Double Back - Mistwater Chronicles #1

Chapter Thirty

Hey guys, sorry it took so long for me to get a chapter up! I've been super busy with work and school and cheer and today we had our county cheer competition and we won!! This is our second year winning in a row and now we've moved up to division two :D I'm so happy!

Yesterday was my friend's birthday party, and I would have updated before I left but I didn't have any time. :(

But I'm back, so enjoy! Kisses!

xoxo,

Morgan

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The next few days, I feel as though I'm drowning. My parents coming to see me has weighed heavily on my emotions, especially since I haven't really talked to anyone about it. Amber is completely in the dark and there's no way you could get me to confess anything to Tatiana about my parents - not even if you paid me.

I'm not scheduled to see Dr. Aliyeva for a few more days, but it's not like I'm in the mood to talk to anyone. Especially if it involves lying on a couch with a box with a person asking me to describe how I'm feeling.

Hannah pokes her head into my room. "You have a visitor, Teresa."

I look at her, confused. My only real visitor is Amber, and they know her on a first-name basis at the front desk. They even print her visitor tags before she gets here; she's always prompt and comes at the same time during the week.

"Who?" I ask, curious.

Hannah consults her clipboard. "Annabeth Hart - wasn't she a patient here a while ago?"

"Yeah, she was, and that had to do with me, too," I tell Hannah. "Let her in." She nods and turns to go back to the front, returning a minute and a half later with Annabeth. Her blond hair is shorter; it appears she's gotten a trim. Her cheeks are slightly pink from the cold and she looks pale.

"Tatiana, come on. Give Teresa and Annabeth their space." Tatiana rolls her eyes at Hannah, sighing dramatically as she leaves the room so Annabeth and I can have some alone time.

"Teresa, I heard that you were in here and I'm sorry I didn't come to see you sooner," Annabeth says as soon as we're alone. "How are you doing?"

I shrug. "I'm okay, I guess." That's a huge understatement, I think to myself, angling my wrists so she can't see the fading scars on them.

I think the worst part about the cutting is that I know how awful it is that I have to resort to this to feel better. Every little cut, every little drop of my blood going down the sink when I go "wash my face" or "wet my hair" feels like I'm releasing a tiny bit of pressure from my body. Because I'm like a time bomb, ticking away at any given moment, and hurting myself adds a few more seconds to my clock.

"Has Zack been back to see you?" Annabeth asks gently, snapping me back to reality. She wrinkles her nose as she leans forward to tuck a stray curl behind my ear. "And when's the last time you showered? No offense, but you kind of smell."

"I haven't showered in a while," I admit. Not that I care. "He came to see me when Amber first brought me here."

"You're taking a shower, right now," Annabeth commands, getting up to look through my drawers for presentable clothing. She extracts a clean bra and underwear, a long-sleeved, navy blue shirt, and a pair of black sweatpants. "Come on."

I sigh as she pushes me into the bathroom and forces me to take a shower, not leaving until my hair is somewhat shiny and I smell like strawberries. It makes me a feel a tiny bit better, but I don't really feel like I deserve to pamper myself. I feel like shit, to put it mildly.