Page 115 of The Restoration Program
Sighing, he turned around and crouched close enough to put his face near her again. His voice softened toward her as he tried to catch her gaze.
“Try to cool off andthink, Nicki. You don’t have to make things so difficult. Everything’s fine.”
She would have slapped him if the inconsequential impact wouldn’t make things more humiliating. She spat at him instead. “Lying, controlling bastard,” she hissed in his face.
Ryan’s expression hardened to stone. At the edge of the desk, his fingers twitched like he wanted to lock them around her. But he composed himself, stood up, and wiped his cheek. He closed the blinds and shut the door behind him, sealing her in a cell.
His goal may have been to keep her safe, but the click of the lock felt more like punishment than protection. Outside, she heard him immediately ribbing with his coworkers: “See? Told you I’d make it!”
His voice faded. She stood in silence for a few good minutes before the storm rose inside her again. She ripped off the pocket square from around her shoulders and hucked it over the side of the desk so she wouldn’t be tempted to wrap herself in its warmth again.
Shaking and unsatisfied, she eyed the framed picture of her and Ryan. She kicked it off the edge. Glass shattered. As she glared at the floor, she found the photo facing up. Ryan still hadn’t changed it—not even with their wedding photos at his disposal. And why would he? The faces staring back at her from under the glass spiderweb were happy. Normal.
Human.
She squinted at Ryan’s face in search of something lurking beneath the surface—some clue that would help her make sense of the disastrous morning.
Maybe there was nothing to be found. Maybe the Restoration Program had simply changed him just as much as it had her.
DAY ONE HUNDRED FORTY-NINE
Evergreens swayed outside the windows of the Restoration Facility’s group meeting room, resistant to the turn of the seasons.
Nicole kept her eyes fixed on the trees as Ryan pulled out her chair for her at the glass swirl that was the NüPrint table. It felt rather like a building was settling into the earth as he dropped into his chair behind her, and she treated him as such.
A building didn’t need much in the way of attention, after all; it simply existed and took up space.
She kept her expression pert as she sipped her cucumber water and took a cursory look at the others settling into their spots. There were new faces joining them today, giving the whole room a buzz of fresh energy. An unfamiliar man named Erik took a seat directly across from Ryan and Nicole. His NüPrint partner was a pixie-cut beauty named Bethany.
From what she’d overheard, they were only a week post-procedure. And they were both absolutely glowing. All smiles, easy laughter, and “we’re so happy to be here, thanks for having us” on repeat.
Nicole bristled at how easily Bethany interacted with her much-larger boyfriend. It was impossible not to compare her effortless exchanges with the way Nicole had clung to Ryan’s hand for the duration of her first meeting.
“I guess we’re not the new kids on the block anymore,” Nicole murmured over her shoulder.
“Mm. Finally.” Ryan didn’t even look down.
Dr. Burman strolled to the center of the main table. During the first months of meetings, he’d had the energy of a Buddhist monk on his third nitro cold brew. With each passing session, he looked more… distant. Even as he spoke, his words sounded like nothing more than a script he’d grown exhausted of reading.
“I’d like us to begin our session with a short breathing exercise to center us in this present moment. Phones away, please. Thank you. Let’s release our anxieties from the outside world and acknowledge that we are safe here.”
A few people closed their eyes, breathing in deeply and slowly. Nicole watched as Erik’s exhale tousled Bethany’s cropped blond hair—he was socloseto her.
“What was lost… has been restored,” Burman said.
“What was lost has been restored,” echoed the group.
Carlos caught her gaze from his seat. A defiant thread resonated between him and Nicole as they both kept their mouths shut.
“Alright.” Dr. Burman seemed a touch more invigorated as he clapped his hands together and paced the perimeter. “Wins this week? Obstacles to overcome? Andrew and Daisy, you started last week, so let’s shift to Todd and Ellis.”
For once, the pair appeared pleased to be singled out. They exchanged a few tittering words, arguing cheerily about who got to tell the story.
Ellis won and turned in his tiny chair to address the group. “You all know better than anyone that Todd and I have had our ups and downs. Sometimes more downs than I care for. But this week, we’ve got a real win for you. We returned to an old hobby we used to do together—”
“Kayaking,” Todd blurted.
Ellis nodded. “We hadn’t done it in over a year, since my Restoration. Being out there on the water like that… It was invigorating like you wouldn’t believe.”
