Dirty Secrets

Part 10

After breakfast, the nurse escorted Lyla from the squeaky elevator, then down the third-floor hallway. Lyla stopped in her tracks when she saw the custodian, his back to her, on a ladder, changing a lightbulb in the ceiling fixture.

"Come on." The nurse gently guided her by the elbow.

As they passed the custodian, Lyla's senses shifted into high alert like a rabbit aware of a nearby predator.

"Hey, Randall," the nurse said.

"Oh. Hey." He looked down from his perch with a friendly smile.

Relieved that it wasn't the stubble-faced ghoul, Lyla's shoulder muscles loosened.

When they entered the doctor's office, Dr. Hayden gestured to her guest chair. With tablet in hand, she lowered herself into a seat facing Lyla, crossed her legs at the knee, and smiled.

"So. Tell me."

And then the pregnant pause and clinical scrutiny. Lyla refused eye contact.

"About what?" Lyla murmured. She leaned back into the tufted upholstery of her brightly-patterned chair, red and blue flowers on winding vines. The pattern nearly made her dizzy.

"Do you feel like you're making progress?"

Lyla nodded.

"Tell me about that."

"I'm feeling a lot better." She traced along one of the vines with her finger.

"That was an unfortunate incident with your roommate."

"Yeah." That didn't seem like enough so she added, "I feel bad for her."

Dr. Hayden jotted a notation on her tablet.

"So what about Keenan Ames?"

Lyla wasn't sure where this line of questioning was headed. Her mind wasn't sharp. She'd need to proceed with caution.

Dr. Hayden goaded. "Since our last session, have you heard from Keenan Ames? Seen him maybe?"

Lyla drew a deep breath then exhaled.

"Well, you know about that phone call," she said in a halting voice.

"When you thought you heard the public phone in the hall ringing?"

"It was probably a bad dream. I have a lot of bad dreams."

"About anything in particular?"

What does she expect me to say? Nightmares about killing my ex and hiding his body in the woods?

The doctor leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Anything recent that you can remember?" 

Stop staring at me. 

Lyla shifted her focus to the window.

"We'll come back to the bad dreams later."

She could feel the doctor's eyes scanning her face.

"You know, Lyla, dealing with grief is a process. Recovery is a process. Healing takes time."

"I know."

Stop with the platitudes.

She flipped a page of her tablet.

"You said that the last time you saw Keenan Ames was at a party. And at that party, you claim that he roofied you."

Lyla nodded.

"How do you know that he had drugged you?"

Lyla rolled her eyes. "It was super obvious. I could barely walk. Or talk."

"Did you have a lot to drink that night?"

"I didn't even have a whole beer."

"Do you drink alcohol?"

"What?"

"Beer. Wine. Liquor. How much do you consume?"

"I might have a beer at a party, but that's all. I hardly ever go to parties."

"Why not?"

"I don't get invited."

"You don't drink at home? Or at a friend's house?"

"No. I'm just a normal teenager."

Normal wasn't the right word. A normal teenager wouldn't be admitted to a psych ward.

"Are you sexually active?"

Lyla's eyes widened.

Play the game. If you want to get out of here, you need to play the game.

"No. Me? I don't have a boyfriend."

"When you have a beer or two at a party, do you hook up?"

"With who?"

"Boys."

"No!"

"Were you sexually active with Keenan Ames?"

"He wanted me to. But I didn't want to."

"Did he force you? Did he cross boundaries?"

"He tried to force me. But no. It wasn't like that. Not until that night at the party."

"You said that when you first met him you thought he was a really great guy."

"I'm pretty sure I didn't say great."

"He was a good guy. At the beginning of the relationship. Before it turned bad."

"Yeah. He was okay."

"Did you have sex with him then?"

Lyla was embarrassed and tired of this discussion. She dropped her eyes to the little flowers on the chair fabric and followed a strand of vine climbing the arm of the chair. The vine transitioned from green to blue and then became thicker, taking on the shape of a snake. She withdrew her hand and looked up at the doctor.

"We made out. A lot. And he touched me but..."

"You never—"

Once again, Lyla lowered her head.

"No. That's why I broke up with him. And because of his temper."

"You wish he was dead, didn't you?" The woman's tone was now sharp and gravelly.

Lyla's head snapped up.

Dr. Hayden was gone. In her place was Keenan's terrifying mother, Rose. Her narrow gray eyes burned with intensity. Her salt and pepper hair crowned her head like a bristly nest.

Lyla's mind went blank. Her counterfeit courage crumbled like a coffee cake.

"He got a little rough with you so you killed him, didn't you?" She snarled through crooked teeth.

Lyla couldn't form a single word. She shook her head slowly.

"Keenan could have any girl he wanted and he chose you, you cheap little piece of ass. But you had to be a bitch."

Lyla's entire body trembled.

"You went and killed him, didn't you?" Rose darted to the edge of her seat like a rodent. She pointed a crooked finger. "Didn't you?"

Lyla dropped her head into her lap and shook.

"Okay. Let's not talk about that anymore," came Dr. Hayden's reassuring voice.

Lyla glanced up at the doctor. Keenan's witchy mother was gone.

"I'm sorry I upset you. Okay?"

Lyla nodded.