first and then head over there”

“Ok, that sounds good babe”

“I’ll call James and tell him I’ll be in late tomorrow”

Before Bette got a chance to dial the number I came up to her and put my arms around her.

“Thank you” I said holding her close. She hugged me back smiling at me as I let go of her.

TBC