Page 12 of His Wicked Revenge

I turn on my heels and head back to my cell. I’ll be in the dark for the next couple of days, even weeks, not knowing when my dad will come to visit.

It’s a waiting game, but at least I have time to figure out how to tell him what I’ve done.

A week has passed since I heard my dad was coming to visit. To say that I am a nervous wreck is an understatement. My hands are sweating as I sit in the metal chair. A glass partition is in front of me, and a phone hangs on the privacy wall attached to the desk.

I figured the visitation room would have been the same as Black Lake’s, but I guess prison is different.

I tap my foot on the concrete floor but immediately stop when I hear a door creak open. Clenching my teeth together, I inhale a deep breath through my nose and exhale a sigh.

My father comes into view—only my father. I feel an ache in my chest, knowing that Chloe isn’t with him. Although she could be in the parking lot and working up the courage to come in here.

Dad pulls out the chair and takes his seat. Before reaching for the phone, his eyes scan over me to make sure I’m not getting beat up in this place. I study his expression as his eyes slip down to my beard.

Since I arrived, my beard has grown longer because I haven’t had the energy to shave it. After today, I will because I hate seeing my dad look at me as if I am a stranger. I don’t want to be a stranger to him or to anyone else, for that matter.

I’m the one to make the first move. I pick up the phone, and he follows suit. We remain silent, neither of us knowing what to say.

My foot begins tapping again before I force myself to say, “Thank you for coming.”

“You’re my son, Leo. Of course, I’d be here.”

“And Chloe?” I ask with a hint of hope in my voice.

He shakes his head. “She couldn’t make it.”

She didn’t want to come.

“Right,” I say as I clear my throat. “I want to tell you everything, so ask me anything you want to know.”

“I guess the first question is why?”

“I uh… I was in love with her.” His eyes widen at my words.

“Leo…”

“It sounds stupid, I know, but…” I swallow, attempting to wet my dry throat before I continue, “She had this energy to her—a pull, if you will—that I couldn’t fight. The more time we spent together during our sessions, the more I fell. It is insane to admit that I fell in love with my patient. I get that, but… I couldn’t help it. She was the light in my darkness.”

The mention of his speech causes his eyes to soften. He raises his hand, running it over his mouth as he processes my honesty. “It’s unethical.”

“It is. What Veronica and I did was absolutely wrong.”

“So she didn’t manipulate you into escaping?”

“No. It was my choice to run away with her.” I tell him. “The timing was awful, but you said the purpose of life was to love and be loved…”

“I did say that, but Leo… that doesn’t mean it should have been that way with your patient.”

“She was the first woman I’ve ever felt these intense feelings for.” My feelings for Veronica hit me like a semi-truck that came out of nowhere. I’m not sure exactly when I fell in love with her, but I know I fell hard.

“Love comes at the strangest times, and sometimes it’s with people that probably don’t deserve the love we can give them.”

“I thought she did deserve my love. I thought, maybe, me loving her would change her.”

“Sometimes love can’t change people. She isn’t wired the same way we are,” he tells me. “So you two ran and got caught.”

My eyes drop to the surface of the desk. “I got caught.”

“What do you mean you got caught?”