Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry.” I poked my chest with my finger. “Did you just say my house?”
Doctor Cohen furrowed his brows. “Mr. von Bismarck, you’re her next of kin, are you not?”
“Yes, but—”
“As you’ve made clear, she has no one else in this world. We can’t release her to fend for herself if there’s a suitable option.”
“Is there a suitable option?”
He eyed me with suspicion, a symphony of judgment clear as day behind his pupils. “Is there a reason you wouldn’t be?”
Only that she hates me, I broke my promise, and she would rather fall into a water hazard than be within ten feet of me.
Doctor Cohen planted a firm hand on my shoulder. “According to Ms. Auer, the last time she spoke with her parents, they changed their phone numbers to get rid of her. That was over a decade ago.”
Bile hit the back of my throat. The pain, once dull and persistent, like the whispers of a scar, rippled through my body. Everything I’d worked so hard to suppress slammed back into me.
Her circumstances. Her desperation. My betrayal.
I rolled my shoulders back, shaking off Doctor Cohen’s hand with surprising calmness. “I need to be her ward.”
It was absurd. Unlikely. Downright unsustainable, considering my peculiar living arrangement. But it was also poetic justice. I’d promised to be there for her and failed. The least I could do was nurse her back to health. In all likelihood, we were looking at weeks, not months.
Besides – what other option did I have? Leave her here?
Now that he’d received my cooperation, Doctor Cohen moved on, flipping to the next page in his clipboard. “A social worker will bring a nurse and health advocate by to discuss Ms. Auer’s needs, but I’ll give you the CliffsNotes version.” He leveled me with a stare, stretching out his words like I was the village idiot he’d just entrusted with nuclear codes. “You’ll need to be her caregiver, take her to medical appointments for observation, ensure she’s taking medication on time, and keep her company.”
“Keep her company?”
I had a feeling that the moment Briar regained her memories, she’d be even angrier to discover that I’d cozied up with her at her most vulnerable – and she already had enough anger to fuel a power plant.
“Yes. Keep her busy. Surrounded by you, her friends, people who care about her. It won’t do her any good to sink into depression and panic. This is often the case with amnesiacs, especially those who don’t have strong support systems.” He directed another pointed stare at me.
I couldn’t blame him. My reputation had made its way to every crook and corner of the East Coast. “I understand.”
“It’s best if she isn’t left alone, even for short periods of time.”
“Good thing I don’t have an actual job.”
“This isn’t a joke, Mr. von Bismarck.” He tucked his pen into the hem of his coat pocket, a blanket of wrinkles covering half his eyes as he scowled. “She’s fragile and vulnerable right now, and the only person she remembers positively is you. You’re her support system. You’re the difference between a smooth healing process and a bumpy one. And make no mistake – you will give her a smooth healing process.”
“What does that entail?”
“Go easy on her. Don’t rile her up. If she believes something to be true, do not burst her bubble. Go along with it. Even if she thinks she’s an Olympic runner. That her childhood dog is still alive. Or her boyfriend she had a brutal break up with still loves her. Do you understand?”
I raised an eyebrow. “You’re asking me to lie?”
“I am asking you to protect her psyche at all costs, Mr. von Bismarck. If you cannot do it, let me know right now and we will assign her carers. It won’t be the same as someone close to her, but it’s better than throwing her to the wolves.”
Me. I was the wolf. How did he know?
And yet …
“No.” I nodded, locking my jaw, surprised by how annoyed his lack of faith in me made me. It marked the first time someone other than Sebastian had confronted me over the way I treated Briar. “I can do it. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Treading back into reality needs to be gradual. She’ll feel disoriented and helpless, and we need to ensure any bad news is broken to her in digestible morsels. She will likely experience frustration, anger, and helplessness as she weeds her way back to the present.”
I was on the verge of running for the hills. I didn’t know how I’d bring her into my house with my current living arrangement.
The doctor gave me a onceover. “Are we all clear?”
“Yes.”
“Good. She’s awake. Do you want to see her?”
Is death by a thousand papercuts my other option? Because I’ll take it.
Doctor Cohen sighed. “The answer to my question is yes.”