“Ranch?” Dr. Gray sighed again. “To my knowledge, you’ve never lived at a ranch. For now, this is your home. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it has to be.”
Ask him about Mary Ann, Eve insisted.
Don’t do it, Ad, Julian said. I’m happy with the way things are and don’t want them to change.
I mean, we’re close to having a girlfriend, Caleb added.
“Aden?”
Dr. Gray. He had to backtrack to remember the direction of their conversation. Had he argued with any of the other patients, was what he’d been asked. “Uh, no. Everyone stays away from me now.”
“Oh, really?” The doctor tsked under his tongue. “I know a few of the patients cornered you yesterday. I know they threatened you, someone hit you and you retaliated. If the orderlies hadn’t stopped you…Listen, it’s okay, whatever you’ve done, whatever’s going on,” he said softly. “You can tell me anything. I won’t judge you, son. I only want to help you. Let me help you. Please.”
“I—”
Ask him, ask him, ask him! I won’t shut up until you do. Eve, proving stubborn.
For God’s sake, what if he wakes up in another state, no Mary Ann, no Victoria, Elijah said, angry. I hate what Mary Ann does to us, but he’s finally out of the hospitals and off the drugs they used to feed him.
You’re the psychic, Caleb said. Tell us what will happen if he questions the doctor about the girl.
I told you, I—Elijah stopped abruptly, and everyone held their breath, waiting for him to continue, knowing he’d just gotten something. Several minutes passed, an eternity in which Aden once again lost track of what the doctor was saying. During that time, Elijah gasped, groaned.
“What?” he finally asked, and as Dr. Gray repeated whatever he’d been saying, Elijah said, You know I usually only predict death but lately I’ve known, well, more. And right now I know that if you mention Mary Ann, one of two things will happen. Dr. Gray will flip and leave you sooner rather than later. You’ll never meet Mary Ann. Or Dr. Gray will flip, still leave as planned, but take an interest in what you’ve told him. If the second happens, you’ll indeed meet Mary Ann—and one of us will be freed.
Eve gasped. One of us will be freed? Who? And how?
I don’t know. I wish I did, but…I’m sorry.
If one could be freed, that had to mean they all could be freed. He would have everything he’d ever wanted. Peace, a happily ever after for his companions. A normal life with his new friends. Of course, that normal life wouldn’t last long, since his death was steadily approaching, but a mere glimpse of such a life would be better than never knowing it at all.
But, if the other alternative happened, he would have none of that. He wouldn’t even have Mary Ann’s friendship. Would he even go to Crossroads, Oklahoma? Would he ever meet Victoria? he couldn’t help but wonder again.
He wanted to take some time, figure out the best course of action, maybe sleep on it and weigh the pros versus the cons. That wasn’t how this worked, however. He would return to the present the moment this session ended. He didn’t have the luxury of time.
If only Eve could control how long they stayed. But she couldn’t, not really. When the scene she’d imagined played out, so did his time there. He had to choose now. A chance at getting everything he’d ever wanted or the loss of everything he’d ever wanted.
Whatever he decided, he had to act—
“Do you have a daughter?” The question slipped from him before he could stop it. For a moment, he experienced panic. Absolute, blind panic. He’d done it. He’d decided: he’d asked.
All four souls gasped. In astonishment, horror or excitement, he didn’t know.
What he did know? There was no going back now.
The good doctor’s head tilted to the side, his lips curling in another of those frowns. “I do, yes. How did you know?” No flip out yet.
His heart drummed in his ears, his breathing fast and shallow, as he searched for an answer that wouldn’t get him tossed out of the office this very moment. Then he spotted it. A framed picture of a little girl with black-as-night hair, hazel eyes and bronzed skin.
“The, uh, photo on your desk. She’s pretty.”
“Oh. Thank you. That’s my Mary Ann. She’s your age. Looks just like her mom.” Dr. Gray shook his head, as though he couldn’t believe what he’d just admitted. Normal people didn’t like to talk about their loved ones with dangerous crazies, Aden knew, no matter how young those dangerous crazies were. Or appeared to be. “Let’s get back on track. I need you to talk to me, Aden. That’s the only way I can help you.”
For the doctor’s sake, he said, “You asked me if I was still hearing voices. The answer is yes.” Embarrassment he didn’t have to force dripped from the undercurrents of his tone. His fingers twisted the fabric of his shirt, wrinkles branching in every direction. He’d bring them back to Mary Ann in a bit. Hopefully Dr. Gray would be more willing to chat once “business” was out of the way. “All the time.”
Come on. We’re not that bad. Julian.
Stab me in the back, why don’t you. Caleb.
“Sorry guys,” he wanted to say, but he kept quiet.
“No progress, then.” Dr. Gray planted his left ankle atop his right knee. “We can talk to your psychiatrist about changing your medication again.”
“All right,” he said, even though he suddenly recalled how the new drugs had affected him. Stomach cramps, vomiting. Dehydration and a week hooked to an IV.
Dr. Gray anchored his glasses on his nose. “Let’s switch gears for a while. Since you’re still hearing voices, I’d like to know what they want from you.”
“All kinds of stuff.”
“Like?”
What had he told him, all those years ago? “Like…control of the body.” Yes, he’d mentioned that. He hadn’t usually been so open with his doctors, but something about Dr. Gray had put him at ease.
If only you’d consider it, Eve said.
Really, giving up the captain’s hat once in a while isn’t unreasonable, Caleb said. You used to let us take over for a bit and we always gave back control. I never understood why you stopped.
You’d want control, too, if you were powerless, Elijah said.
Great. They were ganging up on him. “You aren’t powerless,” he gritted out. He was here, in the past, wasn’t he?
“Excuse me?” Dr. Gray said.
“Oh, uh, nothing. Just giving myself a pep talk.”
You’re well on your way to that flip-out, Elijah said with a sigh.
Frowning, the doctor made a notation in his notebook. “Now, you called it the body. Let’s explore that a moment. If the voices have to ask for control of your—the body, that means they can’t take it on their own. You get to decide. That’s a good thing, yes? Your being in control?”
His companions might not be able to take over his body without his permission, but they could cause untold damage without it. “Yeah. Sure.”
The pen flew over the notebook as the doctor made another notation. “Since you have control, do you ever force the voices to leave you?”
“Me force them? No. But sometimes they do leave.” Because of his daughter.
“And what happens to you when they’re gone?”
Aden smiled, though it was laced with guilt. “Peace.”
“Oh, Aden.” Dr. Gray placed a hand over his heart, expression softening. “That’s wonderful.”
Bet he feels like a proud papa. Eve actually sounded softer, as though she was warming to the doctor.
That hadn’t happened last time. Which meant peace wasn’t something he’d admitted to last time. Of course not. Peace wasn’t something he’d known about back then. His smile faded. “I’m just kidding. They aren’t allowed to leave. They stay with me always.”