If my calculations are correct, it should be Seattle Day 2, and I've survived the car trip with my coworkers.
Alice doesn't come to me in the morning. I sit on my bed, waiting for her. Wanting to see if she would be different than the girl I am used. I've been unable to fall back asleep, the soft weeps through the wall keeping me up until the morning sun was high in the sky, shedding its shadows across my eyes.
That's how I keep time these days. By watching how the shadows of the sun lays on the wall. There aren't any clocks in this prison. No calendars. Like the orderlies couldn't be bothered to tell us how long we've been there. And I'm not sure how many days have passed since Mother and Father left me here. I don't even know how long it's been since Emmett came to me. I worry that he'll never come back.
Maybe Mother and Father caught him the last time. Found his room empty. Stayed up until he crawled back in through his window. They never understood our bond. Father hates how he treats me like an equal. Mother hates how I don't worship the ground he walks on. Most families don't have sons. So ours was unique indeed. Emmett is bound for great things.
They tried to separate us. Always I was the one to pay. I don't know how many Girls Houses I've been sent to. How many nights I've had to go without the comforts of my home. But Emmett was always there. Stealing me away in the night. Taking me back so that when Mother and Father awoke and saw me at the breakfast table there was nothing they could do but give into the whims of their son.
I jump when my door creaks open, Hale's cart stopping just before my prison's threshold. "Good morning, Isabella!" he says with surprise. "Didn't think I'd find you in here. Usually you're in the common room by now."
I shrug my shoulders. "Alice didn't come by."
"Ah, yes." He hands me my cup of candy. "Patient Mary had a rough night so she was ordered to rest today. I'll be bringing her cocktail to her right after you."
"Hm." It's awkward knowing exactly why she's tired so I glance down at the candy in my cup. The amount seems lower than usual. "Is this mine?"
Hale hums, only distantly watching me as his eyes jump from his cart to the cracked door just a few feet away. "Yes. Dr. Black's special order."
It would be easy to pretend to swallow when Hale seems so distracted. It'd be a first in a long time where I didn't walk around in a fog. Maybe then my green savior would talk to me more than just in passing. But I chicken out at the last second. The candy goes down rough.