Who were these people who knew more about me than I knew about myself but kept it secret? What was going on?

"NO!" I screamed again. I pushed him away and then I heard a terrible ringing in my head. I pressed my palms to my ears. Someone was shouting Laura. There was water everywhere, water rushing over me until I couldn't hear my name anymore.

"N00000!" I cried and then, all went black.

I woke on a gurney in a treatment room someplace in the building. The walls and the ceiling were stark white. Mrs. Kleckner was at my side and Doctor Southerby was on a telephone, talking softly to someone when I opened my eyes.

"She's regaining consciousness, Doctor," Mrs. Kleckner declared. I started to sit up, but she put her hand on my shoulder. "Just relax for a while," she commanded. "Doctor?"

He cradled the receiver and approached.

"How are you feeling now, Laura?"

"My head hurts," I said with a grimace. The pain felt like a metal band being tightened from one temple to the other. "We'll give you something for that," he said.

"What happened?"

"You got too excited." He smiled. "You know how a circuit breaker works?"

I thought. Yes, I did know, but I had no idea why. "Yes."

"Well, the mind works the same way. When it gets overloaded, it shuts down. Now you see why I've got to get you to relax first before I can help you?" he asked. "I want you to learn to trust me, Laura. Only then can I help you, and I want to help you," he said firmly. He held my hand and gazed down at me, his eyes washing over my face and then fixing on mine. "Do you believe me?"

I nodded, but not with enough confidence to please him. He smiled nevertheless.

"In time you will and then you'll cure yourself, Laura. This unfortunate situation won't be long. I promise," he said. "Really." He patted my hand.

I wanted to believe him. He was saying the things I wanted to hear.

"Sit up now and take this pill," he said, indicating the pill Mrs. Kleckner was waiting to give me. She placed it in my mouth and gave me some water. I drank and swallowed.

"For now," Doctor Southerby continued, "I'd like you to return to your room, get some more rest, and then we'll talk again."

"I want to talk now," I insisted.

"I know you do, but I don't want to chance any recurrences of what just happened. You're very fragile right now, Laura, more fragile than you can imagine. You need to rest up a bit so you can go about your recovery with full strength. Trust me about this. I promise," he said, "you won't be here a minute more than you have to be." He nodded at Mrs. Kleckner.

"Try to stand up now, Laura," she said.

I sat up and my head began to spin so rapidly, I actually lost my breath for a moment and thought I was going to black out again.

"Easy, easy," Doctor Southerby said. "You better wheel her over," he told Mrs. Kleckner. Moments later they both eased me into a wheelchair. I lay my head back and felt myself being moved out of the treatment room. I kept my eyes closed all the way back to my room.

Once there, Mrs. Kleckner helped me into bed.

"Just rest," she said. "I'll be back to check on you in a little while."

"I want to go back to Doctor Southerby's office and get my treatment," I moaned. "I want this to be over."

"You will go back," she said sternly, "but you heard the doctor. He wants you to be rested, stronger, otherwise he's just wasting his time and his time is very important. He doesn't only work here with the privileged. He works at another clinic, too."

"The privileged?"

What was privileged about being here, about being disturbed and sick? I wanted to ask. I tried to open my eyes, but whatever they gave me made my eyelids feel so heavy. In moments, I was asleep.

I woke when I felt my whole body shaking. Megan Paxton was at my bedside, tugging on my hand. She looked at the door and then back at me.

"What happened?" I muttered. My eyes felt like cobwebs had been built over them. My eyelids remained glued shut.

Tags: V.C. Andrews Logan Horror
Source: readsnovelonline.net