Status: Complete as of October 29th, 2015.

Unstable

Chapter 10

The next morning, I slipped out of bed. Heading toward the window across my room, my hand fell on the window, the glass cool beneath my touch. My eyes narrowed as I looked at the glass, trying to find something—a smudge, a print— anything to make sense of what I had seen last night.

Arms curled around my waist, and Carly pressed her face into my back. “You're obsessing,” she said into my spine. “Come back to bed.”

“I have to be at work in an hour,” I said. “And I'm not obsessing. I was just looking outside at the street.”

“Sure,” Carly answered, pulling away from me. “Are you seeing any other patients today?”

I turned and watched her rummage around for her clothes. She slipped on her shirt and looked at me with a frown.

“Just Veronica,” I replied, grabbing a shirt from the closet “I know she isn't your favorite person right now, but I think if you met her you'd change your mind. Maybe you can stop by the office later.”

“I don't think so,” she said, not unkindly. After putting her pants back on, she pulled her hair up into a messy bun, and glanced at me. “I know you like helping people, but you can't save everyone, you know.”

I sighed and dragged a hand through my hair. “It feels like I have to, you know? With the type of work that I do. These kids are so lost, and I just...have to do something.”

“Not kids. Just one. You're supposed to guide her, not save her,” Carly said softly. "She's already got you, Eli. You can't see, and I've never even met her, but by the way you talk about her, and have in the past, I can tell she has you wrapped around her finger. You need to be careful."

Neither of us knew how right she was at the time.