Dr. Turov nods slowly, her brows pinched, tapping her chin with the end of her pen. “I want to try something a little unorthodox. Are you game?”
“Definitely.”
She nods. “Good. I want you to stop.”
I frown. “Stop…?”
“All of it. All your meds.”
A blink. “Like…cold turkey?”
“Christ, no,” she laughs. “I’m going to write you up a schedule for slowly weaning yourself off them over the next couple of weeks.”
I frown. “What will that do?”
She smiles. “That’s what we're going to find out. But in my professional opinion, you arehugelyover-medicated right now, and I’d like to see what work we can do together without the meds, or at least a lot less of them. How does that sound?”
It sounds fuckinggreat.
It’sdark when I open my eyes. Confusion whips through me like a winter chill, shaking me as I try to focus.
I’m—
My pulse skips.
I’mhome. Not at Bane’s place, buthome-home, Dad’s house, standing in the doorway of my carriage house.
The chill twists and claws under my skin as a panic begins to set in.
How the fuck did I get here?
It’s dark out, and the carriage house itself is also dim, leaving me standing in the shadows on the doorstep. I shakily pull out my phone to glance at the time.
What the…
After I left Dr. Turov’s, I went to the Mercury to get in a little conditioning. I didn’t have rehearsal, because it’s Saturday, but I wanted—maybeneeded—to run, and the theater has a great gym with treadmills down in the basement. Afterthat, I met Brooklyn and Evelina for a meal. We laughed that we didn'tknow whether to call it late lunch or early dinner, and Evie came up with Linner because Dunch just sounded awful.
That was at four-thirty.
It’s noweight o’clock, and I’m quickly realizing I don’t know what the hell I just did since leaving the two of them.
How I left the restaurant.
How I gothere.
A cold sensation drips down my spine.
What the fuck is wrong with me.
I’m about to turn and get the hell out of here when I pause. I frown as I step into my carriage house. Then I stiffen as cold fury washes over me.
Are you fucking kidding me?!
On the one hand, I’m married now and living with Bane, and I’m never going to move back here.
On the other, this wasmy spacefor so long. It was the soft place I landed when I came back to New York after rehab. Where I collected myself, and put myself out there again. Where I started painting as a means of self-therapy.
It was my sanctuary.
