Chapter 3 - A DIFFERENT DOCTOR
Dr. Chen examined me in a room above her private practice, before her staff arrived.
“What are you taking?”
I handed her the labeled packets from my bedside drawer.
“Who prepares these?”
“My sister picks them up. Dr. Vale prescribes them.”
Maya read the labels, then set them down.
“I want pharmacy confirmation and fresh tests. Labels aren’t enough.”
“Do you think someone poisoned me?”
“I think you have symptoms that deserve an independent review. That’s what we’re doing.”
She asked about tremors, the pounding heartbeat, the nights when my thoughts ran faster than I could control.
I said yes too often.
When she asked whether I ever felt better away from home, I remembered a storm that had stranded me at a hotel six months earlier.
I’d slept three hours in a chair.
Vivian had blamed the new sedative.
“She sent the medicine the next morning,” I said.
Maya’s expression stayed calm.
“Stay somewhere she doesn’t control tonight.”
At home, I found Emma packing a canvas bag.
Lily sat on the floor, dressing her rabbit in a washcloth.
“Vivian said we should take a few days off,” Emma told me.
“What reason did she give?”
“She said Lily was upsetting you.”
Lily looked up.
“I didn’t.”
“No,” I said. “You didn’t.”
Emma’s mouth tightened.
“I need this job. But I won’t teach my daughter she did something wrong because someone powerful dislikes her.”
“You’ll keep your job,” I told her. “And you can stay somewhere safe while I sort this out.”
“Safe from what?”
I explained the unauthorized entries and the water test.
I didn’t call Lily a witness.
I didn’t ask her another question.
Emma listened, then said, “Your sister asked whether Lily had told me any stories about upstairs.”
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
Daniel moved them to a company apartment with security Emma could contact directly.
I booked a hotel room under my own name.
Hiding from my family in property I owned felt ridiculous until Maya called.
“The lab found an undeclared stimulant in the water,” she said. “They’re confirming the medication samples separately.”
I sat down.
“Adrian, don’t confront anyone yet.”
Before I could answer, another call flashed on my screen.
Vivian.
May you like
Then a text.
Come home. Dr. Vale says leaving unsupervised is a sign you’re getting worse.
