I shook my head. “Not at all. In fact, I tried to avoid her.”
“Why?” he asked, frowning. “Were you uncomfortable with the fact you had a previous sexual relationship with her?”
I nodded. “Yes,” I said. “I was newly married, had a wife who was expecting, and I didn’t want her to get any ideas. When I learned she was in the program, I decided to pull out and postpone my Fellowship for a year to avoid her. I even went to Fred Parker, the head of the program, and told him of my intention, but he talked me out of it.”
McDonald nodded. “Yes,” he said and glanced down at his notes. “We spoke to Dr. Parker and he confirmed that you did, in fact, come to him to try to pull out.”
That made me feel somewhat better. Fred corroborated my statement. That had to show the detectives that I felt concerned and uncomfortable with her being in the program, but was talked out of withdrawing.
“So, Dr. Morgan, tell me about any time that you and Dr. Monroe were alone.”
I thought back to our encounters. “Do you mean alone in the hallways? Or alone in an office?”
“Either,” McDonald said.
“We would often walk down the hallways together after morning rounds. She came into my office a couple of times, but I always quickly tried to get her to leave, using excuses like I had to make a phone call, that sort of thing.”
“You actively tried to not be alone with her?”
I nodded. “Yes,” I said and took in a deep breath. “I had the sense that she expected more from me because of our past relationship and I didn’t want to give her the wrong impression. I wasn’t interested or available. Period.”
“And how did she react to your attempts to rebuff her? Did she accept them or did she seem upset?”
I sighed. “She seemed upset. She kept reminding me that we had been intimate previously and that we should be able to be friends and colleagues. I told her that we were colleagues but not friends. I said I didn’t need friends. I had enough already.”
“And she didn’t agree?”
“No,” I said, crossing my legs. “She threatened to tell everyone of our past, and of my involvement in BD
SM, if I wasn’t friendly with her. If I didn’t do the kind of things I would do with any other resident in the Fellowship program.”
“And how did you respond to this threat?”
I shrugged. “How could I respond?” I shook my head. “I’m not embarrassed by my participation in BDSM, but I’m aware of how sensitive it is and how many people have certain preconceptions about those people who are involved in the lifestyle.”
McDonald nodded, but his face gave nothing away. He merely flipped a page or two in his file. I would have loved to be able to read his notes, to see what he had written down and what evidence he had about me. McDonald didn’t speak for a moment, then he glanced up at me.
“So you claim that she threatened to reveal your past involvement in BDSM to Dr. Parker? Your colleagues?”
I nodded. “Yes. I knew that I’d have to quit at that point and so I spoke with my wife about withdrawing--.”
“When did you first speak with your wife about Dr. Monroe?”
“Not right away,” I said, although I had regretted troubling Kate with the whole business. “I waited until after our wedding. Then, we had Christmas. To tell you the truth, Lisa stopped bothering me for a while, so I thought it would all blow over. I told Kate about Dr. Monroe after Christmas and she encouraged me to stay in the program. That it would be a shame if I was to withdraw because of her.”
McDonald shook his head. “What do you think of that decision now?” he asked.
I frowned and Lara leaned forward. “Detective,” she said. “We’re not going to second-guess his decision at this point. He spoke to his wife, they agreed that he’d continue in the program. It wasn’t Dr. Morgan’s fault that Dr. Monroe is delusional or an outright sociopath.”
“Fair enough,” McDonald said and shrugged. He turned a page in his file. “So tell me about any time you were alone outside of the hospital. I understand from your previous statement that you were alone with her on two occasions.”
I thought back to those two times we were alone. “The first was when I drove her home because she was very drunk at one of our after-work parties at the local pub. She had pretty much threatened me in front of my colleagues. I probably shouldn’t have offered to take her home but I didn’t want her blurting out private details about our sexual encounters in front of the other residents. I thought I could talk some sense into her on the way home.”
“And did you?” McDonald asked, his eyebrows raised.
“Obviously not,” I said. “She continued to harass me, and told me she would be upset if I tried to avoid her. I did my best. I decided once more to withdraw, but Kate,” I said and then corrected myself, “my wife, talked me out of it.”
McDonald flipped another page. “And the second time you recall being alone with Dr. Monroe outside of the hospital?”