Page 15 of Psychotic Obsession
Love at first sight? Potentially. I already know I’m different, that I feel things differently, but the medication and therapy I’ve been on for years has had a huge impact on how I control myself. I have alarms on my phone so I never forget to take my medication, and not only do I have reminders pop up for sessions, my mother also calls me.
I wish she wouldn’t. Her constant checking up on me and demanding my stepfather push himself into my life at work is tiring and makes me feel like a teenager still. She was always keeping me in metaphorical bubble wrap, as if the world wouldn’t be kind enough to me.
Somehow, she still tries to act that way in my adulthood.
Pulling onto the narrow street where Justin lives, I slow to a stop and let him out, waving him off with one finger from the steering wheel when he tells me we’ll make a plan for tonight.
I already have one forming in my head, one that doesn’t involve a third or fourth participant. However, as much as I hate going to work on my days off, I did tell Lucy I’d stop by, since she’s just about to start her last round of chemo.
I’ll go there first and then start my night of watching Aria.
Despite my mind being bad to me, I’m a good person. I know I am. I like helping people. I like working in the hospital and watching kids I’ve entertained get better. Usually, when I know they’re terminal and don’t have long left, my stepdad forces meto work in another ward or stay away from the patients in case it triggers something in me.
So I’ve yet to lose a patient I’ve bonded with.
I know Lucy is dying, and I know he’ll try to make me leave, but not only do I want to stay by her side and make her happy, moving to another part of the hospital also means leaving my doctor.
I’ll stay there. And when the time comes to say goodbye to Lucy, I’ll hold it together for the sake of my obsession with Aria Miller.
By the time I get changed out of my workout clothes and drive to the hospital, the sun is starting to set, and the sky opens as rain pours.
I shake off my hair once I take shelter in the hospital’s main entrance, grab some stuff from the vending machines, and head to the ward.
Once I’m in the elevator, a hand stops it from closing, and my stepfather walks in. He doesn’t smile at me or greet me; he just sighs and stands beside me.
“Your mother has been calling you for the past hour,” he says. “You didn’t go to therapy today.”
My eye twitches at his tone, but I stare forward and ignore him.
I didn’t go because Justin wanted to watch Gabriella and Aria, so I skipped for the first time ever.
“Remember what we agreed to. You only work here if you abide by the rules she set. Take your meds, attend therapy, no fighting, and stay out of trouble with the cops.”
Silence is all he’s met with. I want to shove my fist down his throat most days, but he did get me this position, and he did decide to marry my mother and make us filthy rich, so I try not to argue.
But my patience is slowly slipping.
The elevator doors open, and a nurse walks in. “Good evening, Doctor Blythe.”
He grins at her, and I try not to roll my eyes at his façade of being a jolly, nice guy. Despite changing my life, he’s a fucking asshole with a complex and a deep desire for control.
Being the president of numerous scientific research centers will do that. I still have no idea why the fuck he kept his position in this hospital when he has more money than sense, but Mom said he likes his job.
Asshole.
As soon as I get into Lucy’s room, I find her trying to read a book. She looks up at me and smiles. “You came!”
“Of course I did, little one,” I say, sitting beside her bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Sick,” she replies, her smile dropping. “My mom said she wouldn’t be back for a few days because they’re going on vacation.”
My jaw tenses, but I force a half-smile. “Good thing you’ve got me. What are we watching?”
The excited teen slowly takes the remote, her hand shaking as she turns on the TV and finds the show she has been making me watch with her.
We talk for the first ten minutes before we zone in on the screen, and when Justin texts me about tonight’s plan, I turn off my phone.
Chapter 7
