Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
Neil unzipped it and started to shrug into it. He only got one arm through before his entire chest and side lanced white-hot with pain. He froze and blinked away the fuzz eating through his vision. "I'm sorry," he said, and regretted it immediately. He could hear pain in his voice, thick enough to slur his words. Nicky looked stricken with guilt. "I can't yet."
"I'm sorry," Nicky said. "I didn't—I wasn't thinking. Here, here. Let me. I've got it." Nicky eased the coat off Neil's arm and folded it. "I'll hold onto it until you're better, okay?"
"Okay."
Neil gave himself another moment to breathe before digging Kevin's gift from the bag. He knew what it was as soon as he felt the weight of it. He'd worried over this notebook too long not to recognize how it felt in his hand. At a first glance the binder was an obsessive fan's shrine to Kevin and Riko. A little more digging would unearth everything Neil needed for a life on the run. Money, underworld contacts, and his uncle's phone number were hidden between the countless Exy articles.
"You're not going to look?" Nicky asked.
"I know what it is." Neil clutched the bag close and looked to Kevin. "Thank you."
"I didn't open it."
Neil didn't want to deal with Matt again, so he figured he could take the binder with them to Columbia and lock it up later. "Are we ready?"
"If you're sure you're okay with a drive," Nicky said.
Neil started for the stairs with answering. The three fell in behind him and followed him to the car. Kevin took his usual spot in the passenger seat and Nicky followed Aaron into the backseat. Neil hid his binder under the driver's seat and ignored the way his body ached as he got in. As soon as everyone was settled Neil got them on the road. He'd looked up directions to Easthaven on Wymack's computer yesterday. It was an easy drive from here, almost the exact same path they took to Eden's Twilight when they went drinking in Columbia. The only real difference was in the last fifteen minutes, when they looped around the capital and headed northeast.
Neil didn't realize he'd expected Easthaven Hospital to look like a prison until it finally came into view and the lack of barbed wire on the fence startled him. The gate was unmanned and the parking lot relatively empty. Neil killed the engine and got out. Kevin wasn't far behind him, but Nicky and Aaron were slower to move. The look Nicky flicked the front door was nervous. He hid his unease behind a smile when he realized Neil was watching him.
"Are you honestly afraid of him?" Neil asked.
"Nah," Nicky said unconvincingly.
Kevin was close on Neil's heels as they headed indoors and Neil didn't miss the way Aaron and Nicky both hung back a bit. He thought their last-minute reservations should make him a little more apprehensive of what was waiting for them here, but he felt nothing.
He cased the lobby on his way to the front desk. Floral paintings added a bit of color and a fireplace facade was built into the far wall. The place was trying for homey and came off like a catalogue showroom. At least it didn't smell like antiseptic and sickness.
"Gracious," the clerk said when she looked up from her computer and saw Neil's battered face. "Are you all right?"
"We're here to pick up Andrew Minyard," Neil said.
"That's not what I meant," she said, but Neil only gazed at her in silence. At length she motioned to the clipboard on the desk in front of her. "If you'll sign in, I'll ring Dr. Slosky and let him know you're here."
They crowded the desk and took turns scrawling their names on the top sheet. Neil was the only one who hesitated when his pen touched the paper. Riko hadn't let him be "Neil" at Evermore. Every time Neil answered to it on the court, Riko beat him for it. Neil hadn't had much choice, since the Ravens hadn't known what else to call him, but Riko wanted him to know how much trouble he'd caused the Moriyamas with all of his alibis.
The clerk was waiting with her hand out, so finally Neil gritted his teeth and jotted his name under the others'. He passed her the clipboard and tried to force the new tension out of his shoulders.
They didn't have to wait long before a middle-aged man joined them. He smiled and shook hands down the line. His eyebrows went up when he saw Neil but he didn't ask. "My name is Alan Slosky. I've been Andrew's primary therapist during his stay here. Thank you for coming today."
"Primary," Nicky echoed. "How many did you assign him?"
"Four," Slosky said. At the look on Nicky's face, he explained, "It is not unusual for our patients to see multiple doctors. For example, a patient might see me for group counseling, a colleague of mine for intensive one-on-one, and one of our rehabilitation specialists for medication management. I handpicked Andrew's team and I assure you they were some of my finest."
"I'm sure it made a world of difference," Aaron said.
Slosky didn't miss the sarcasm in Aaron's voice, judging by the look he slid Aaron, but he didn't take the bait. Neil wondered if it was prudence or an unintended confession of failure. "Can I trust that he will have your support in the days ahead? If you have any questions or need advice on how to proceed please feel free to call me. I can give you my card."
"Thanks, but we've got Betsy," Nicky said, and at the questioning look Slosky sent him, said, "Dr. Dobson?"
"Ah, yes." Slosky gave an approving nod. He looked over his shoulder at the empty hallway, thought for a moment, then gestured to the adjoining waiting room. "Please, make yourselves comfortable. He should be down in a moment; he just needs to sign out of his room."
They arranged themselves around the room, Nicky and Aaron on separate chairs and Kevin sharing a couch with Neil. Neil gazed at the fireplace without seeing it. His mind was half a world away, drifting between Lebanon and Greece. The room was just warm enough to make him sleepy. He had three—two?—weeks' worth of sleep to catch up on. The Ravens' nights were short, and pain and violence had broken up most of Neil's. He didn't realize how close he was to drifting off until Kevin's subdued French startled him awake.