Paradise Blvd. Year One

Chapter Sixteen

Friday

"So, how are you sleeping?"

"I slept for the first time in a long time last night."

"Hmm. That's good. You sleep fine?"

"Yes," said Marceline. That morning, she'd woken up with a cold sweat. It wasn't even morning, it was before 5 a.m. and that didn't count in her books. She had had a nightmare about Esau being on the loose and being able to hurt Veronica. "Are we done here?"

"You're in a rush," Dr. Martin stated. He really didn't appreciate how these teenagers spoke with him even though they had made the choice to visit him. "May I ask why?"

"I need to go somewhere. Remember how I told you I did something that ended up with someone getting hurt?"

He nodded.

"I need to see if that person is okay," she said.

"Okay." Dr. Martin nodded again. "You also told me that this person got hurt exactly last week. If you haven't checked up on them the entire time, why now?"

"I wasn't ready."

"And you're ready now? Is it possible that you only want to do this because of that nightmare you had?" asked Dr. Martin.

Marceline frowned. "How did you know I had a nightmare?"

"I didn't." He sat forward. "You wanna talk about it?"

"How did you know I had a nightmare?"

Dr. Martin sighed. "Bipolar patients often experience nightmares involving injury and, perhaps, death. Ms. Nguyen, you don't look a hundred percent right now. In all honesty, you look like you've seen a ghost and one of your friends has reported to me about how vivid your dreams get-"

Marceline scoffed. "Of course he did."

"So, I just want to know if I can help. If your dreams are as vivid as your friend said, these nightmares are very capable of staying on your mind for an unhealthy amount of time," he said.

"I'm fine!"

Dr. Martin sat back. "Okay. Are you taking your medicine?"

"Yes. As much as I can," said Marceline.

"As much as you have to."

She sighed. "I'm not gonna overdose."

"I'll take your word for it."

"We done here?" Marceline asked.

"You know, you could be a little nicer to me." Dr. Martin poured himself a glass of water. "You may leave whenever you please."

Marceline sighed before sitting back. "All my nightmares are about me endangering the people closest to me."

Progress, Dr. Martin thought. "Tell me more."

•

Tulip found her parents sitting on her bed when she came back from the swimming pool. "Can I get a little privacy to change?"