Falling Back: Alex Rider FanFic

~Chapter 26~

After soccer practice, I made my way to the parking lot where Lucy was waiting to drive me to my therapy session.

Lucy gave me a concerned look as I got into the car. "You okay? You look a bit pale."

"Just tired," I said, not wanting to worry her more than necessary.

The drive dragged on, the dread I normally felt weighing me down. The drive was quiet, and I found myself staring out the window, lost in thought. By the time we arrived, I felt a mix of anxiety and relief. Mrs. Waver's office was in a quiet part of town, in a small, comfortable building that felt more like a home than a clinic.

"Call me when you're done," Lucy said as I got out of the car. "I'll be just around the corner at a cafe if you need me."

"Thanks, Lucy," I said, giving her a small smile before heading inside. I sat down in the waiting room, staring at the white wall.

I heard a door open and Mrs Waver walked out with a young boy by her side. I looked up at Mrs. Waver, ignoring the boy. I opened my mouth to say something to her but was quickly distracted by the feeling of someone staring at me. A shiver went down my spine as I lowerd my gaze to the boy. His face was cold, his eyes unblinking, his stare constant.

I shrank back into myself, pressing myself as far back into my chair as I could. Mrs. Waver bent down and took the boy's hand, "Come on, can you sit down and wait for your mom to get here?"

The boy nodded, not taking his eyes off me for a second. He tugged his hand out of Mrs. Wavers and walked towards me, taking the seat next to mine.

I nervously jumped out of my seat, backing away from the boy. I turned around and shuffled towards Mrs. Waver, my head on the floor. The boys stare still drilled into my back.

Mrs. Waver nodded at me and we went throught the door, heading towards her office.

We walked into the room and I took my normal seat, Mrs. Waver sitting down on the couch across from me.

"Hello, Alex. How are you today?" she asked, motioning for me to sit on the plush couch.

"Fantastic!" I grumbled with a flare of my hands.

She nodded, raising an eyebrow. "Would you like to talk about it?"

I glared at the floor, not knowing how to respond.

She observed me quietly for a moment. "It's okay if you're not ready to share everything. We can talk about whatever you feel comfortable with."

I nodded, feeling a bit more at ease. I glanced up at her, still reluctant. "I ate my whole lunch"

She nodded, taking note of it. "That's good, how has your body reacted?"

I grimaced, she wrote something down, I anwered, "I threw it all back up an hour later."

"Ah, I see. Does that happen everytime you eat your whole meal?"

I tilted my head towards the ceiling, "Not everytime, since um... since the—"

Since the Underground

I paused for a moment, not able to say, "Ever since a few weeks back It's been getting better."

Mrs. Waver frowned, but nodded. "And has anything else been going on at school recently?"

I lowered my gaze down to my lap, she'll know, "Oh, um not really." She'll know you lying. The voice inside my head persistied.

She lowered her gaze to her clip board and flipped back a few pages. "Lucy called me a few hours ago and said you had a pretty bad fever the other day, thats true?" I froze, what's she getting at? Glancing up at her I thought, Why did she just move on? She never lets me off the hook that easily.