Page 97 of Heart Sick

“Reset her?” I question, disgusted. “She’s a human being, not a fucking science project.”

“And this is why you can’t see her. You’re too close to this. Whether that’s because of Jack’s heart or your feelings for her, you will only hinder any progress she can make to live a normal life. I only want to help you both. You came to me with the notion that your donor heart was the reason you couldn’t play music, and I never once doubted you, did I?”

She’s right. She’s only tried to help.

“So what if what you told me is in fact real. Are you drawn to Luna because the heart you have belonged to the man she once loved? The man she may have harmed?”

Luna sniffs back her tears.

“None of this makes any sense, but what you told me has correlated with Jack’s life. I’m a doctor. I don’t believe in fantasy, but this is very hard to ignore. I ask you to trust me. Now that you know the truth, I hope you have some sense of peace and can move on with your life.

“I still would like to observe you. Just for a couple days,” she adds when she reads my distaste at the suggestion.

But if that means I’ll be able to be close to Luna, then yes.

“So you believe me?”

Alanna simply smiles. “This isn’t about what I believe. It’s about you living the life you deserve. Don’t you want to play music again?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then you need to overcome whatever emotional blockage is stopping you from doing so.”

She’s right. But I hate that she brought Noah here when she knows I want to murder him with my bare hands.

A memory suddenly smashes into me of Noah and his asshole friends defiling a patient. Things are sketchy and I can only remember bits and pieces, but I know I saw Noah filming his bastard friends taking advantage of someone who needed their help.

“He is a fucking asshole,” I spit, eyeing Noah. “I saw him doing disgusting things to one of your patients. Why haven’t you fired him?”

“Here we go again.” Noah has the balls to roll his eyes.

“Let’s just get you back to Parkfields, and then we can talk about it.”

Run…

I don’t know whether I’m relieved or fucking pissed off this asshole has decided to talknow.These words of wisdom would have been useful hours ago.

Nothing slips past Alanna. “You know the voices aren’t real. They’re just your mind playing tricks on you.”

“He sounds fucking real to me!”

Luna finally makes eye contact with me and that’s because she believes me. “What did he say?”

I beg he says more because I can’t trust one single word. Is he telling me to run away from Luna? Or is he warning me of what’s ahead for us both if we don’t flee?

Why has he chosen this exact moment to speak?

On cue, his heart starts beating quickly and I’m short of breath. I buckle in half, almost losing my footing.

“Dutch!” Alanna and Luna cry out at the same time, but I can only focus on the pounding of Jack’s heart.

There is only one way to make this fucker talk to me. Whenever his heart is in danger, I hear music. So maybe, if I straddle the line between life and death, he’ll sing like a fucking canary.

I need to think on my feet. The only way I can get him talking is if he believes he’s in real danger. But another idea soon hits.

Luna has always been our muse. So what ifshewas in danger? What would he do to save her? If they were really lovers, then he would do anything to keep her safe.

It makes sense why she’s inspired me to play. His heart has always recognized her. So it’s time I test just how deep their love ran.

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