“Your punishment can be to do it again so I can watch,” I say with a grin. “Oh… Your family…”
“I can reschedule dinner with them,” he says.
“Why don’t we just get pizza? You haven’t seen them in a while, right?” I ask.
“Not for a few weeks,” he says. “Are you up for it?”
“I mean… Yeah,” I say. “I’m not going to spiral… I don’t think.”
“That is not what I’m asking, Milly,” Grayson says with a sigh.
“I know. I’m just saying I don’t think I will. It’s not so suffocating this time. I haven’t even seen Molly.”
“Molly?” Dad asks. “I didn’t think you remembered your sister?”
Grayson, Adam, and I snap our heads to look at him. “What?” I ask. “Molly is who I was hallucinating. I made her up and kinda shoved all of my trauma on her. I thought she was my sister, but I don’t have one.”
“Honey… Shit,” Dad says with a sigh.
“I’m done. I can give you guys the room,” Dr. Granger says. “Milly, keep that clean and dry. I’m sure your father will keep an eye on it, so he knows the drill. You are free to go whenever.”
“Thank you,” I say. She takes the IV out of my arm and cleans up before placing the brace on my wrist. It protects the stitches as well, so that will be helpful.
“Explain,” I say when the door shuts.
“You… had a sister. A twin sister, actually. Her name was Molly,” Dad says. “I didn’t realize it was her you were seeing.”
“Hold on,” Grayson says. “So, Molly is real? Why is she not in any records?”
“Probably Charlotte’s doing,” Dad says. “She has a lot of pull to get whatever she wants done.”
“What happened to her?” I ask.
“When Walter shot me, Molly was on my other side. The bullet went through me and struck her in the head. She died instantly,” Dad says bluntly, but softly. “I didn’t mention her because you hadn’t. I didn’t want to throw more things at you when seeing me was already a lot.”
“Damn… So she was real… Why don’t I remember her?”
“Just the brain’s way of protecting you,” Grayson says.
“Does this make me less crazy?”
“You aren’t crazy,” Grayson says with a frown. “But it makes sense. If you blocked her death out, that was just a way of keeping her alive for you. You might remember one day, but it will take time to sort through everything.”
“It feels like everything is untangling and I can breathe now,” I say.
“That’s healing, Baby Girl,” Grayson says.
“So… what now?” I ask, refraining from speaking of my murderous intent.
“Well, we are going to get pizza, go home and see my family, rest for a few days, and then fucking kill Greg and your piece of shit mother.”
“Charlotte is going to be harder to kill,” Dad says. “But I can’t wait to see it happen.”
“Well… Let’s go home then,” I say.
I am lying onthe couch with my head in Grayson’s lap and my legs across Adam. My eyes are closed, and I am in heaven as Grayson mindlessly strokes my hair. Adam has his hand on my thigh with his thumb gently stroking my skin, and I love it.
When we got home, Grayson and Adam took me upstairs and helped me shower and change before we came down to sit in the living room. When the doorbell rings, I groan and sit up so Grayson can answer the door.
