ALEX
The “epilepsy” was the worst during the ages of eight and ten, so the doctors put me on pills to manage it. It never worked out, and I was constantly lectured and scolded, like it was somehow my fault.“The medication works for other kids, why not you?”
After more appointments and lots of tests, Dr. Walters officially gave me a new diagnosis, but it only furthered my parents’ belief that I was the reason for my problems. If it wasn’t because of an imbalance in my brain but simply because I was stressed, then the answer was to stop being stressed.
“You don’t need therapy, Alexander,”my father’s voice boomed in my head.“Deal with your issues like the rest of us do.”
Dad nearly convinced me to avoid the cognitive-behavioral therapy session River pestered me to schedule. I consistently failed to meet my parents’ standards, especially my father’s, and I wanted to show I could be strong like him. But, I was working on not letting him dictate my every move, and considering it had been almost a month since we’d spoken, I’d say I was doing a decent job.
River wanted to be the one to take me to the appointment, but we scheduled it before realizing it was the same weekend of his tournaments. His first one was tonight, and I couldn’t wait to get home and watch him on the big screen.
Javier kindly took Millie and me, since I was watching her for the day, to the appointment. He offered to stay, but I turned him down. I didn’t want to burden him, though it was kind of him to bring us since I couldn’t drive.
The session was only an hour long, and I spent most of it answering general questions so the specialist could get to know me. Therapy wasn’t at all like I expected; I imagined an interrogation under a bright light, but it turned out to be a normal conversation. My therapist took a real liking to my bubbly niece, so much so that Millie left the appointment with three suckers and five stickers.
Outside the building, I pulled up the Uber app, and my jaw dropped at the predicted time. It was an hour wait before someone could drive us the ten minutes to my apartment.
“Why does this only happen to me?” I groaned.
Millie pulled the green sucker out of her mouth. “What’s wrong?”
I took her hand and led her to a bench. “It might take a while before we go home.”
The child let out a big, dramatic sigh, then continued eating her sucker. I was going to ask for one, since I needed a pick-me-up more than her, but I froze when my phone rang.
Anna. Why was she calling me? Wasn’t she supposed to be at work for three more hours?
Hesitantly, I picked up. “Hello?”
“Alex,” she stated, irritated. “I’ve been knocking for five minutes. Where are you?”
Shit. “We aren’t home.”
“Clearly. Where are you?”
I hadn’t told my sister about the seizures, therapy, River—none of it. Since Millie never told her about any of it, I kept my mouth shut too. Anna was super protective of me, just like Mom, and she wasn’t as quick to judge, but was instead… intense.
“Do you think the doctor will give me an extra lollipop if we go back in and ask?” Millie asked before biting off the little bit left of hers.
“Doctor? Alex, send me your location,” Annabelle demanded.
So much for that.
Annabelle arrived in under ten minutes, with a face that clearly asked, “Alex, what the hell?’’ I slid into the passenger seat and turned my head toward the window, and thankfully, my sister didn’t interrogate me during the car ride.
Once we were back at her house, and her daughter’s listening ears were in her room, it was fair game. “You’re in therapy now? For what?”
I flopped onto her couch and looked for the TV remote, shrugging.
“Don’t give me that,” she scoffed. “I know Dad didn’t put you in it. It was all you.”
Technically, it was all River’s doing. My heart swelled in my chest.Fuck, I missed him. He had only been away for two days, and I was already having withdrawals.
“I’ve had a few breakthroughs throughout the past month.” Finding the remote, I picked it up and switched to the sports channel. “Long story short, I don’t have epilepsy. I have another condition, and a treatment for it is a certain kind of therapy. Dad didn’t want me to go, but I went anyway.”
Anna sat next to me, deep in thought as she processed what I said. I expected another slew of questions, but instead, she sighed. “I’m proud of you for going against Dad, but why have you kept this from me? You watch Millie all the time, Alex. What if she saw?”
“She did,” I admitted, guilt churning within me. “River was there, and he calmed her down, but she was pretty freaked out.”
