The Adjustment by Suzanne Young

Author:Suzanne Young
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Pulse

CHAPTER NINE

WHEN I STOP TALKING AND open my eyes in the treatment room, I realize how dry my lips have grown. I don’t even know what I was saying—the words tumbling out as I lost myself in the memory. There’s a soft touch on my arm, and I glance over and find Marie watching me with a mixture of sympathy and pity. I know the difference between the two. Sympathy is what people gave after my friends died. Pity is what they offered when Wes was taken away and I was trying to keep my head above water. I look beyond Marie to Wes, and find his eyes closed, his chest rising slow and steady like he’s asleep.

“That will do for today,” Dr. McKee says on the other side of me. I turn just as he types a few lines on the computer. He does it so fast that I don’t know how the words could possibly make sense.

I sit up, the wires still attached to my body. I don’t want to stop the session. I want to stay lost in the memories.

“You’ve done a great job, Tatum,” Dr. McKee says, closing the laptop. “Very detailed. Your recall is . . .” He glances at Marie, and then back to me. “It’s all we could have hoped for, really. Now, we’ve mapped out the sequence, and the next step is implantation. After that, we’ll monitor Weston. If everything goes well, we’ll bring you back for the next session.”

“Do you think something will go wrong?” I ask. “You said—”

The doctor holds up his palm to stop me. The alarms on the heart monitor go off—the beating too fast—and Dr. McKee motions for Marie to assist. She puts her hand soothingly on my arm before beginning to remove the sticky tabs and wires. I wince each time one is plucked from my skin.

Weston makes a breathy sound, and I turn to him, concerned. I want to wake him up and make sure he’s okay. But Dr. McKee must sense that.

“The memories haven’t been implanted yet,” he says. “We need to modify the pattern to fill in some of the larger blanks. Then we’ll let his brain do the rest. He’ll be here another few hours, and we’ll call you with an update when we have one. Weston has you down as his emergency contact.”

After the wires are cleared, Marie helps me to stand, holding my arm like I might fall over at any moment. There is a quick second of disorientation, but it passes. She tells me that the medication should wear off at any moment.

I glance at Wes longingly, wishing he was awake already. It’s strange to leave him here. I look at the doctor.

“I could just wait,” I offer.

Dr. McKee shakes his head. “I’d rather you didn’t,” he says, not unkindly. “It’s better to go about your day, take care of yourself. Being here will only rattle you, skew your memory for next time.”

“But you’ll call me as soon as he’s awake?”

“Yes,” he responds.

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