“Well?” he prompts, tapping his foot impatiently. “What is it?”
“When can I go home?” I plead. “I know you’re mad because of what I did, but keeping me here seems… extreme.”
“Extreme?” He scoffs. “Surely you can feel that you’ve not been entirely yourself lately? You will stay for as long as it takes to complete your treatment. Sunnycrest turns people into the best versions of themselves.”
As well as making them suffer and torturing them,I think.
“How is Mom?” I ask. “Does she even know I’m staying here? I’m not like the other patients. I’m not crazy!”
“Your mother is happy you’ve finally admitted you need help,” he says. “In fact, she is coming to visit this afternoon. You’d know that if you checked your schedule.”
“She’s coming?” I blink in disbelief. “Here?”
“This isn’t a prison, Erin.” He narrows his eyes. “Although, if you’re too ill to complete therapy, perhaps you’re unfit to see her?”
He’s caught me in my lies and he knows it.
“I’ll be okay after I take some aspirin,” I say hastily. “I want to see her.”
He pauses, deliberating whether he wants to punish me more. Finally, after a strained silence, he checks his watch and addresses one of his minions. “Escort Erin to her room. Administer medication. Ensure she swallows all her pills.”
“Is that all you have to say?” I ask. “Dad?—”
He doesn’t look at me.
“See to it that she gets a personal escort during visiting hours,” he continues, pretending I’m not there. “Her mother will be here soon.”
The orderly nods obediently.
Dad turns, his white coat swishing behind him as he glides away. A few patients jump back, pressing themselves into the walls like they’re trying to hide as he passes them.
The orderly grabs my wrist.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I say, wrenching it from him. “I can walk perfectly fine by myself.”
At least I’ll be seeing Mom soon. That gives me hope. Maybe she can get me out of here.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
AIDEN
“How much longer will this take?”I seethe. “You’ve had two sessions already.”
I grab him by the scruff of his shirt. He cowers, fear radiating from him, like a zebra caught in the jaws of a starving crocodile. He has a job to do, and my patience is waning. I want results, and I want them now.
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told Lex y-yesterday,” he stammers. “I’m trying everything. It’s difficult with Acacia breathing down my neck. I need more time.”
“You said you could do this, Doctor,” I hiss, spraying spit over his glasses. I wouldn’t leave his face intact if it wasn’t for needing to avoid suspicion. “You claimed you could unlock her memories.”
“And I can,” he insists. “I just need more time. I thought we were getting somewhere today, but she’s fighting it.”
“She needs to remember!” I launch Doctor Warner across his office like a piece of trash. “She needs to know!”
He shakily brushes himself off. “You must be patient.”
“We have been patient,” I growl. “You said your methods would work.”
