Between the Lives - By Jessica Shirvington Page 0,26

off now, it would only look bad. Prove to them that I was lying. And he would never, ever trust me again. No. I needed to stand up to this, make them understand. So I clung to the hope that it would all be for the best, nodded to Dad gratefully, and went to my room.

CHAPTER NINE

Roxbury, Sunday

I wedged myself up against my door, straining to hear what Mom and Dad were saying. Besides a few loud sobs from Mom and the occasional stern use of her name by Dad, they kept to hushed tones. The phone rang a few times, but even then all I could hear was Dad’s muffled voice, which sounded relaxed and formal. Must be work-related.

I waited.

When it was clear I wasn’t going to overhear anything, I lay back on my bed and started to rehearse all the things I was going to tell them, carefully selecting the examples I’d use to help them understand. It wasn’t going to be easy. I’d had my whole life, twice over, to come to terms with this existence and I still didn’t fully understand. Plus, I’d seen Mom’s face when I told them I had another family … That was not going to be a pleasant conversation. I decided to keep the details as vague as possible for now. There was also the money issue; Dad wouldn’t like that. But I couldn’t help the small bubble of excited anticipation. I was finally telling someone.

I waited.

Dad would come and get me. I hoped that when he did, we’d get a few minutes alone together and he’d bring me up to speed on how Mom was taking it all.

I waited.

It seemed like the whole day passed, several hours at least.

It was quiet. I’d run out of theories and practice speeches and had started to wonder if they were still even out there. I was about to go looking for them when I heard a knock downstairs at the front door.

A stern knock. Three life-changing thuds.

I wasn’t sure exactly why, but my stomach flipped and I started instinctively backing away from my bedroom door.

I hadn’t even made it to the window when Dad opened the door and held it there for the man and woman who walked in. Our family doctor followed, standing beside Dad.

The bed was between them and me – and since my bedroom basically only fit the bed, the situation became instantly defensive. I could see the man and woman calculating how they were going to close the distance.

These people were not my friends.

These people were my worst nightmare.

‘Sabine,’ my father – no longer Dad – said in a low commanding voice. ‘Sabine, we are trying to help you. These nurses are here to help.’

They held their hands in front of them – reminding me of the way Dex had approached me the night before – like I was a wild animal. In that moment, that’s exactly what I felt like.

Trapped.

My eyes darted from the door, to the bed, to the people trying to entrap me, to my window. But I was cornered. My father and I both knew it.

‘It’s okay,’ he told the man and woman. They were dressed in white slacks and jackets, not unlike the drugstore uniforms.

The air left my lungs. I knew what was coming next. ‘The window is jammed shut,’ he said.

Bastard.

I glared at my father, overcome with fury. ‘How could you do this to me? Oh, I get it. This isn’t about me at all – you just want the problem to go away!’ I screamed.

‘Sabine,’ the woman said in a deliberately calming tone. Her mouse-brown hair was tightly braided, highlighting her overly blushed cheeks. She sent me a fake smile, like the two of us had friend potential. I stared back at her with a ‘don’t fake a faker bitch’ look. She looked away first. A small victory, but it wasn’t going to last long. I was boxed in.

‘You’re not well, Sabine,’ my father said. ‘Your mother is petrified with worry. She needs you to get help. Dr Meadows has come here as a special favour – he has a doctor he would like you to see at the clinic. He’s going to fit you in immediately. They’re going to make you better. Please, don’t make a scene.’ His look added the line he didn’t say aloud: They’re taking you either way.

The man and woman took another sly step in my direction, the tall man with the buzz cut leading the way