Page 122 of Mind Maze

Guilt consumes me.

I gave Dad the answer he wanted. By choosing Calista, I’m choosinghim—asking forhishelp.

That means abandoning Romy.

For now.

What he doesn’t realize is that when I can physically move on my own, and once I have my sister in my grasp, I’m going to do everything in my power to get Romy back too.

“There you go,” Dad says, once he’s helped settle me into a wheelchair the nurse brought in. “I’ll take you to her.”

Is she here?

In this hospital?

Am I even in a hospital?

Dad begins pushing my wheelchair. The nurse opens the door to assist in our exit. As soon as we emerge from my room, I’m hit with a cold sense of familiarity. I claw at memories, but the drugs in my veins are making things murky.

I know this place.

I’m eager to see Calista. And yet, Dad seems to be pushing me in slow motion. The haze in my mind keeps me from fully grasping onto reality.

Who am I?

Caius Crowne.

Why do I feel as though I’m fifteen years old again, a slave to a torturous life I want no part of?

We pass by room after room, all the doors closed, until we come to one that’s open.

Is this it?

Do I finally get to hold my sister in my arms?

Will I even recognize her?

Doubtful. My brain has always been muddled when it comes to Calista. It’s like I can’t recall her features at all. I have no memories of our childhood together. Sometimes I wonder if I dreamed her or made her up in my head.

The doll.

Right, the doll. I remembered the doll as clear as day. It was the same doll I found on the table at the coffee shop. How long ago was that? Yesterday? Last week? I have no concept of time or how long I’ve been held captive in this place.

Calista is real.

Dad pushes me into a room where a young girl sleeps soundly on a bed, hooked to machines that are monitoring her vitals.

It’s not Calista.

It’s Kaitlyn.

Calista can’t be Kaitlyn because too much time has passed. The numbers don’t compute.

“Kaitlyn’s surgery went well,” Dad says, patting my shoulder. “I thought you’d want that reassurance since she’s along the way.”

He’s right. Relief floods through me at seeing her.

“Surgery for what?”

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