“We can’t leave her like this,” Eli argues. “Look at her.”
I rock back and forth.
That room…
The horrible smell of singed hair…
It transports me somewhere else…
“Wake up!” Dad’s voice rings through the abyss. “Come back to me, angel.”
Cold water douses my cheeks.
My entire body aches, and my eyelids feel like they’re weighed down, but I open them. My irises burn from the stark light.
Machines whir.
White coats, clipboards, pens, squeaky shoes…
“There she is,” Dad says. “Erin?”
“Yes?” I reply.
Dad’s face lights up, smiling in triumph. “It’s complete.”
Others applaud. Doctor Warner stands among them, a strained smile on his face, feigning delight.
“I’m going to take you home,” Dad says. “Everything will be fine.”
“Where am I?” I ask.
“Don’t worry about that now,” Dad says. “You won’t remember any of this. All you need to know is that I’m doing this for your own good.”
“She’s lost it,” Eli says.
I cover my ears, sobbing as I rock.
I want these visions to stop, but they keep coming…
“Again!” Dad choruses.
They submerge my head in freezing water. Someone wrenches my head back. I gasp for air, just long enough to catch half a breath before I’m forced down. Water fills my mouth, and I scream silently, praying for the end, before I’m pulled out again, spluttering.
Piano music fills the room. It’s almost deafening. I try to appreciate it, savoring the sound for a fraction of a second, before they shove my head below the surface once more.
“Again!”
I accept my fate. The water isn’t clear. It’s murky, with a yellow hue, and leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I hope I’ll drown. Anything to make it stop. The piano keeps playing, beckoning me closer.
Between my chattering teeth and the music, my thoughts are a jumbled mess. I can’t tell what’s real and what’s not, or who I am. Everything is fragmented.
I’m wrenched up, dripping wet, and Dad drags me across the room toward the piano.
“Play,” he commands.
Shaking, my fingers fumble with the keys.
“I said, play!” Dad instructs.
