Page 72 of The Sister's Curse

“When she’s here, removed from things that remind her of Dana’s loss, she’s able to exist in a liminal state. She believes that Dana is alive and still in high school. She remains frozen in a moment in time before Dana disappeared. When Viv comes to visit, she doesn’t recognize her.”

“I see.” My hopes for gaining information from Cassandra were fading.

“Cassandra is also prone to a number of other delusions. She believes she’s a powerful witch. She will come to the garden to gather plant matter and conduct her ‘spells.’ ” The doctor made air quotes around “spells.”

Not so different from Viv.I certainly didn’t have any room to decide where the line of reality should be drawn. I wondered about the point at which a delusion became grounds to take a person’s rights away, to hide them away from the world. When the delusion harmed others? When one caused harm to oneself?

I couldn’t say. I only knew that I’d been very close to that boundary in the past.

“Where did that delusion come from?” I asked neutrally.

Dr.Fox exhaled in frustration. “I suspect it was reinforced by her daughter. I’ve suggested that Viv might benefit from therapy, but she refuses. I find that after Viv has visited, Cassandra is agitated for many days afterward.”

“Would I be able to talk to her?”

“Under certain conditions. I would want this to be under my supervision. And I ask that you do not discuss Dana’s disappearance. We don’t know if she would survive another suicide attempt.”

I frowned. “You want me to pretend that Dana is alive and well?”

17

Poison

It wasn’t that I was unaccustomed to lying. I was used to telling lies to protect my own reality. This felt like more than that. It was lying to protect someone else’s reality, and I didn’t want to break that illusion and for Cassandra to suffer the consequences.

Dr.Fox lifted her shoulder. “Yes. I’m sorry if that’s not the answer you want to hear, but my first duty is to keep my patient safe.”

I nodded. “I understand. If it’s possible, I’d like to see her.”

Dr.Fox gave me a small smile. “I’ll have her brought out.” She reached under her coat for a radio and spoke quietly into it.

I scanned the parklike setting. I didn’t know what would be worse, the illusion that things were fine, stuck at a fixed point in time, or the crushing knowledge of something awful. I knew what I would choose for myself—I’d consistently chosen awful knowledge over time. But I couldn’t force my desires upon someone else.

I had to walk into Cassandra’s world and agree to participate in her version of reality.

A side door opened, and a woman in a pink tracksuit was led by an orderly in a white uniform. Cassandra had long gray hair, and dark eyes that rested on a tree, then a shrub, then the grass. She seemed uninterested in people. Her gait was slow and shuffling, and her posture was stooped. Though she was in her early sixties, she seemed much, much older.

The orderly led Cassandra to us and helped her sit on a concrete bench that curved around the table.

“Hello, Cassandra,” said Dr.Fox. “How are you today?”

Cassandra looked at a point somewhere off Dr.Fox’s shoulder. “I saw a monarch. They must be migrating.” Her speech was slow and deliberate.

“Yes, the monarchs are here. Aren’t they pretty?”

“Yes. They travel a long way, all the way from Mexico.”

Dr.Fox smiled at her. “Someone’s here to see you, Cassandra. I’d like for you to meet Anna.” She moved her hand to my place at the table, and Cassandra’s eyes followed her hand, then looked up at my shoulder.

“Hello, Cassandra. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Cassandra echoed, not sounding at all interested in my presence. Her gaze followed a dragonfly.

I took a deep breath. “I saw your daughter Viv the other day. She says hello.”

Cassandra smiled, her teeth small and worn. “Viv is such a nice girl, isn’t she? She writes me letters.”

“What does she write you letters about?”