The Outlier

“Yeah, Tracy, I will,” Vincent replied, exasperated from the long conversation. “No, I know. Trace, he’s my brother too. Yeah...yeah, I’ll talk to him.”

A soft knock on the door caused the young doctor to jump, but he regained his composure just as Louise poked her head in the room. He held up his finger, signaling that he needed just one more minute to finish the call.

“Listen, Tracy? I gotta go. I have to get back to work. No, I mean it, I do actually have to go to work. Yes, I have a patient waiting for me. Okay. Love you too, Trace. Bye.”

Vincent hung up and sighed, dragging his hands down his face. “My sister has absolutely zero faith in me.”

“Tracy? The lawyer?”

Vincent nodded as he started to rub his temples.

“Well, there’s your problem,” Louise continued as she started to shuffle around some of the medical equipment in the room. “She’s a lawyer. How’s she supposed to have faith in you when she can’t believe a word you say?”

He quickly spun around, finally looking directly at his assistant. “Do you have faith in me?”

Louise gave a humorless chuckle. “I kinda have to. How else am I gonna get paid at the end of the day?”

She turned back around to face the equipment as a slight blush started to form on her cheeks, just below the rim of her glasses. She cleared her throat and continued to work.

After a few minutes of silence, Vincent finally cleared his throat. “Um, Louise?”

She didn’t turn around. Her knees felt weak, like they would give out any second.

“Are you busy tonight?” he asked as he nervously scratched at his beard. “Do you maybe wanna get a drink after work?”

The slight redness in the woman’s face had turned into a full blown flush as a smile crept on her face. “Right after work?”

He stammered. “Well, I mean, if you wanted to meet up later...I don’t know, if you wanted to change or something.”

Louise finally turned around, a full smile on her face. “Pick me up from my place at 7:30. I’m sure AFMA has my address lying around somewhere.”

She grabbed a couple papers off Vincent’s desk and quickly walked out. “I’ll let Anita know you’re ready for her.”

Vincent watched her leave; her frizzy curls bounced wildly as she hustled out of the room and her short, black heels clicked against the linoleum. As he started to daydream, Anita walked into the exam room, her red hair looking curlier than usual.

“Hey, Vincent,” she said happily.

Vincent shook his head, trying to clear away the fog in his mind. “Oh, good afternoon, Anita.”

Anita sat down across from the young doctor and looked at him with a mixture of concern and confusion. “Is everything okay?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said with a nod. “Just some stuff going on with my sister.”

“Oh,” she said simply, leaning back in the chair.

He nodded again and moved his rolling chair closer to the teen. “Alright, well, let’s get started. Hold your arms straight out in front of you, palms down first.”

Anita put her arms out, allowing Dr. Walsh to look at the tops of her hands. There was no shaking or quivering, and no physical abnormalities. He put one hand under her’s and used his other hand to carefully feel the top of her hand. “Any pains or shaking in either hand when you do this?”

She shook her head as the doctor moved to the other hand. “Not that I’ve noticed.”

“Well, that’s a good sign. Flip them over.”

Anita flipped her hands so her palms were facing the ceiling. She watched him as he watched her hands.

“Hm,” he mumbled to himself. He placed one hand under her’s and used his other hand to feel her palm. “You have a slight tremble in your left hand. That shouldn’t be too much of an issue though. Any pain?”

Anita shook her head again. “No, nothing.”

Vincent moved to the other hand and did the same thing. “Well,” he said finally. “Other than the little quiver in your left hand, you seem to be doing fine. Let’s take a look at your head.”

The doctor pushed off from the table, letting his rolling chair spin behind Anita’s chair. The teen tilted her head back and Dr. Walsh took her head in his hands.

“Any headaches?” he asked.

Anita’s heart practically froze in her chest. “A few. But they were pretty minor. Nothing too bad.”

“Were there any negative stimuli? Bright lights, loud noises, anything?”

Anita shrugged, trying to play it off as nothing. “Yeah. Recently, I was in the mall when I got one, so I think it was just really loud. I also forget to eat sometimes, so there’s that too.”

Vincent put his fingers on her temples and massaged around a little. “Any pain when I do this?”

“No,” the teen replied, resisting the urge to read Vincent’s mind. She wondered if he bought her story.

“Have you been feeling lightheaded, dizzy, or increasingly tired?” he asked as he removed his hands from her head and leaned back in his chair.

She shook her head. “Nope.”

“Then I think you’re doing alright. Keep on eye on the headaches though. If they start to become frequent or starting to get more painful, let me know ASAP.”

Anita sat up a little taller and cleared her throat. “Yeah, you bet.”

Vincent looked at her with scrutiny as he swung back around in front of her. “How frequent are your headaches, Anita?”

She could feel her heart pick up the pace as he stared at her with his intense blue eyes. She shrugged, trying to shake off the feeling of guilt and nervousness. “Not very frequent,” she lied. Ever since the mall incident, she had been having more of these headaches that were more annoying than painful. But it was terrifying.

She couldn’t help herself. She took down the barrier to listen to Dr. Walsh’s thoughts.

“I don’t know if I can believe her.”

She felt her heart sink. She wasn’t convincing enough.

“Okay,” he said finally. “I’ll believe you. But, you need to promise to tell me if they get bad, okay? I’m just worried about you.”

Anita nodded. “You have my word. And ya know, it was probably just the stimuli.”

“Yeah, but please eat properly, too. Do me a favor and eat a banana once in a while, okay? It might help.”

The redhead nodded.

“So how are your powers? Find anything else unusual?”

Anita felt her blood go cold. She didn’t want to tell him about the new things she learned how to do, for fear that he would tell her to stop like he did with the radio. “Nah, not really. But it’s getting a lot easier to use them. Like, the barrier is easier to keep up and it doesn’t take as much effort as before.”

“That’s great!” he said with a smile. “I’m glad to hear that!”

“I hope that’s a good sign,” Anita heard him think.

“Okay, so for next time, I want you to let me know if you find anything new or different with your abilities and keep me updated on the headaches.”

She nodded, faking a smile. “Am I good to go?”

Vincent nodded back. “Yeah, you’re set. Have a good day, Anita. I’ll see you around!”

She stood and waved at Vincent before walking out of the exam room.

As soon as she was clear of the hall, she sank down to the floor and tried to catch her breath. Her head had been pounding the entire time she had been in there and her anxiety was only getting worse. Why did she hear that last thought of his? She was certain that she had put the mental barrier back up.

She shook it off and went down to AFMA’s coma ward.

Sitting at the front desk was the nurse that Anita had bumped into the first time she came to visit Rasha. Three or four visits later, and Anita knew her as Ramona.

“Anita! Hi! How are you today?” she asked cheerfully as the teen came into view.

She put her fake smile back on as she tried to ignore the pain in her head. “I’m good, actually. How are you?”

Ramona nodded. “I’m just peachy. Are you here to visit Rasha again?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, you know where to find her.”

Anita nodded and thanked the nurse, setting down her bag at the desk before heading down the hall.

The redhead was one of the only people that would come and visit Rasha. Since this was the case, she could come in whenever she wanted to see her friend, as long as no tests were being performed.

As she opened the door, Rasha’s voice exploded in her head. She was loudly thinking the lyrics to a song that Anita did not recognize.

Excuse me, ma’am, Anita thought. I’m gonna have to ask you to keep it down. This is a coma ward.

“Anita!” she thought gleefully. “Anita, you’re here! Oh, I’m so happy to hear you!”

The teen sat down next to the bed, excited to tell Rasha all the wonderful things she had done this week.

You’ll never guess what I learned how to do, she thought excitedly.

“Tell me!”

I can change the radio with my mind, and change things on the computer and iPods and all kinds of crazy stuff! I also found out that I can put thoughts into people’s heads! But it’s too tricky and conspicuous. People can usually tell when I put things in their minds.

“That’s amazing! I’ve been trying to do stuff like that ever since I got here! I’m actually a little jealous.” After a beat or two, Rasha continued. “Did you see your friends like you wanted to? What were their names again?”

Inga and Russ. Yeah, I saw them. They’re doing awesome! I got to hang out with them a lot this week.

“I’m glad!”

The two continued this until Ramona poked her head in the door and got the teen’s attention.

“Hey Anita? I’m sorry, but it’s time for you head out. We’ve got some stuff to do for Rasha.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be gone in a minute.”

The woman nodded before closing the door quietly behind her.

“I like Ramona,” Rasha thought wistfully. “She is very kind and has beautiful thoughts. Is she as pretty as her voice makes her seem?”

Yeah, I think so, the teen thought back. But now isn’t the time for that.

“You don’t need to worry about me,” Rasha interrupted, seeing Anita’s thoughts before she could focus them. “Yes, I am a little lonely, but nothing bad is going to happen to me. I promise.”

You can’t promise something like that. What if Bennett-

“Forget about Bennett. He can’t do anything without Vincent, and if he did, someone would hear about it and start a riot. Don’t worry about me, Anita.”

Anita gave a half smile and nodded. Okay. I won’t. I’ll see you next week, Rasha.

As Anita stood up to leave, Rasha’s thoughts entered her mind once more.

“Oh, Anita? Could you have Ramona bring me another pillow? I’m getting a little uncomfortable.”

Will do.

Anita walked out of the room and down the hall. She stopped by the desk and grabbed her bag. “Hey, Ramona?” she asked.

Ramona looked up from the computer screen. “Yes?”

“Do you think you could put another pillow under Rasha today? I wanna make sure she’s comfortable.”

Ramona smiled. “Of course.”

“Thanks,” she replied quietly. She walked away from the desk and down to the lobby, where her father was waiting.

“How’d it go?” Caden asked.

“Good,” she said as she climbed into the car. “Everything’s going good.”