Page 47 of Petals and Strings
“She wouldn’t just walk away, she had to have help,” one of the nurses said as she tapped away at the keyboard of her laptop, perched on the edge of the nurses’ station.
“Someone inside?” another gasped in shock.
“I’d put money on the therapist. He’s a bit too involved if you ask me,” another huffed. Though, a bit of jealousy was slipping through.
“That’s because he stopped sniffing around you,” another snorted, the talk quickly shifting into their sex lives, something I wanted no part of.
The conservatory was humid, but quiet, when I entered. An unfamiliar calm fell over me as I let the door close out the rest of the facility.
I stood for a moment, soaking in the quiet and the scent of blooming flowers and fresh dirt.
Then it started.
Just a soft slide of the bow over the strings, an enticing note that had me perking up, glancing around for the source.
My feet carried me of their own accord, winding through the pathways until I reached the back wall.
She was ethereal. Her eyes closed, bow sliding gently over the strings like a caress, hair in waves around her and a backdrop of glass and the stars beyond.
Beautiful.
Movement across the room had me turning, spotting Rydell hiding behind leaves. He was off far enough she couldn’t scent him, but the dark plum of his natural scent was reaching for her, filtering in the air and winding around the petals surrounding us.
My scent had done the same, a hint of parchment, pear, and Earl Grey tea winding around the leaves, desperate to be close to her.
The song continued on as she sat there, oblivious of the audience she kept. Her attention was turned inward, and I was glad Rydell was here to keep her safe. ARC wasn’t perfect, and after the angry run-in with Theo during the lock down, I wanted her nowhere near him again.
A memory teased at the edges, a feeling of panic and hurt trying to escape. I let my eyes close, too, the music lulling me into a trance as I grasped at straws to try to remember.
It was the woman, her face. She was looking at me in a way that said she wanted to break news that I wouldn’t like. As if she expected me to shatter.
Maybe I did? I certainly couldn’t remember anything but I’d ended up here in the end, hadn’t I?
The memory didn’t budge. Nothing filtered in that would give me answers, but it was more than I’d gotten before.
Why now?
Chapter Seventeen
Audrey
“Morning medicine time,” Nancy sang out as she waltzed in with her usual chipper exuberance. I was finally starting to get used to her three times a day drop-ins over the last few weeks.
Just not the meds.
She held out a fresh cup of water and a small paper pill cup. I popped the meds into my mouth and swallowed them down, draining the water. My nose wrinkled at the taste.
Now that I was past the nausea and dizziness, and Malik hadn’t given me any more injected meds, I’d settled into a strange calm.
“Good job, Audrey. You’re going to start feeling a lot better any day now,” she promised. The same promise I’d gotten every day since the medication was changed.
It was insane to me how much trust everyone had in Dr. Malik. How could they not see him for what he was?
A monster that toyed with people’s mental health for his own gain and amusement.
Nancy sat out clothes for me and I stood, moving robotically.
My days were full of routine. Meds, meals, group therapy no one spoke a word at, and nightly walks with Ledger or quiet moments with Ansel. Rydell always stood back and Kane wasn’t as present as the rest of us.
