Chapters (88)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dear Reader …
- Also by Robert Muchamore
- PART ONE
- Walter J Freeman Adolescent Mental Health Unit – East Grinstead, UK
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- PART TWO
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- PART THREE
- Walter J. Freeman Adolescent Mental Health Unit – East Grinstead, UK
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- PART FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- EPILOGUE
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- Have you read KILLER T?
- 1 SLASHED RUBBER
- 2 NOT HARRY POTTER
Ross was nodding too. ‘The first time I had a breakdown, I was so shocked. It was like my brain had been rebooted on different software.’
‘Depression is the worst,’ Laura, who rarely spoke, agreed.
‘Had you felt anything like that before?’ Tanvi asked.
‘I’d been sad,’ Julius admitted. ‘I’d cried about Duke. But this was a bomb in my head. The next thing I knew, I was waking up here, in the observation room. I’ve heard how I wound up in the lounge, with needles in my bare ass and a splinter of a coffee table through my cheek, but that’s a blur …’
‘Julius just gave a textbook example of why it is so unhealthy to keep powerful feelings bottled up,’ Tanvi told the group. ‘I’d like to compliment Julius, because he’s only been with us for a few days. This is the first time he’s had the confidence to open up about his feelings in group. Didn’t he do well?’
‘Really great.’ Georgia smiled, putting a hand on Julius’s knee as the others in the circle nodded.
FIFTY-SIX
Georgia wore Nike trainers and silver-grey leggings as she stepped into the Freeman Unit’s basement gym. There was a group of lads by a chest-press machine, but the five treadmills up back were free, apart from Julius.
‘Hey, you,’ Georgia said fondly. She hung a microfibre towel over the side rail and planted her water bottle in a slot.
Julius jogged at a respectable 12.5kph, but his long legs made it look slow. Most of his casual clothes were at the house in London, so he wore the grass-stained shirt and shorts from his school kit.
‘Didn’t know you ran,’ Julius said.
‘Not allowed out,’ Georgia explained. ‘I can walk in the grounds, but only with an adult.’
‘Bad girl,’ Julius teased as Georgia pressed a 5K pre-set on the console and started building speed from walking pace.
‘I’ve got fitter since I came here, at least,’ Georgia said. ‘Some nights I come down and run for an hour. I like when it hurts. It stops you thinking about everything else.’
Julius glanced over as he saw Georgia’s treadmill speed up to 15kph. He raised a cheeky eyebrow and pushed his to 15.1.
‘Are we racing?’ Georgia said, smiling as she beeped her treadmill up to sixteen. ‘I know we’re not supposed to talk about things in group, but you were awesome this morning.’
Julius pushed up to sixteen, but running faster meant lengthening his stride. His sneaker hit the metal plate in front of the belt. There was a squeal of rubber and a gasp. For an instant, Georgia thought Julius was going to fly off the end like some YouTube clip, but he grabbed the side rails and lifted his feet. Sensing that he’d stopped running, the treadmill slowed to a crawl.