He shook his head, seemed horrified. “She said that to you? Her own daughter?”

Megan nodded.

“You should have been the person closest to her in the world.” These words gripped her by the throat. She wiped more tears and struggled for breath. Finally she continued, “Aunt Susan’d do anything to have kids but she couldn’t. Because of her heart. And here Mom got pregnant with me and Susan felt real bad about that. So Mom spent a lot of time with her.”

“There’s no excuse for neglecting children. None. Absolutely none.”

Megan snagged a Kleenex and wiped her face.

“And you didn’t let yourself be angry? Why not?”

“Because my mother was doing something good. My aunt’s a nice lady. She always calls and asks about me and wants me to come visit her. Only I don’t ‘cause…

“Because you’re angry with her. She took your mother away from you.

A chill. “Yeah, I guess she did.”

“Come on, Megan. What else? Why the guilt?”

“Because my aunt needed my mom more back then. When I was little. See-”

Crazy Megan interrupts. Oh, you can’t tell him that! Yes, I can. I can tell him anything.

“See, Uncle Harris killed himself.”

“He did?”

“I felt so bad for my aunt.”

“Forget it!” he snapped.

Megan blinked.

“You’re Bett’s daughter You should have been the center of her universe. What she did was inexcusable. Say it. Say it!”

“I…"

“Say it!”

“It was inexcusable!”

“Good. Now write it to her. Every bit of the anger you feel. Get it out.”

The pen rolled from Megan’s lap onto the floor. She bent down and picked it up. It weighed a hundred pounds. The tears ran from her nose and eyes and dripped on the paper.

“Tell her,” the doctor said. “Tell her that she’s greedy. That she turned her back on her daughter and took care of her sister instead.”