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Dr. Alevera nodded slowly as she continued to write.

“Well, sometimes, these beliefs—these certainties—they’re not as true as we feel like they are,” she said, looking back up and giving a slight shrug of her shoulder.

“For example, some of my patients sometimes feel as though they are doomed to make the same mistakes they’ve made in the past. Others can’t fall asleep for fear they’ll never wake up again.

Still more tell me they feel like someone is always watching them, even when they know there’s no one there.

Just because you feel like you’ll have to leave if you remember where you came from, doesn’t automatically mean it’s true. ”

“…I suppose,” Jamie gave in with a sigh, though it just felt like the next domino to fall, after everything that had already happened.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it if I were you,” Dr. Alevera said, offering him an encouraging smile.

“It’s natural to feel a certain amount of dread with these things.

Two of the most frightening things are the future and the unknown.

You’re facing them both at the same time.

Of course you would be anxious. In my opinion, this sounds to me as though you’re afraid of what you might find out about yourself, so your subconscious is trying to give you a reason not to find out anything at all. ”

“Really?”

“Mmhmm,” Dr. Alevera nodded. “You say that you feel like you will have to leave once you know where you’re from.

Could it be that what you really feel is fear that you will learn something about yourself that makes your partner want to leave you?

It could be that you’ve done something truly horrible, and once you remember it—once Jesse realizes who you really are— he’ll be the one to leave you.

You naturally want to avoid that, so you don’t want to learn who you are.

You don’t want to learn what you’ve done. ”

What you’ve done …

Could it really be this simple? Maybe Dr. Alevera actually was right after all…

But it didn’t really matter anyway, since she was probably only telling him this because she wanted him to be willing to keep trying to restore his memories, which he was already resolved to do anyway, just not for the reasons she thought he would .

“You’re right,” he pretended to give in. “I’ll keep trying.”

“Good,” Dr. Alevera smiled. “Now then, since the subject, you didn’t bring up your nightmares today. Have they stopped happening?”

“…No,” Jamie admitted. “I still get those dreams. In fact…” He took in a deep breath. “The person I’m seeing there, they’ve started to become… clearer.”

“Oh?”

“It’s a woman,” Jamie relayed. “With long red hair, almost orange, and bright as fire.”

Dr. Alevera nodded as she quickly wrote another note down in her book. Then she smiled as she looked back up. “That’s excellent progress, Jamie,” she said. “Good work!”

Something within Jamie stirred, a feeling he didn’t understand.

It felt… good, to hear that he’d been doing well. And the way Dr. Alevera smiled at him, as if she was pleased with him. He didn’t know why, but it made him feel as though he had just stopped holding his breath.

“But, that’s all we’ve got time for today, I’m afraid,” said the doctor, checking her watch before closing her notepad.

“We can pick up from here next week. You know, I had been afraid that you were… drifting, before. And when you canceled our session last week to take that trip with your boyfriend, I had feared that it would set you back. But, you seem to be doing better than ever.”

“Yes, I’m very lucky to have Jesse,” Jamie said, unable to help but smile. “If I was drifting, it was because I didn’t know what I wanted. But my path is clear now.”

Dr. Alevera was quiet for a moment—and Jamie suddenly had an idea, and acted on it without thought.

“Hey, why don’t you come and watch me dance?”

Dr. Alevera opened her mouth, blinked, and shut it again, looking deeply surprised. “You—what?”

“I mean, it’s still a month before it happens,” Jamie told her. “But my dance group is performing at a competition on September ninth, in Reno. You should come and watch!”

“I don’t fraternize with patients,” Dr. Alevera said at once.

“It’s not ‘fraternizing,’ it’s just watching a performance,” Jamie protested, though he was now realizing how wrong it had been to even suggest it. “I just… You’ve been helping me so much, so I thought it was a way to thank you for all you’ve done to help me. I – I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

The doctor gave him a long, unreadable look, as if she were puzzled by him—or, maybe instead, as if she were trying to decide something?

It was a difficult expression to interpret; her brow furrowed ever so slightly and her lips a bit pursed.

But after a short pause, she nodded with a slight sigh, offering him a polite smile.

“Alright, Jamie. You can message me with the details of the event, and I will do my best to be there.”

“Thank you,” Jamie breathed, as he stood to his feet. “I’ll get you the details later today. And, thank you again. I really feel much better now.”

“It is my pleasure,” Dr. Alevera said, standing as well and reaching out to shake his hand. “You don’t know how pleased I am to have been able to help you get to this place. I’ll see you next week then. Have a safe trip home.”

Jamie turned to leave the office. But right as he reached the doorway, a cold wave of sudden dread washed over him.

He felt… strange.

As if there was something tugging at the back of his mind, warning him of some great danger just out of sight.

“Eh…” he found himself saying, putting a trembling hand to the wall to ground himself as the strongest sense of déjà vu he had ever experienced came over him. “Ella…”

“What’s wrong, Jamie?” Dr. Alevera asked behind him. “Have you remembered something new?”

The feeling began to ebb away, but instead, a new piece of the puzzle was clicking into place .

“The woman,” he muttered numbly. “The woman in my nightmares, I… I remember her name.”

Dr. Alevera stepped into view, meeting him there in the doorway and looking intently into his face. “What is her name, Jamie?”

Jamie swallowed, still feeling a lingering echo of chilling apprehension. “…Eleanore,” he said quietly. “The woman who wants to kill me… her name is Eleanore Grace.”