Page 96 of Heart Sick

“It’s going to be okay, Luna,” Dr. Norton says softly. “We’ll get you back to Parkfields where you’ll be safe.”

She gestures over her shoulder to the orderlies who approach me with caution. But I won’t fight. I’ve got nothing left to fight for. I deserve to rot in Parkfields for all that I’ve done.

The orderly, Noah, helps me stand, and when Dutch tries to come to my aid, Dr. Norton grips his wrist, stopping him. I’m thankful that she did because I don’t deserve his kindness, not after what I did.

I’m led down the aisle, my life spiraling before my eyes. I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what’s real. All I know is that I created a make-believe world to escape a monster, and that monster is me.

What the fuck have I done?

I rip away from Alanna’s hold because there’s no way Luna is doing this alone. “Let her go,” I order, glaring at Noah, who simply smirks happily.

I can see it all over his smug face—he’s won.

“I’m going to take real good care of her,” he says under his breath.

“You motherfucker!” I launch for him, prepared to rip off his head.

Two orderlies stop me, however.

“Dutch, enough,” Alanna says smoothly. “We spoke about this on the phone. You’ve done the right thing.”

Have I, though? Because this feels like anything but therightthing.

I didn’t want to believe Joy, but the evidence was there. Her story confirmed everything I knew to be true. It confirmed everything Jack told me. And when she showed me the photograph of Luna and Jack, it was the proverbial nail.

I called Alanna, asking to corroborate what Joy said. She did.

She told me Luna was a paranoid schizophrenic and concocted this entire alternative universe to deal with what she’d done. Joy had a choice—have her committed or press the police in hopes they would reopen the investigation.

Her loyalty to her friend won out in the end.

The evidence is all here, but there’s one bothersome factor which has me refusing to believe it all—Jack.

He’s not said a word.

The son of a bitch hasn’t been able to shut up since I woke up, but now that we’re faced with the “truth,” he’s decided to take a vow of silence.

I thought once the mystery was solved, there’d be something, anything, but I hear nothing…and that’s what bothers me.

There’s something wrong—I just don’t know what that is.

“I want to go with her,” I press, but Alanna shakes her head.

“She needs to do this alone. Luna is very sick. The hallucinations she had will only get worse if she doesn’t cut ties with a life she believes to be real.”

“You mean I can’t see her again?”

Alanna nods.

“You never told me that,” I say with bite.

“Would you have agreed to this if I had?”

I appreciate that she had Luna’s best interests at heart, but what the fuck. “You lied to me. How is her doing this alone good for her?”

I look at Luna. She’s broken, and it’s my fault.

“We need to…reset her,” Alanna explains, and again, I know she only wants to help, but Luna isn’t a fucking clock.

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