Opaque Melodies (Coveting Delirium 1)

“I have to go to the clinic for a bit. Will you be okay by yourself until I get back?”

His question didn’t sound as if it were asked from a place of concern, but for confirmation I wouldn’t try to leave while he was out. To test my theory, I cupped either side of his face and smiled softly.

“I’ll be fine. I’m sure I can find something to do until you get back.”

It was subtle, something I would have missed if I wasn’t watching for it, but my response was met with the smallest release of tension. Why was he so worried I’d slip away like a thief in the night?

He kissed me one last time, then went to retrieve his keys. I remained in the foyer after he left, my mind thrown back into a tailspin.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The drive to Dream Garden always took longer than it should’ve. Some had no business being behind the wheel of a fucking car. There were three kind of people in this world.

The wolves.

The sheep.

And the hunters who make good use of both. I had experience being each, and I can assure you being the one at the top of the hierarchy is much more rewarding.

I glanced at the mount attached to my vent to see how far the GPS put me from where I needed to be. The timing not aligning with the one in my head, it was time to make a few moves.

I swerved into the left lane, cutting off some idiot that had no right being in it since he couldn’t drive the goddamned speed limit. Somehow offended, he laid on his horn. As a result, I slowed down and then hit my brakes. Given only a split second to decide if he’d rear end me or pull to the shoulder, his tires squealed as they came to a rough stop.

Rolling my window down, I gave the man the universal symbol to fuck off and sped down the highway. See, that was a societal sheep. A wolf would have engaged me in a battle of bumper cars.

The hunter—me—I’m rear ending you and then flipping the whole situation, so you take the fall for it.

If you survive me running you the fuck off the road.

Sometimes you’ve got to pretend to be the victim to become the victor. It’s simple logistics. You do what you must in order to get whatever outcome you want. My current situation was testament to that.

Had I not needed to pick someone up I wouldn’t have come in today. After Rebecca’s visit, I could’ve done with nothing but Catalina’s company.

By the time I pulled into the lower parking deck I’d already been gone forty-five minutes. I parked in my reserved spot and pulled up the cameras within the house before getting out.

Demetri would alert me if there was an issue but for my own peace of mind, I needed to check myself.

I spotted Catalina instantly.

She was sitting at the piano talking to someone on the phone. I liked she was starting to play again; she was ethereal whenever she did. Dimming the screen, I got out of the car and used my keycard to gain access to the building.

Dream Garden had four wards. One was where all the exclusive clients met staff to discuss things, they wanted procured, which was one of the most lucrative and my father’s pride and joy.

Two was exclusively for the people like me that had a very particular hobby. This clientele rarely changed. We’d all known one another for years now on a somewhat personal level.

Three was the ward that covered our asses and saw all the mundane patients.

And then there where I was going, ward four. Where what I liked to call the ‘incurables’ were stashed.

I wasn’t fond of using the word insane to label every person that behaved erratically—illogically. I did neither and the word could still be used to describe me simply because insanity equated to madness. Madness was often misunderstood. And beautiful. Like Catalina.

Avoiding majority of my employees because I wasn’t up for playing nice doctor today, I took the elevator straight to ward four. Amy, one of the nurse’s aides was the first to spot me inside the building. We were heading in opposite directions.

She glanced up from the chart she’d been staring at and came to a stop.

Her green eyes widened in surprise. “Doctor Schyuler, good afternoon. I didn’t know you’d be in today.”

“I know you all love when I just drop in.” I flashed a smile meant to charm, getting an immediate reaction.

Her cheeks turned pink and she suddenly had trouble holding my gaze. “Of course, we do. It isn’t very often we get to speak with you. You know we all love what you and your family are doing here. Sometimes I’m amazed at how many people need somewhere like this.”