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Chapters (35)
  1. A NineStar Press Publication
  2. Heartbeat
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Dedication
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter Two
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-One
  26. Chapter Twenty-Two
  27. Chapter Twenty-Three
  28. Chapter Twenty-Four
  29. Chapter Twenty-Five
  30. Chapter Twenty-Six
  31. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  32. Epilogue
  33. Acknowledgements
  34. About Nicholas Brown
  35. Connect with NineStar Press

“We still need to discuss—”

“No, we don’t. Not today.” I was almost at the two sliding doors that were now looking like gates in a prison.

“Thomas, wait,” she ordered, standing up.

I stopped at once but didn’t turn around. I couldn’t bring myself to face her.

“Dr. Lott is a good doctor,” she assured me. “And the deal you had with me will need to be maintained with her.”

I couldn’t think. I just needed to get out of there.

“I’m so sorry, I—” she started.

“Is this our last appointment?”

“No. Dr. Lott can’t see you for another few weeks, so we will keep seeing each other. Only…this means, you and Ethan—at least until I can officially let you go from my care—”

“I understand,” I told her.

Maybe I whispered it, I didn’t really remember.

“We still have some time—”

As I opened the sliding doors, I stopped and turned my head to the side, still unable to look at her. It was the best I could do. “Does he know?”

She took a deep, long breath. “No. I thought you and I should talk first.”

“Can I…” I cleared my throat. “Can I talk to him before you do?”

I tried to make it sound like a question, but I think I would’ve begged, had she asked me to.

“Of course you can,” she said softly.

The longer I stayed in that room, the closer I felt to passing out.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Thomas, there’s nothing to—”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, walking away.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Reference in the Sky

I walked out of Dr. Foster’s brownstone and aimlessly wondered around the city. For hours, I tried to wrap my head around what had just happened, confident it must’ve been another nightmare. A new, sicker version of the one I’d had on Saturday, for there was no way any of what had just taken place was actually real. When I’d worried about balance, about the universe throwing a negative to counteract a positive, I thought it was to properly keep such balance. Never once had I imagined the level of equilibrium might’ve been so fucking low.

How could Ethan be her son? How could I have fallen for my therapist’s son? Her son.