Richelle Mead owns the VA and Bloodlines series.
I feel like I haven't updated this story in a while so here's the next chapter. A little Zoe/Adrian bonding since Adrian and Carly had their bonding moment in the last chapter of Through The Darkness. They'll have another in Adrian's next chapter too so watch out for that!
I was drinking. Again.
Big surprise, I know. Everyone around me had started giving me looks, the same looks they'd always given me. The looks that they'd stopped giving me when I'd been on the pills.
When I'd been with Sydney.
My friends made an effort, they tried, but it was clear to them I'd checked out. I couldn't stand myself or my life so why should they have to endure me too. I stayed away mostly. Despite the relapsed drinking and the occasional cigarette, I didn't give up on everything. I still painted. My paintings may have only had one real subject, but I still painted. I couldn't stop, not when I'd promised her.
That's what I was doing when I was interrupted by a knock on my door. Painting. It wasn't a great painting, but still. I was irritated at being interrupted. I'd almost gotten the shade of Sydney's eyes right this time.
I tossed my paintbrush on the coffee table, not caring about getting paint on the wood. There were so many splotches and drips on it already it almost looked like a Jackson Pollock painting. When I pulled the door open I wasn't surprised to see Rose standing there, but I was surprised to see the expression on her face. She looked... like she'd seen a ghost.
"Adrian, we've got to go," she said, grabbing my arm and hauling me out the door.
"Whoa, whoa, little dhampir." I shrugged out of her grip. "Where's the fire?" I wasn't sure what was wrong, I just knew that something was and I didn't want to be blindsided by it.
I saw her visibly pause and swallow before she turned to face me. "It's... It's Sydney."
That was all she needed to say. I felt like I'd sobered up in an instant, though I knew I hadn't really been drunk before she showed up. Not yet, at least.
###
I'm really not sure how fast I can run. I've never timed myself or even run a race as a kid, so I don't know if I'm fast or not, but I do know that I'd run so fast that Rose looked like she was having trouble keeping up. By the time we arrived at the royal palace I was so out of breath I thought I'd pass out, but it was so worth it. I hadn't stuck around long enough for Rose to actually explain what was up, but I didn't need her to, I didn't care. As long as there was news about Sydney.
When I saw the unremarkable tan sedan sitting on the street my heart sped up. That was, until I saw who was standing next to that car talking to Eddie.
"You!" I shouted at her, getting my second wind as I raced over to her.
She threw her hands up in front of her, backing up a little. "Adrian, just listen! Just listen, okay?"
Eddie tried to step in between us, telling me to calm down, but I couldn't hear him. My focus was on the girl before me.
"Why should I listen?" My voice sounded like a roar in my skull and I watched her brown eyes widen in terror. Brown eyes so similar to the ones I loved, to the ones I'd never be able to paint no matter how hard I tried. But then she straightened up, her eyes narrowing, her hands falling to her sides. For a moment my rage dissipated and I could really see her. She looked just like her sister when she was angry.
That's when I realized, Zoe Sage may have been on my shit list, but she was not someone to mess with.
"Because of Sydney," she said and her voice was calm now, but it held something firm in it, something that demanded I listen.
If I wasn't done fighting with her a moment ago, I was the second she said her name. "Where is she?"
Her eyes cut toward the sedan, causing me to follow her gaze. I hadn't paid much attention to it before, but now I noticed something moving in the backseat. Actually it was more like someone moving in the backseat. Zoe called my name but I was already rushing forward to rip the door open.
"No! Adrian, don't!" That was Rose. She jumped in front of me just before I got to the car. "She's sick."
"So I'll heal her," I growled out, "get out of my way."
Eddie placed a hand on my shoulder and I turned to see him, a heartbroken expression on his face. Zoe had started crying, her tough Alchemist facade shattering into a million pieces around her.
"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
I had no idea what they were talking about. No matter what was wrong with Sydney I could fix it. I would fix it! Now that she was here with me she'd be fine. But Rose's eyes said that whatever they were worried about was serious. She wasn't stupid. If she was worried maybe I should be worried too. I took a breath and leaned around Rose to look into the backseat and my breath caught in my throat at the image of Sydney smiling. But the joy that swirled inside of me was short lived.
They were right. Sydney didn't look... right. She was smiling, but not at me, not at Rose or Eddie, or even her sister. Her beautiful golden eyes were vacant as they stared out the window. The first thing I thought was that she was drugged. Drugs sucked, but she'd be okay. I could probably still heal her. Or we could treat her like we would anyone else, lots of water and rest. She'd be fine. But then she raised a hand and began tracing something onto the glass with her pointer finger. Her eyes finally focused, except they focused on the tip of her finger. Her gaze was so intent it caused her once brilliant golden eyes to cross. I felt frozen, watching her doodle small nothings on the window.
"Wh-what's wrong with her?" I choked out, but couldn't bring myself to look away.
"They did something to her," Zoe explained in a small, voice, cut off every now and then by a hiccup. "She-she was in reeducation and when they let her out she w-was like this. I don't know what they did, but she has these..." Her crying picked up again, the hiccups becoming full fledged sobs. "These round burn marks all over her. She won't talk to me! She won't talk to anyone! Dad said—"
She cut herself off with a loud gasp and then breathed heavily in an attempt to stop crying. I didn't care. The only thing I cared about was in the backseat of that car cocking her head to the side like she was listening to something only she could hear.
"Our dad," Zoe continued after a moment, sounding steadier. "He said she was stubborn and that this is what happens when you fight reeducation. The darkness swallows you up and never let's you go. He said... that she deserved this. But I know he's wrong. Sydney doesn't deserve..." When she paused, I finally turned to look at her. She waved her hand toward the car, ignoring the tears streaming down her cheeks. "My sister doesn't deserve this! No one deserves this. Especially not Sydney! I can't believe—" her face crumpled again. "Adrian, if I'd known this is what would happen. If I'd known they'd hurt her like this... I thought they'd punish her," she went on pleadingly. "I thought they'd stop looking at her like she was some gift from god. I never thought they'd hurt her! I didn't know."
Despite the heartfelt plea, I still couldn't feel anything. Not for Zoe. Not when Sydney was in the back of that car. "What do you want from me? You brought her here so I could heal her? So I could fix your mistake? So that I could see her like this and feel like the last piece of my heart just shriveled up and died? Or did you just want absolution? Because I can't give you that, Zoe. I can't absolve you of your sins or make Sydney whole again. Spirit doesn't work that way. If she was sick, if she was injured in any other way..." I felt my steely composure beginning to fail me and turned to look back at Sydney. Bad idea. My voice broke. "I'd do anything for her, but if her mind is gone then there's nothing..."
I couldn't take it for one second longer. I rushed forward and pulled open the car door. Sydney was sitting sideways in the seat, her legs tucked under her, her finger still extended to where the window had been a moment ago.
"Sage," I breathed, kneeling down beside the car and running my hand through her hair. I could already see what Zoe was talking about. Small, circular marks right at her hair line. I'd never seen anything like that in real life, but I'd seen my fair share of old movies about mad scientists and electroshock therapy. Someone had hooked her up to something and shocked the hell out of her enough to leave burns. I kept stroking her hair, trying not to be sick. "Oh, my Sage."
She was still staring ahead at nothing. I was sure she had absolutely no idea I was even here, when I felt her fingers on my face. "Adrian," she breathed softly. Then in one violent burst she pulled away and scooted to the other side of the car. "No. No. No. No. No. No. No..." She kept murmuring, rocking back and forth and burying her head in her hands.
"Sydney?" I started to crawl into the car with her when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I wasn't sure who's it was, but it was enough to shock me back into reality. I stood up, whispering, "It's okay. You're okay. No one's going to hurt you."
"She won't get out of the car," Eddie sighed. "We thought maybe seeing you would help, but I guess not."
I finally turned away from Sydney to see three pairs of eyes watching me. At first I thought it was because they were waiting for another freak out, but then I realized my mental state had nothing to do with the fear in their eyes. They were waiting for me to tell them what to do, even Zoe. Problem was I didn't know how to handle this. I wasn't a psychologist or whatever. I had no way of even beginning to guess at what they'd done to break Sydney down so badly.
"Maybe a doctor could help," I suggested, and felt like a total idiot for it. Of course they would have thought of getting her to a doctor. But Zoe just nodded her head.
"Dad wouldn't pay for one. Mom would have found a way, but Dad wouldn't let Sydney go live with her. That's why I put her in the car and came here."
"I'll call a doctor. It'll be a Moroi doctor, but I'm sure it won't be a problem," Eddie said, throwing Sydney one last heartbroken glance before heading off to get the doctor.
"How do we get her out of the car?" Rose asked quietly. Her eyes were red from watching her friend suffer, but she was otherwise totally composed.
"I might be able to get her out," Zoe said. "It'll probably take a while though. Maybe the doctor can give her a sedative or something?"
"No." They both looked at me and I stared right back. "I'm sure Sydney's been sedated enough for a lifetime. Try to get her out without drugs first. It's probably safer for her anyway."
Zoe nodded and stepped toward the car. All the animosity I felt for her faded as I watched her climb into the backseat and start talking to Sydney. The anger wasn't gone completely, but I was thankful she'd brought her back to me, at least.
"Come on, Syd. We've got to get out of the car if you want to see where we are."
I couldn't see Sydney very well through the windows, but I could tell she was shaking her head. "Court," she said, turning away from her sister. At least it wasn't only me she didn't want around, I guess.
"Yes, we're in Court. Vampire court, remember? With your friends."
Sydney spun around and glanced through the rear window at Rose and me, just standing there staring. Her face crumpled in concentration for a moment before she spun away again, looking down. "Vampires," she whispered. "I can't be friends with vampires anymore."
Zoe sat back a little and I saw her shoulders slump. "Yes, you can. I won't tell anyone. I'm friends with them too. Remember? I'm friends with Eddie and Jill and Angeline and Neil. We're all friends."
"Vampires are evil creatures," Sydney recited in a monotone. "They live in the darkness. I'm supposed to live in the light."
I didn't miss her use of the word supposed. This wasn't something she believed, it was something she was told to believe. Something that had been repeated to her so many times she was starting to think it was true?
"Sydney, please just get out of the car," Zoe pleaded, sounding on the verge of breaking down again. "Please. I told you we were coming here, remember? I told you we could see Adrian. You were excited to see Adrian, don't you remember?"
My heart fluttered in my chest at the thought of this broken girl being excited to see me. But she just shook her head.
"When I see Adrian they hurt me," she said softly, but I could make out the slight tremble in her voice. She turned to look at me again then averted her gaze just as quickly, hands flying to the burn marks on her head. "It hurts so much to see him."
"Oh, Sydney," Zoe sighed sadly, echoing my thoughts. She gently brushed her sister's hair away from her face. "No one will hurt you. Not me or Dad or the Alchemists. Certainly not Adrian. You can see him all you want and it won't hurt, I promise."
Sydney was quiet for a minute, her head bowed to her lap. Rose looked poised to kill someone next to me and Zoe was still brushing her sister's hair. But all I could see was the Alchemists, hooking Sydney up to some machine, showing her pictures of me and then shocking her. Why would they do that? What kind of twisted pleasure could they have gotten from hurting her that way? Was it to make my face synonymous with pain so that she'd never try to find me? Or was it just to torture her, no point or purpose beyond that?
"You like Adrian," Zoe was saying, gently. "Remember how much you like Adrian? He likes you too, and he missed you just like I did before you came home. Don't you want to go see him? He's right outside, right," she pointed out the back window, "there."
It was another few minutes before Sydney glanced determinedly out the window. Zoe started backing out of the car, encouraging Sydney to do the same. Hearing Zoe call to her sister like that—"Come on, Sydney, you can do it. Almost there. Just a little more."—it broke me. My fiery, brilliant warrior had been reduced to this. A scared, helpless, broken girl. It made me want to punch someone, no. Kill someone! But when Sydney finally stepped out of the car and turned to face me in a pair of raggedy jeans and a hoodie, all I could do was stand very still and hope she would come to me.
Her dull blonde hair blew out around her head with the wind, glowing orange from the street lights, and I suddenly realized it was more than a little chilly out tonight. I had the urge to wrap Sydney in my arms and hurry her inside where it was warm. Instead I tried to just breath evenly as she took a small step toward me. Then another. She stopped when she was right in front of me, close enough that all I'd have to do is reach out to touch her. I didn't.
"Hi," I said softly. She didn't say anything, just stepped even closer. Closer than I would have thought she'd be able to get after her freak out in the car. So close her breath was warm against my chest, though she still didn't touch me. This girl who was broken down so badly was still fighting with every inch she moved closer. Even broken she was still stronger than I gave her credit for.
But that's the thing about Sydney, I thought. She's always been so much stronger than I thought. Stronger than anyone thought. If anyone can get through this, it's her.
She leaned back to look up at me. "You're right," she said, gazing into my eyes. "It doesn't hurt to look."
I took a chance, gently brushing my fingers against her arms, meaning to pull her closer to me, but my hopes crashed when she disengaged me, pulling back. To my relief, though, she stayed close enough that all she would have had to do was lean forward and her head would fall against my chest.
"You missed me?" she asked softly.
"Every minute of every day," I breathed, feeling my dashed hopes rise up inside of me again. She was so close, right next to me. I was disheartened she wouldn't let me touch her, but we'd work up to that. She'd be okay. She had to be.
It was then Eddie came back, a Moroi woman I could only assume was a doctor in tow. A huge grin broke out on his face when he saw Sydney and I, so near each other and outside the car.
"Where's the patient?" the woman asked softly. Her voice was kind and calm and I hoped Sydney wouldn't be too afraid. We'd made good progress but she wasn't anywhere near better. She'd need this woman, and many more like her if she hoped to be healed one day.
"Sage," I whispered. "Do you know how much I love you?"
She pressed her forehead into her palms like it hurt to remember, but said, "You bought a car for me. And pretended you didn't know how to drive it."
I chuckled and felt the urge to pull her close and stroke her hair. "Yes, I did. I love you so much and I want you to know I'd never let anyone hurt you."
"They hurt me," she mumbled, glancing up at me. I didn't need the haunted look in her eyes to tell me who she was talking about.
"I know, and I'm so sorry I wasn't there to stop them." I imagined stroking her hair back from one of the burn marks on her head and brushing a finger against it, feeling spirit leave my body and do it's magic, healing the physical wound. I couldn't do that just yet, but someday. Someday I'd erase those scars from her body and mind. "I'm here now, Sydney, and I won't ever leave you again, okay? I'll be right here for as long as you want me."
"Right here," she repeated, reaching up toward me. I thought she was finally going to touch me. Maybe brush her fingers across my cheek, or pull my face down to hers. Something. Instead, she tapped her pointer against my nose three times while she looked into my eyes and said, "So green."
The Moroi woman, the doctor, had been watching this exchange very carefully, needing no help figuring out who the patient was. Now she approached slowly, cautiously, as if trying not to startle a frightened animal.
"She's lucid enough to carry a conversation," she said quietly. "That's a good thing. Does anyone know what was done to her? Guardian Castile said it was some sort of torture?"
"I think," Zoe started, "they might have given her electroshock therapy. To try to change the way she thought about things. I'm not sure exactly what they did or how they did it though."
"Okay," the doctor said as calmly as if this was something she dealt with everyday. "What's her name?"
"Sydney," Zoe and Eddie said together. Sydney turned to look at whoever'd said her name, seeing the doctor for the first time. She stiffened, seeing the woman in the white coat, moving closer to me. Her arm brushed against me and I had the urge to pull her closer, but knew that would only make things worse.
"No more hurting," she whispered fiercely, panicky. Her brown eyes were wild, searching my face. "You promised."
"Dr.?" I glanced at the doctor for a name.
"Sasha," she said quickly.
"Dr. Sasha isn't going to hurt you," I explained. "Dr. Sasha is going to try to help you get better. She's going to make sure it never hurts again."
"The other doctors wanted to make me better," she argued. "They only hurt."
"I promise she won't hurt you. I'll be with you the whole time. I promise."
Zoe stepped up to us, placing a hand on Sydney's back. "I'll be there too."
Our eyes met and I nodded once. Zoe and I might not ever be the best of friends, but at this moment we were on the same page about this and that made us allies.
"I just want to make sure you're healthy, Sydney," said Dr. Sasha. "I just want to make sure nothing's hurting you. Can we go make sure? Your friends can come with you. They can stay with you the whole time if you want."
It took Sydney a long time and more than a few encouraging words from all of us, but eventually we got her to Dr. Sasha's office. From the blocks and other assorted toys in the waiting room, Dr. Sasha was evidently a pediatrician. When I asked Eddie about it he said she was closest doctor who didn't tell him to get lost when he asked for help.
After more encouraging words and a few more freak outs—mostly from Sydney, but a few breakdowns from Zoe when Sydney panicked—Dr. Sasha gave her a clean bill of health, but said she'd need to have a cat-scan if we wanted to see if any lasting damage had been done to her brain. She told us most of the wounds and scaring on her body were superficial and she suspected much of the mental stuff was just brainwashing. That really exists believe it or not. She recommended a therapist and insisted on Sydney having bi-daily sessions in order to clear her mind.
"Once all of that fear and distrust is gone we'll have a better understanding of what's going on in her head," Dr. Sasha explained. "Whatever these Alchemists did to her, it's bad, but I think she can come back from it. If not totally recovered, then at least enough to have a semi-normal life."
Zoe was on the verge of tears again as the doctor escorted Sydney to the restroom to change out of the light blue hospital gown she'd worn for the exam. Zoe's face was pale and she was fidgeting. "She deserves to be fully recovered. She deserves more than that."
"We'll make sure she gets more," I told Zoe, gently placing a hand on her back. I almost expected her to pull away but she didn't. "We'll make sure she's happy and loved and, hopefully, that will be enough to help her recover who she used to be."
"But what if it's not?" she cried. "What if Sydney never gets better? What will we do with her then?"
"We'll just keep on loving her," I said with a shrug. "She's okay. She remembers what happened, she remembers who she is. She's just having a little trouble communicating right now. She was locked away for a long time, Zoe," I reasoned. "She probably had very little normal human contact. The only socializing she did was probably with people who were trying to convince her she was crazy. Anyone would be messed up after that."
Zoe nodded, visibly calming down, before glancing up at me with wide brown eyes. "You'll really take care of her? Even if she doesn't get better?"
"Zoe," I started slowly, trying to put my thoughts in order. "No matter what ill motives you believe I have toward your sister, I want you to know that she's the only one for me. She always has been."
Zoe tried to argue the ill motives comment, but I pushed on. "I love your sister and can't imagine my life without her. The past year has been a living hell, but now that she's here, now that I have her back, I know more than ever that she's the one. Human, Moroi, it doesn't matter. I love Sydney, and as long as Sydney loves me back—and I think she still does—then I'll take care of her. I'd take care of her no matter what."
"I don't think that. About your motives," she said quietly to her shoes. "Not anymore. Not after all of this."
"Thank you. And thank you for bringing her back to me. For helping her like that. She loves you so much, Zoe. I know you thought she didn't, but she just hated seeing you eating out of the Alchemists palms like that. It drove her nuts."
By now Zoe was crying again, but Sydney was back, her ragged jeans and hoodie back in place. She took one look at her sister and began rocking back and forth on her feet, staring at Zoe with a worried little frown between her eyes.
"Hey, everything's okay," I told her, walking over to take her hand, but she pulled back and curled her fingers into a fist. I ignored the stab of pain and tried to calm her anyway. "Zoe's fine. She's just glad to see that you're so healthy. She's been worried."
"How about we take you home now, okay?" Zoe asked, wiping her tears and smiling at her sister.
"No!" Sydney shouted, rocking even more and squeezing her fists so tight I thought she'd break a bone. "Not home. I won't."
"No! No. Not that home," Zoe said. "Adrian's home, or... well." She threw a nervous glance in my direction and I nodded. "Yes, Adrian's home," she went on, confident this time. "You're going to stay with him, okay?"
The rocking cut off abruptly and Sydney leaned against her sister with a sigh. "Yes. That's okay. That's safe."
###
I took the Sage sisters back to my apartment, while Eddie grabbed the few bags they had with them from the car. Whatever else they needed they could get here at Court. When we stepped into my living room it felt like a million years had passed since Rose knocked on my door, when in reality it had only been a few hours. The painting I'd been working on wasn't even fully dry yet. Sydney stepped up to look at it as I pried my dried paintbrush off the coffee table and placed it in the sink.
"This is me," she said, staring at the painting in awe. Seeing her brilliant golden eyes look at the similar, but flat ones I'd painted made me feel like a talentless hack, but Sydney marveled at them. She brought her hand up to touch the golden swirls on the canvas and a smudge came away on her finger. "Oh no!" she whimpered. "No. I ruined it. It was perfect and now it's ruined. I ruined it. I ruined it."
"Sydney, calm down," Zoe said, taking her by the elbow and trying to sit her down on the couch. "It's okay. I'm sure Adrian's not mad."
"It's alright, Sage," I whispered, pulling her down to sit beside me when I realized how much trouble Zoe was having. Sydney pulled away from me, but settled down a little. "It's just a painting. It's not even very good, not when I can see you sitting here next to me. Besides I can fix it."
She shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. She looked so overwhelmed my heart hurt for her. "No, it's ruined now. Just like me."
"Oh, Sydney," Zoe sighed from beside us. I could feel her shift closer to her sister. "You're not ruined. You're just sick right now because those people hurt you. Because..." She met my eyes and I knew exactly what she'd been about to say. Because I'd let them hurt you. But since it wasn't time to play the blame game I shook my head and knelt on the floor in front of Sydney.
"Sage, you have a problem, one that we'll get you help for. You want to get better, right?" She nodded her head miserably. "So then I'll make sure you do. Remember when spirit was making me sick?" She nodded again, less miserable and more curious this time. "You wouldn't give up on me, even when I gave up on myself. Well, now it's my turn to do that for you. I won't give up and I won't let you give up either."
Without warning Sydney reached forward, touching her knuckles to my cheek. It was just a simple touch, but to say it was the best thing I'd ever experienced was an understatement. She pulled back just as quickly and leaned into the couch next to Zoe, but never took her eyes off of me. Her behavior was erratic, but I could see right through her. Her mind was working beneath those amber eyes, trying to right itself. The Alchemists had drugged her many times during her reeducation, she'd admitted as much to Dr. Sasha. And with the electroshock therapy and the other mind games they'd used to convince her she was nuts, I knew she had a lot to work through, but she was trying. I could see her trying.
I sank into the cushions beside her, keeping a little distance between us. "I love you," I whispered, and though she didn't say it, she did place her hand next to my leg on the couch, touching the fabric of my jeans ever so slightly.
###
"What happens now?" Zoe asked awhile later. Sydney had fallen asleep and Zoe and I let her rest on the couch while we tried to make soup in the kitchen. Jill had text me before, letting me know everyone wanted to stop by once Sydney was ready and I told her I wasn't sure when that would be. I was pretty sure she could handle being around vampires and dhampirs, but was worried about the sensory overload it might cause. She'd gotten uncomfortable when I turned on the TV before, I wasn't sure she could take being in the same room with so many people just yet.
"You guys can stay here for as long as you need to," I told her, letting her take control of dinner. I wasn't sure if it was stress over Sydney or at being around so many vampires or just having disobeyed her father, but she looked on the verge of a panic attack. Having a task to do seemed to calm her down. "I'd like you both to stay. Sydney needs you and I... I need to have Sydney with me. You guys can have the bedroom. I'll take the couch, for now. There's a guest bedroom, I just never got around to putting any furniture in there. I'll have to do that."
She nodded, stirring the soup as it boiled. "I guess we'll stay and see what happens. The vampires..." She cleared her throat. "They won't mind us staying here?"
"As long as you don't mind sharing your blood from time to time they won't have any problem at all," I said nonchalantly.
She jumped back with a startled gasp, dropping the spoon with a clatter. I heard Sydney stir on the couch and immediately felt like an asshole. Though part of me argued that Zoe deserved it.
"I was just messing with you," I gently assured the frightened teenager gaping at me. "No one expects that, okay? I was joking."
I saw her shoulders rise and fall in relief, but a sour look crossed her face. "It wasn't very funny," she said, the old acid she always used when talking to me finding it's way back into her voice. "But..." she relented. "Maybe I deserve it. I can't believe..." She turned toward the couch, watching her sister sleep. I was glad we hadn't woken her up. "I can't believe I did that to her. They drove her crazy, Adrian. You should have seen her at home. She kept rocking back and forth and writing these nonsense words on the windows and mirrors whenever they'd fog up. She barely spoke to anyone for so long. I finally had enough and told her I could take her to you."
My heart broke hearing how messed up Sydney'd been. She still wasn't quite right, but she spoke. She was comfortable here. I couldn't imagine how uncomfortable she must have been living in a house with her dad. A man who wouldn't even take her to get help, or let her see her family. Zoe would have to get in touch with their mother and sister. Sydney would want to see them and I'm sure they wanted to see her. At least by the time they got here Sydney might be feeling better. Maybe no more rocking back and forth and scribbling nonsense words—
"What words?" I asked, as a thought came to me so suddenly it almost knocked me down. "What words was she writing?"
Zoe looked startled by my intensity, but I needed to know. "Oh, I don't know. They didn't make any sense. It was something with a C, I think. Cent something."
"Centrum permanebit," I muttered, feeling a strange joy bubble up inside me.
"Yeah, that's it," Zoe said. "What's it mean?"
"It means the center held." I smiled at the weird look Zoe was giving me. "It means she's not crazy. Dr. Sasha's right. She'll recover, I know it."
Sydney was going to be fine. I was sure.