Page 16 (1/2)

Questions were hurled at hiressed

Were they talking about him?

Of course they were Pills were shoved into Aden’s mouth, and he tried to spit them out Dr Hennessy pinched his nose closed and held his jaw still, his purpose clear If Aden wanted to breathe, he’d have to s

"Take your ood boy, Aden," the doctor said crisply "You’ve had these before I’h "Still deterive you an injection Wouldn’t you prefer to avoid a needle?"

Only when his lungs screaan to convulse did he s A second later, he could breathe

He sucked in -to-live happiness disintegrated when he realized what he’d sed Those pills always fogged Aden’s brain and put the souls into a stupor, two things he loathed Two things they loathed More than that, he needed to be clear-headed tonight He needed… The blood-brain barrier was broken al he’d feared appeared behind his eyes, thickening, spreading, fuzzing his thoughts

"Sorry," he"So sorry"

Julian was the first to quiet Then Caleb, then Elijah, who fought the hardest to reht is…

Even Thoan to waver, shimmer, there but not there, an outline without substance

"He’ll need to visitto Dan as he straightened, wiping his hands together in a job well done "First thing"

Dan crossed his arms over his massive chest He was a former pro-footballer, tall, wide, pure intimidation with pale hair and dark eyes "He has school If he’s well enough, and I think that he will be He always pulls hiether quickly"

"He can miss one day"

"No, actually, he can’t His studies are just as important as his therapy"

Thank you, Aden wanted to say, but didn’t allow the words to e attention or unwittingly ad said Dan cared about the boys here Truly cared Even about Aden, as his insistence proved

"I’ll bring him to you immediately afterward," Dan continued "How about that?"

"I highly recommend you reconsider This boy doesn’t need to be in school, around normal children I could take over his--"

"Excuse htly "I ree, but I know this boy better than you do He’s a good kid with a lot of heart, and he’s doing well here He’s excelling in school with those so-called norained confidence He’s doing better than ever and I will not disrupt that progress"

"Yes, but he still talks to himself And today, well, he lost himself inside his mind I would hardly call that ‘better than ever,’ Mr Reeves Would you?"

Dan stuffed his hands in his pockets, going all "well, shucks," on the doctor, a sign Aden recognized as growing annoyance "We all occasionally regress, as you said, but he’s pulling hiether"

"That’s the pills"

"That’s the boy’s strength of will"

Slowly Aden relaxed, rubbed a hand over his face His vision was slightly blurred, his ish, but at least his mind was quiet Still Poor souls

The two er, until finally it was decided that Aden would attend class, then immediately be driven to Dr Hennessy’s office for a session

Great Those sessions were nothing but a pain in the ass The good doctor alanted to touch hi, skin-to-skin thing That, on top of the fact that he had to be in therapy at all, aggravated the piss right out of hierly sat up His stomach burned as if a fire had been set there, and that burn rose into his throat, his brain More fog, more dizziness He closed his eyes In the distance, a wolf howled

So he hadn’t i Riley must be nearby

"S-sorry, man," he heard Shannon say

His lids cracked open, and he saw that Shannon was beside the bed and crouched in front of hiet Dan, but didn’t k-knohat else to do You were really o-out of it Never seen you l-like that"

"Don’t worry about it" He blinked, doing his best to focus "What time is it?"

"About ten-thirty"

That late? Wow Riley really would be here anyto sneak out now? Dan would check up on hiht, Aden knew that he would Apparently, that’s what people who cared about you did Checked on you It was new and wonderful and yet, hell on the social life