Between the Lives - By Jessica Shirvington Page 0,49

with me kicking Mitch in the face than anything else. If I had to guess from the looks they gave each other, Mitch and Macie were sneaking visits to the supply room on a regular basis.

I must’ve drifted off again because when I opened my eyes Dr Levi was standing over me, writing something on his clipboard.

‘Hello, Sabine. An eventful evening, I hear.’

He started to take my vitals.

‘You seem to be mending well. How do you feel about that?’ he asked, his tone no different than if we were talking about the weather.

I couldn’t think of an appropriate answer, so I turned my attention to the open door. A nurse I hadn’t seen before was standing in the hallway, observing.

Dr Levi put down his clipboard. ‘Sabine, the attending doctor mentioned you spoke some German while you were semiconscious last night, and your father said that you told Ethan you can speak French. Is it true you can speak other languages?’

It was no major surprise. I knew I would have to deal with the fallout from my stunts.

I sighed. ‘Je ne parle pas allemand, mais je peux dire ce que vous voulez en français. Je le parle couramment depuis que j’ai cinq ans. Et vous avez quelque chose de vert entre les dents,’ I said, explaining that I couldn’t really speak German, but that I’d been speaking French fluently since I was five years old and … that he had something green stuck between his front teeth. I couldn’t resist the add-on.

Dr Levi watched me carefully and when I finished he turned to the nurse in the hallway.

She was smiling and seemed on the verge of laughter. But when she looked at Dr Levi, she sobered and nodded.

I suddenly realised why.

She was there to confirm what I’d said. She spoke French – or at least enough to know if it was genuine and not gibberish.

Dr Levi took a moment, dismissing the nurse and then turning back to me. ‘That’s very impressive, Sabine. How did you teach yourself to speak French?’

‘I learned at school.’ I shrugged. ‘Had a tutor at home.’

‘She did not!’ came a holler from the hall. A moment later my father appeared in the doorway. I flinched. I should’ve guessed he’d been hiding out there, waiting to pounce.

‘Where did you learn French, Sabine? What game is this to you?’ He was livid. Clearly the time for concern and compassion had passed – if they were ever there in the first place.

‘Dad.’ I said the word sarcastically, since it was a name I no longer felt he was entitled to. ‘Nice of you to visit.’ Before he could answer I rolled away from them onto my side, wishing the locked window looked out to something more pleasant than a concrete parking lot.

‘Dr Levi,’ my father ordered, and I could hear him stomp back out to the hall.

After a considerable sigh, Dr Levi followed, but he paused at the door. ‘I’ll be back shortly, Sabine. Perhaps we could chat further.’

‘Not likely,’ I replied, not bothering to turn and look at him.

My father’s words could be heard easily.

‘Her mother has been put on Valium for christ’s sake! She can’t have this … unrest. What’s wrong with Sabine? How can she suddenly speak French?’

Good question, Dad.

Dr Levi’s tone was several decibels lower than my father’s, but his voice still carried in the otherwise quiet clinic.

‘She appears to have created an alternate world where she, in her mind at least, exists for part of the time. It also seems that this has been going on for many years. From what Ethan has written in his reports, she’s extremely convincing. There’s no doubt she has carefully constructed every element of this new life so that, despite any evidence we provide to the contrary, she has a way of explaining away our logic. It is … Well, it’s obsessive but also quite brilliant. To have created such a complex world as she has, her mind would have to be borderline genius, as well as –’

‘Insane!’ my father snapped. ‘But that still doesn’t explain the other languages.’

‘Actually, it does. If she’s submerged herself so completely in this fantasy existence, it would also be believable that she could’ve given herself the tools to justify it. It’s possible Sabine has been teaching herself French in private for many years – and with her level of intelligence, it’s doable.’

Shit.

I tuned out from the conversation and wiped away a few tears. No matter what I did, I was going to be