Page 26 of Leave No Trace
‘You don’t limp when you’re fine,’ he snapped, and we both fell silent, hitting a stalemate.
As we began climbing the hill, Lucas turned away from the window, glancing between me and the back of Dad’s head. Duluth wasn’t a big city and the amount of time we had left in this ride was already dwindling. Police lights blinked over his skin, forcing my mind up the hill to what lay ahead.
‘You’ll go to medical first,’ I spoke low, ignoring the angry slice of Dad’s face in the rearview mirror. ‘Hopefully you’ll be back in ward two in a few days, tops.’
He could hear what I wasn’t saying. Swallowing, he looked at the tail of the squad car in front of us and the city rushing past. He didn’t respond.
‘You can’t just skip up to the Boundary Waters tonight. You’re still weak, it’s below freezing, and you don’t have any gear.’
‘Winter’s coming.’ He rounded on me. ‘What would you do if it was your father out there?’
A bark of a laugh snapped both our heads to the front of the cab. ‘She prefers me gone. Then there’s no one to complain when she half kills herself getting electrocuted or strangled by violent patients.’
‘Dad—’ I tried to jump in but he only got louder, a captain used to bellowing over the wind. Lucas looked shell-shocked when he heard the last part and I reached out to him quickly, shaking my head. Dad hadn’t known Lucas was the patient who’d choked me, and it was in everyone’s best interest to keep it that way.
‘What the hell was going on back there, Maya?’
‘She didn’t do anything,’ Lucas said. ‘I came to find her—’
‘I didn’t ask you, Blackthorn.’ The streetlights broke in waves over Dad’s face, splintering his irritation as he took another turn. ‘And I thought you were supposed to be a kid.’
Lucas turned to me. ‘I’m supposed to be a kid?’
‘You’re nineteen,’ I told him, ‘even though you don’t look or act like a typical teenager.’
Lucas thought about that for a second. ‘What are nineteen-year-olds supposed to act like?’
I shrugged. ‘Younger. Stupider.’
He smiled. ‘I’ll work on that. So how old are you?’
‘Twenty-three.’
‘And you’re acting like a thirteen-year-old,’ Dad cut in, not ready to let the conversation get away from him. ‘What happened back at the house?’
‘Lucas is my patient. He came to tell me some things we’ve been working on in therapy. I think we made a breakthrough tonight.’
Dad laughed again and it was a hard sound. ‘You got the lines down, Maya, but don’t try to sell bullshit to me, even if you’ve made it smell like roses. Why were you running away from the police with him?’
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t even explain it to myself.
‘Christ, I knew it was a bad idea when you took the job there. You don’t go work at the same mental hospital where you spent time as a patient seven years ago.’
Lucas looked at me sharply. His shock was palpable as I stared down at my lap and said in a voice that didn’t sound like my own. ‘Eight years ago.’
‘Whatever. The point is that you should be in the regular world with a normal job.’
‘Define normal.’
‘Out here!’ He flapped a hand at the dark, vacant streets. ‘You could be a therapist in a clinic making twice the money and not getting attacked every day. Do you even know how much you’re worth?’
‘It didn’t go so well when I was out there in the regular world. Besides I do good work at Congdon. I help people.’ My voice came rushing back and with it, my own anger.
‘You’re susceptible to this head case stuff. That’s all I’m saying.’
‘It’s not contagious, Dad.’ Lucas laughed once, but I could still sense his surprise. ‘And I’m probably the least susceptible twenty-three-year-old I’ve ever met. It comes from being half you.’
‘But you’re half her, too.’
