~~Young~~

Chapter Twenty

   The sentence ended abruptly, a few dots and indentations marring the page just below where Gage could see the doctor had tapped her pen in indecision. And instead of finishing the thought she started a new one, this one sounding much less professional then the first.

   I wish I could continue to observe her because I know inside her is that normal woman she wants to be, a woman that with time she could be. But I also know she will never set foot in my office again as her mandate has come to an end. She is a deeply troubled woman and I fear without help she will continue on her spiral to that dark place. That’s not to say there is not hope for her. The key to overcoming her trouble is to accept it, and once she accepts it and understands it then she can learn defeat it. I hope, for her sake, that she wins that battle when the time comes.

    I leave it up to the courts to decide whether to extend her sentence but know I cannot recommend reinstitutionalizing her at this current time. As I said before, she presents herself to be a productive member of society. She continues to earn high marks in her academic pursuits, has a healthy social life…her family life I am not sure of because she speaks little of any family member other than her sister. But until the day comes that she has her breakdown then there is nothing more I can do for her in her current state of denial.

   The words ‘mandate’ and ‘sentence’ stuck out to Gage, and before he had the chance to question them Josephine dropped a new stack of papers in his lap. Newspaper clippings.

   They detailed a horrific accident that left a young family dead and the trial following it- Gage couldn’t believe what he was seeing, Sera was the one on trial. How could he not have known, how could she not have told him about it last night when they recounted their lives to the other? He thought being tried for murder a very significant part to one’s life, especially that of a mortal’s. It was what the public called for, her death after Sera’s inebriated self plowed into that car one summer’s night. They wanted her made an example of, that socialites were not above the law, that their money couldn’t buy them freedom.

   Sera? As a socialite? Gage just couldn’t imagine such a thing.

   The trial went on for months as both sides argued their cases. All the while the articles noted Sera was kept in a mental facility, at her family’s request and not the courts. How horrible that must have been for Sera, to be kept away from the friend she had hospitalized because of her actions. He knew that much about her, that it would have driven her to insanity to not be able to be there for her. To be able to at least try and atone for her actions. Chelsea had been released after just a week, but there were several articles painting her as the innocent bystander to Sera’s instrument of death as it was Sera behind the wheel.

   Eventually she was found not guilty. A verdict disputed by nearly every news outlet in the area. Tapes were leaked of Sera admitting to her guilt yet she was let off with what was considered a slap on the wrist. Five years of mental observation along with probation, and revocation of her license until the courts deemed her fit to drive again. How quickly though those reports arguing for a retrial under less-biased conditions- it was revealed that the judge overseeing the trial had accepted some large contributions from the Turner’s over the years- were buried. A sparse article surfacing on the anniversary of the accident a year later was the only mention after the abrupt media silence.

   When Gage finished with the last article, flipping it over and pacing it carefully beside him on the bed, Josephine held the necklace before him. She pulled the notes out from Sera’s therapy and pointed to one word, bi-polar.

   Ah, so then she could read. What a clever girl to have never revealed that fact to anyone.

   With a sigh he nodded, it wasn’t the endless darkness she faced in hell she wanted to Sera to fight against, but what was inside herself. It was as Death had said, Sera was never meant for hell. She was weighed for the accidental deaths of that family, but because of that, because it was an accident and all the good she had done since she had managed to keep herself light enough to pass to heaven.