Page 74 of Love Sick

“I have another plan, one which will be a lot easier to stick to. How about some reverse psychology? We’ve been fighting with hate. How about we fight with love?”

“How?”

Before Luna can answer, Alanna enters. Luna doesn’t shift off my lap. She only leans back farther into me.

“I’m pleased the music is coming back to you, Dutch,” Alanna says, ignoring Luna and focusing on me.

“He’s wonderful.” Luna doesn’t care that Alanna is giving her the silent treatment. “I didn’t realize how much so. No wonder you wanted to save his life.”

And here we go…

“Pieces of my memory are coming back, and I remember Jonathan.”

Alanna’s lips pull into a tight line.

“I remember how he could manipulate someone into doing things they wouldn’t normally do. I mean, look what he did with Joy…that bitch. I know what she did with Misha. She took advantage of him when he was weak and needed help. She’s the monster. And as far as I’m concerned, she got what she deserved.”

Alanna watches Luna closely, looking for any signs of deceit. But Luna’s ploy is impenetrable.

“Jonathan loved me,” Alanna says, like a fucking broken record.

“Of course he did,” Luna agrees calmly. “You wouldn’t have done all of this if he didn’t. All you wanted was your happily ever after with your man. What woman doesn’t want that? We have a lot more in common than you think. Joy ruined both our lives. We’re fighting for the same thing—love. I don’t want to be your friend. But I understand why you’ve done the things that you have.”

Luna is so convincing, I almost believe her.

“Misha is dead, but Dutch is alive because of him…and because of you. I can’t forget that. I won’t fight you anymore. I just want my happily ever after. Don’t you?”

Alanna’s eyes soften and I remember when she first unveiled her wedding gown. I was so fucking creeped out at the time, but looking back, I see how utterly sad this entire thing is. And Luna is playing on that.

She carefully stands and walks over to Alanna. When she offers her hand, Alanna peers down at it like it’s a grenade. But Luna doesn’t waver.

“This will be a lot easier on us all if we just co-exist. We all need something from one another. So let’s just learn to get along.”

There is no way Alanna is going to fall for this.

But she does.

Alanna doesn’t realize she just signed her own death warrant the moment she places her hand into Luna’s. Luna smiles as she too can see the reality that she’s won.

“Excellent. First things first. We need clothes and toiletries if we’re expected to stay here.”

Alanna nods, removing her hand from Luna’s. “Okay, I’ll go into town and grab some things. In the meantime, might be worthwhile thinking about what you’re going to tell the medical board. You’re a model patient, after all.”

“I am?”

“Yes, you and Dutch are the only patients in Parkfields’s history to ever escape, only to be returned and rehabilitated. Everyone is eager to hear your story.”

Alanna smiles broadly, believing her bullshit. She is broken beyond repair. I can’t help but compare her character to Constance Blackwood in the novel penned by Shirley Jackson. Always smiling, it seems she never saw things for what they truly were as a coping mechanism.

Constance refused to accept the things she did, and also the things she knew.

Alanna is the same.

She’s living in a fantasy world because in that world, she doesn’t have to accept what she’s done.

She leaves us alone, and the moment she does, Luna wipes her hand on her T-shirt as if needing to rub Alanna’s touch away. She turns to look at me with a smirk.

“There’s someone else who needs to pay for their role in this.”

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