The Patient Quotes

“Whenever we make the decision to face our fears, we’ve already become stronger,”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“Therapy is just a means to healing. It’s not the cure.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“All because when she opened the door, I noticed another note on the floor. A note with bright-red words. More people are going to die.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“How does that make you feel?” Yes, this was a cop-out on my part, but I needed time to put it all together without there being any awkwardness.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“This.” He pointed to himself, then to me. “You’re supposed to help me. Why aren’t you? I’m supposed to be stronger, steadier, more in control. That’s what you promised you’d do. Help me be better. I need to be stronger if she’s going to stay with me, but I’m just as weak as I was before.” Blame. I wrote this down, the notepad held at an angle so he couldn’t see it. “I never promised anything, Tyler. Any progress you make is because of the work you complete. I can only offer suggestions. If you don’t follow my advice, there’s not much I can do.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“Maybe . . . maybe it was too much. Sabrina’s words. The murders. The notes. My feelings of failure with my patients . . . maybe they had pushed me too hard, too far. Maybe it was time to talk to someone. Someone who could help me work through everything and lower my own stress levels.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“Children are the real and true victims in this world. They have no choices, no opportunities, no way to discern who they are meant for and who to avoid. If there is a God, they’re ignorant of the value God has placed on their small heads.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“My biggest fear was that I was not helping my patients, not like they needed. And if I couldn’t help them . . . what would happen to them? That responsibility weighed heavy.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“Not being enough. It overwhelmed me.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“Doctor-patient confidentiality stated she was protected from crimes of her past if she confessed them to me. Unless she admitted she was about to carry out a crime, her secret was safe with me.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“it hurt, the truth was always worth it.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“The truth, no matter how hard to admit, was best said out loud. Once you spoke it, there was no turning back—those words gave birth to the feelings and beliefs harbored inside your heart. No matter how much”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“What are you looking for, Tyler?” “There was a photo of you on your bookshelf. The one where you were reading in a park. You said it was a favorite memory. What happened to it?” I had moved it after noticing Tyler kept looking at it session after session. It made me uncomfortable. Now there were no personal photos in the room.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“There was something I’d learned through my practice. Something I’d realized years ago after seeing countless patients with histories so different from my own. Not every woman deserves to be a mother. But every child deserves to be loved, to feel loved.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“The moments before a book is opened, before a page is turned and the words leap out—those moments are my favorite.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“get away”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“We all wear masks, hide our true selves, present the versions of ourselves that we need to be in order to be accepted.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“Normally I wasn’t one to get offended easily. We lived in a society that looked for offense, but I preferred to keep the mind-set that everyone was entitled to their own feelings and opinions, just like I was entitled to ignore them when they didn’t agree with mine. That didn’t give me the right to be offended; it gave me the right to be selective with my friends.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“If there were a God, those who are unable to love would never be gifted with a child who needs love. If there were a God, those who are unable to think of others would never be given a child who needs to be thought of. If there were a God, those who are unable to put themselves last would never be given a child who needs to come first. I have learned that there is no God. Not one who loves unconditionally. There is also no such thing as unconditional love. It’s a lie, a facade, a tale told to romantics so they believe they have hope. I”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“The truth, no matter how hard to admit, was best said out loud. Once you spoke it, there was no turning back—those words gave birth to the feelings and beliefs harbored inside your heart.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“I didn’t like to listen to the news or read the paper. There was too much negativity in the world, and I didn’t need to surround myself with it. I’d tried being on social media once, but it was easy to be sucked into the vileness of what was happening in our world.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“I’d learned that simply existing wasn’t enough for me. In order to live life the way it was meant to be experienced, I had to push past my own boundaries and embrace every adventure that came my way.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“There is also no such thing as unconditional love. It’s a lie, a facade, a tale told to romantics so they believe they have hope.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“have it appear as if I wanted to look after her while she worked these murder cases, not because”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient

“Not everyone knew their reason for being, but I knew mine. I was never more complete than when I was able to help those in need. To listen, to carry, to create peace when life fell apart.”
― Steena Holmes, The Patient