The Invisible World

Chapter 15: Love My Way

The piece of paper where I had originally written down Dr. Walker's number was still there, so I could call him right away. The phone rang once, twice, three times. Then came the receptionist's voice. "Hello, you've reached the office of Dr. Mort Walker. We can't come to the phone right now. Please leave your message at the beep." Then there was a beep.

I hung up the phone. "His office must be closed."

"You didn't even leave a voicemail?" Jack asked.

"Should I? I could just call tomorrow morning."

"I mean, you could..."

"That's what I said. I could. Can't we just leave it at that?"

Jack sighed. "Fine. Just as long as you get that appointment scheduled."

"You're not my dad." I headed up the stairs. What was I still doing here? I didn't need therapy. What I needed was a new home, not a guest room in the house of a guy who did nothing but patronize me all day and regular appointments with another guy who was just going to prod his way into my brain.

I entered the guest room and flopped my way onto the mattress which Jack still hadn't bought a bed frame for hoping that the void would just swallow me up again.

Maybe Dr. Walker would help me with that feeling. My few memories of being frozen in time within the void should trump any desire to go back, so why didn't they?

Frozen in time. That was such a weird phrase. Did my whole body just freeze while I was in there? No breathing? No heartbeat? Was I dead? Or just in an unwakable sleep? Did my fingernails grow? Or my hair?

I lifted my head and looked at my reflection in the full-length mirror that Jack had so graciously fished out of his closet and leaned against the wall. I couldn't tell if my hair had grown out over the six months I was gone. My hair was usually so short. If it had grown, I would have noticed.

Now that I think about it, when was the last time I got a haircut before entering the void? It had been almost three weeks since I had left the void, and I usually got a haircut every eight weeks. If my last haircut was more than five weeks before I entered the void, maybe it was time for another one.

The more I looked at my hair, the shaggier it looked. My hair was curly, and it wasn't even the cute type of curly. It's not like I had ringlets or a gentle wave like Jack had. It was the messy type of curly, like I had a permanent case of bedhead. Honestly, it baffles me how anyone considered me a doppelganger to him.

Still, one thing was sure: I needed a haircut. Tomorrow, though. If Dr. Walker's office was closed for the day, the hairdresser probably was, too.

The next day after lunch, I headed for the front door. I couldn't go in the morning. That was when I had "called" Dr. Walker and scheduled a "follow-up appointment" with him.

That way, when Jack asked, "Katie, where are you going?" I could tell him, "To Dr. Walker's. Where did you think?"

"Okay, I'll let you be. I'm off to Mrs. Price's office at 3. Jenny wants me as a witness for my 'paranormal expertise,' not that I have any. See you later."

I rolled my eyes and closed the door behind me. What was his deal knowing where I was at all times? Did he miss me because I wasn't by his side all the time anymore? Well, who cares about him? I was my own character now, and I could do whatever I wanted. Still, why was I so apprehensive about telling him where I was going? It was just a haircut. It's not like I was going out to commit a crime.

What if I was worried about what he would do if I skipped out on going back to the therapist? Actually, that's silly. There's no way he knows. I told him a lie, and it wasn't like there was a machine that can keep a history of calls made with a specific phone that Jack can check and see that I actually didn't call Dr. Walker at 9 in the morning. That was crazy.