Shattered: A Psychic Visions Novel (7 page)

She nodded but wouldn’t look at him.

“Why does he think you are dangerous?” When she still refused to raise her gaze to him, he pushed deeper. “Have you hurt anyone else in the past?”

She sighed. “A little.”

“A little,” he said with a note of humor. “How little and who?”

She shrugged. “I’m actually not sure who. Someone who worked for my father apparently. A maid.”

“Apparently?” Now he sounded fed up. “The truth,” he snapped. “Now.”

“I don’t know it. It was a long time ago.” She lifted her gaze. “Apparently the maid was clearing my room, and I went off my rocker and attacked her. Supposedly I stabbed her.”

“Supposedly?”

She nodded but stared at him defiantly.

“Were the police ever brought in?”

She shook her head. “No, Father handled it all.”

“And you can’t remember anything about it.”

“According to the maid and everyone who was there at the time, I was in some kind of altered state,” she said in cool tones. “They spoke to me but I didn’t respond. It’s as if I were sleepwalking. When I came out of that state, I knew nothing about what had happened.”

*

“Interesting.” Very interesting.
Sleepwalking was a possibility if she’d actually been sleeping. “But I presume you weren’t sleeping as the maid was cleaning your room.”

“No, I was doing homework. Came off my chair and attacked her without warning.”

She stared out the window moodily. “I still don’t understand what happened.”

“And has it ever happened again?” He hoped not as one incident could be written off as an anomaly but if it had happened again, not so much.

“I don’t know if I ever attacked anyone, but I have had episodes where I black out and don’t remember anything. Anyone.” She stared at him. “Do you know what that’s like? To not know what I might have done and with whom. To not remember anything?”

He shook his head immediately. “No, I don’t. It’s never happened to me.”

“Right. It’s not something that happens to anyone else,” she said bitterly. “I’m just the lucky one.”

“How long do the episodes last?”

Her breathing hitched. And he knew he’d hit a nerve again. There was more hidden in here. If only he could get her to tell him. He waited patiently, then added, “Are we talking minutes, hours?”

At her look, he said in a low voice, “Days?”

She waited.

“Shit. Weeks?”

She nodded.

“And no warning?”

How the hell did she function like that? Maybe her father had a reason to be worried.

She shook her head again. “I never have a warning until I open my eyes and find myself somewhere I don’t recognize. People who have seen me during my episodes, say I act completely normally so I don’t know if I’m blacking out or just losing memories. It’s not like the specialist can tell, and believe me I’ve spoken to my share of those.”

“That’s a possibility, though. Memory lapses could explain some of what is going on as to why you appear normal during the time frame.”

“I like that one better than the other options,” she said. “But as I don’t know what I was doing during these times, I don’t know if I am hurting anyone.”

She leaned forward, her gaze pleading for him to understand. “I wouldn’t want to hurt
anyone.
If the only option to save the rest of the world is to keep myself locked up and away then fine, but why does it have to be in one of those places,” she wailed.

“In theory you are supposed to get the help you need at these places.” Only he had firsthand experience that they didn’t always get that. In many cases, they received no help at all. But modern medicine knew very little about the working brain or the psyche. And when it came to energy workers – they knew nothing at all.

And people did end up locked up so they couldn’t hurt anyone – including themselves. So maybe her father was doing this out of love, after all. He’d seen parents do many things in the name of love – including kill their children.

“We need to figure out why the blackouts occur and hopefully track them backwards to see what you may have done during them.” He paused, studying her. “When was the last one?”

She winced.

And he knew. In fact, he’d brought it up earlier and it had been brushed off. “You woke up on the highway outside of Stefan’s house, didn’t you?”

Her breath gushed out. “Yeah, but I didn’t know who he was until I saw him at the hospital.”

“You were injured though, so that’s to be expected,” he pointed out.

“Or did I kill someone. I told Stefan I’d tried to kill him.”

“Ah, so you do remember that part.” He laughed. “Good.”

She frowned at him. “That’s hardly something to laugh at.”

“Sure it is. Stefan has a lot of stuff happen in his life. That doesn’t mean all of it was good or bad, but you walking to his door saying you’d killed him – that was unique.”

“Not exactly a great greeting.” But in spite of it, she grinned.

“But not the worst either.”

A commotion outside the doorway had him straighten. “It’s almost showtime.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning you are in deep trouble, and there are very few ways to get you out of it.”

“I’m not going home with my father,” she said, her eyes darting around the room as if looking for a place to hide.

“He controls your fortune and you’ve let him. Unless you appoint someone else to take control and can do so legally, then he’ll get what he wants fairly easily. I can block him, try to take him through the courts, but that all takes time.”

“What options do I have in the short-term?”

He frowned. “I have one solution but it’s drastic.”

Her father’s voice sounded in the hallway along with several other men.

“I’m desperate,” she said quietly, her voice a squeaking sound. “What is the solution?”

It was his turn to feel panicked. He took a deep breath and said, “Marry me.”

A
s proposals went
this one sucked. But her mind quickly grasped how the husband received priority over a father. And it would stop her father from trying to marry her off to his lackeys so he could continue to control her.

But marriage…

To a stranger…

And a lawyer…

A savior lawyer not a barracuda apparently but still…she had only his word on that.

“For how long?”

He raised his eyebrows. “Until we can get to the bottom of this mess in your life. If you want your freedom you only have to ask for it. But as long as you are unmarried and everything goes to your father who already controls your estate, medical issues, etc…”

“I got it. I got it,” she whispered, her hands trembling. The reality was she was in a bad spot. “It takes time to set this up. We don’t have that time.”

He had his phone out and was making phone calls even as she spoke. “Your father will fight this so if he’s coming here, you need to stall him. I don’t care how but don’t mention me or the marriage and definitely don’t be too resistant.”

She snorted. “If I’m not resistant he’ll know something is up.”

He patted her knee. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He strode to the doorway. Damn it. Her savior was leaving her…

“Wait,” she cried out. “Do you have to leave?”

He frowned, glanced down at his phone and appeared to consider something. “Maybe not, but it would be faster.”

“Okay,” she said in a small voice. “Hurry back or I might not be here when you return.”

“Don’t say that.” He ordered, “Be here.”

And he left.

She leaned back and wondered at her options. What could she do to stave her father off? Pretend to be asleep? Pretend to be more badly hurt so she wasn’t capable of traveling? Hurt herself for real?

And then what? Be too injured to participate in her own wedding. At that she almost broke into hysterical laughter. Marriage. Dear God, was she really going to marry a stranger? Why? Surely there was another option? There had to be. She didn’t know this man at all. What if he was a liar? A cheat? He could be a serial killer for all she knew. Stefan, the man who’d brought her to the hospital, he knew Trevor – would he vouch for him? Of course he would as he already had. He’d asked Trevor to help her in the first place. And that
was
giving her his recommendation.

The nurse walked in just then, a big smile on her face. “Don’t you look better?” She held out her hand and the small bag. “This is the little bit you had in your pockets when you arrived here.”

Curious, Hannah opened the bag and realized there was essentially nothing inside. She pulled out a handful of loose change, a few bills, a crumpled receipt that was bloody and hard to read and a crumpled photo. She took a quick look but tucked it away so fast she didn’t get a chance to identify who was in it. A man and a woman but that was all. Not wanting the nurse to see, she leaned back and laid the bag beside her.

“Everything okay?”

“I’m feeling a little better. I don’t suppose there’s more food is there?”

“Lunch will be here soon. At least you’re awake this time.”

She smiled. “I am but very tired. I want to sleep but don’t want to miss out on lunch,” she fudged. “I figure I’ll be out like a light as soon as I’ve eaten.”

“That would be best. You’re moving today so any sleep you get early will help.”

“Moving?”

“Being transferred,” she said with a bright smile. “Don’t you worry about it. Your father is taking care of it all. Such a caring father. Very take charge too,” she said in admiring tones.

“Very,” Hannah said softly.

Carts rolling down the hallway spoke of more arrivals. Hopefully lunch. She wasn’t sure she could eat, but not knowing where or what was coming in her world, she’d do her best to get it all down. Besides, she was always hungry. Once she saw the food, it would disappear in a heartbeat. If this fake marriage thing didn’t work out she might have to make a run for it. And that would be damn near impossible with an injured leg and a swollen ankle. Adding constant hunger to the scenario would just make it worse.

“When is the doctor coming?” she asked. “I haven’t actually spoken to him yet.”

“He’s been in surgery all morning. He does his rounds at this time normally. As long as he doesn’t encounter problems in the OR, he’ll be here soon. One must be patient.”

Hannah nodded. “True, but it would be nice to speak with him at least once and thank him since I’m supposedly being transferred.”

“No supposedly about it,” Will said from the doorway. “Your father will make that happen.”

She cast him a sideways look. “You can stand outside while I eat, thank you,” she snapped. “I’d hate to have my meal turn sour in my stomach by having you here.”

The nurse’s shocked gasp made Will laugh. “Don’t worry about her. She’s always cranky when she’s hungry.”

“No. I’m not,” Hannah said, her temper spiking again. “But you’re right on one thing, I am hungry.”

The nurse patted her hand. “I’ll see about your lunch, don’t you worry. I can see you’re worried about that transfer. Don’t be. Sometimes we have to trust in those who care about us.”

And she walked out of the room, smiling at Will. Like all the women smiled at Will. What was it about him that made women of all ages make fools of themselves?

Will’s genial smile darkened as he turned it on her. She’d pay for her resistance. Whatever. She’d been paying since forever already. What did his brand of payback mean now? Especially if she was going to be locked away again. A gilded cage was still a cage.

She closed her eyes and tried to block it all out.

Inside her heart pounded. And her palms turned moist. Marriage
was
a way out. If Trevor was for real.

And if they could make this happen in time. But was it just another cage by another name?

If her father caught wind of the plans and managed to stop them, she knew the penalty would be severe. Her father not only hated to be thwarted – he refused to be. Often he put out a great cost to smash his opponent. Worse, he didn’t give a damn what it cost. It was more of a chess game to him. Notches he could mark on the chalkboard in his mind. He didn’t give a damn about what was right or wrong in the game as long as his side won.