Page 98 of Unbound
"I spoke to the director. There's never been anyone named Max at that facility."
The confusion on his face was painful to watch. "But he was there. He sat with me. He whispered to me during group sessions. He—" Jesse stopped, his breathing getting faster. "He was inthe chair. Right there when I woke up in the medical wing."
"When you were heavily sedated," I said quietly. "After they'd tortured you for weeks."
Jesse's face went pale. "No. He was real. He had to be real."
"Your mind created what you needed to survive. Someone who believed rescue was coming. Someone who gave you hope when you had none."
"I hallucinated him?" Jesse's voice broke. "I was so alone I invented a friend?"
"You survived. However you had to, you survived."
Jesse turned his face away, fresh tears streaming. "There's something wrong with me."
"There's nothing wrong with you. You experienced severe trauma and your brain protected you the only way it could."
"By making me crazy?"
"By keeping you alive." I moved closer, waiting until he looked at me again. "Jesse, what did Max tell you?"
"That... that someone was fighting for me out there. That I just had to hold on a little longer." His voice got quieter. "That you were real. That you'd come."
"Then he was right. Even if he wasn't real, everything he told you was true."
Jesse closed his eyes. "How do I know what else isn't real? How do I know you're not—"
I took his hand, pressing it against my chest where my heart was beating. "Feel that? I'm real. I'm here. And I'm not leaving."
He kept his hand there for a long moment, breathing in sync with my heartbeat. Finally, he whispered, "I'm scared."
"I know. But you don't have to be scared alone anymore. You have real people now. People who chose you."
"Even though I'm broken?"
"You're not broken. You're surviving."
Jesse was quiet for a long moment. Then: "Why did you pursue me? At the beginning?"
I went very still. This was it—the moment of truth. The confession that would probably end everything.
"I need to tell you something. And you're going to hate me."
"I probably won't have the energy."
I took a breath. "It started as a dare."
I told him everything. The bet, the game, the challenge from my friends to get the 'church boy' to question his beliefs. How I'd taken it on like a project. How every encounter had been calculated, strategic.
"But then I got to know you. The real you. And somewhere around the library, around the coffee shop, it stopped being a game. It became real. I fell in love with you. Completely. Before I even realized it."
The words tumbled out, years of guilt and fear and love all mixed together.
"I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry for starting this. If you want me to leave, to never see you again, I will. I'll disappear from your life forever if that's what it takes. I just need you to know: I love you. I love you and I destroyed your life and I'm so sorry."
The silence stretched forever. I could barely breathe.
Finally, Jesse spoke: "I knew."
