Prescribed (The White Coat Series) by D.D. Parker Page B

with a pen, trying to drive it over the edge of the counter and into an open garbage bag without actually having to touch it myself. Thankfully, my steering skills were solid because the friendly neighborhood alien steak plopped right in. I grabbed the milk with the same disgusted hesitation and dropped it in with its meat buddy, hearing them thump together. 
    Now with the main distractions gone, I could see other places where Eric went berserk. Holes punched into the walls. A cartoon version of The Starry Night laid on the floor, ripped to pieces, its blues and blacks and yellows now coloring the kitchen tiles. A chair next to the dented wooden dining table was turned over, its leg ripped off. 
    Eric was a monster. 
    Fear started creeping in again as the realization hit me even harder than before. 
    I lost him. 
    I lost him the moment he lost his mother. 
    I braced myself against the counter and held back tears. 
    My eyesight started to cloud with the threat of crying as I put everything back in its place. It all felt so heavy to me. The chair, the shreds of paper, the towel rack on the floor, the his-and-her key holder thrown underneath the couch. Everything felt like it weighed more than a large, chipped boulder resting peacefully on my back, crushing me under its weight. 
    After hours of cleaning and backbreaking work, I was finally able to bring the apartment back to a semblance of what it once was. I looked at my watch and noticed the whole day passed me by. Eric wouldn’t get home for another few days so I threw myself down on the couch for a breather. My butt wasn’t met with a relatively plump couch cushion, instead more papers crinkled underneath me. 
    I lifted the cushion and was horrified by what I saw. 
    There, underneath the couch, tucked away like a dark, tormented monster, was a folder containing pictures of me in various states of dress and undress. They were all taken from far, distances that would have made it impossible for me to notice. Some of them had me seen through divisions in the closed window blinds. Others showed me walking into the supermarket and walking back out with a bagful of groceries. 
    Then I saw the ones of me and Ryan, sitting together at the mall, talking to Courtney, a dumb and oh-so-innocent smile plastered across my face. 
    Oh shit . 
    The folder flew to the ground as if it caught fire. I stood up, my body shaking. The blood felt drained from my system. I knew that if I looked into the mirror at this very moment, I would see a pale white ghost staring back at me. 
    I needed to get the hell out of here. 
    I ran out, slamming the door behind me. I pulled out my phone and called the first person who came to my head. The one person who could make me feel safe in the midst of this whole mess. 
    “Hello, Ryan?”  

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

    I hugged him tight, his strong arms circling around me, promising to form a protective barrier against the evil that threatened to ruin me. Thankfully Ryan was home and answered my call. He could immediately hear the distress in my voice and took no hesitation to invite me over. He gave me his address again and I went off on my way, checking my rear view mirror the whole drive there. His apartment complex was nothing out of this world, his ‘doctor money’ still not enough to pay off his mountain of medical school debt.
      I walked up the steps and buzzed his apartment. It took him only a few minutes to run down and swing the door open, letting me into the building. Before I stepped over the threshold, he already had me in his arms. I felt like I could breathe again, but I still had to break the hug and look around first, expecting to see Eric snapping photos from a nearby bush.
      “Come inside,” he said, guiding me up the stairwell, his hand resting on my lower back.
      The outside of his apartment building may not have been too impressive, but the inside was perfectly decorated and immaculately clean. It gave off a modern vibe,