Page 82 of Unspoken Lies

“Miss Thompson, open up!” the officer barks out. “This is a welfare check!”

“I’m fine and not in need of one!” I call out through the door. “Please go away.”

“I’ll break open the door, Thompson,” he warns.

My poor fucking door.

Glancing at Lili, I watch as she runs to the couch to pull on her jacket to cover the gun at her back.

“Mr. Emil says he’s calling his lawyer,” she says. “Open the door.”

Unlocking the various locks at a snail’s pace, my hands shake with trepidation. No one I know would call in a welfare check except for my ex-therapist. God, would he really be this petty? Knowing my stepfather, this is the last thing the idiot will ever do.

Do stupid shit, win stupid prizes.

My fears begin to morph into anger as I swing the door open slowly.

“How can I help you?” I ask them.

“Yes,” the officer says in an odd way. It’s almost as if he’s going through the motions to be able to cover his own ass for what’s about to happen. Fuck. “We had a call come in about your erratic behavior. Your therapist reported that you’re refusing to take your antipsychotic medication, which is a willful refusal to take care of yourself.”

“That’s not true,” I state, my brows pinching together as I watch a man pull out what appears to be a white canvas material with buckles.

Is that a straitjacket?I didn’t think those were used anymore.

“We can get it all figured out during a seventy-two hour hold,” the man holding the jacket says soothingly.

“No,” I say, attempting to slam the door shut. Unfortunately, the men throw their weight against me, and I’m unable to close it.

“Thoughts that you’re a dead girl are just an example that you’re having delusions,” one of the other men with him says. “Rachel, you’re not well, and your medication needs to be adjusted. Your therapist is simply trying to help you.”

Liliana throws her weight against the door with me, and I realize I’m damned either way. I can’t tell them that I’m actually a dead girl, nor can I coherently explain why my ex-therapist is a spiteful pile of shit.

“You don’t have the facts, and I refuse to go with you,” I say loudly. “I want my lawyer. I do not have plans nor thoughts of killing myself. Get out.”

The men manage to push the door open and I feel as if I’m being stalked as the police officers grab Liliana while the men pursue me carefully. My chest is heaving, my vision feels as if it’s tunneling, and yet I still can’t get enough air.

Why can’t I breathe?

“Now, Rachel. I’m Haven, and I’m here to make all the bad thoughts go bye bye,” a man with greasy hair, a big nose, and hunched shoulders says condescendingly.

They’re fucking corralling me as I continue to wheeze that I don’t want to go with them. The man with the buck teeth and the straitjacket grins as I’m grabbed from behind, shoving my armsthrough the jacket. Before I know it, the thing is wrapped and snapped.

“This didn’t have to be so hard,” Haven sighs, pulling out a capped syringe.

“Get that away from her,” Lili screams. “It is assault to inject her with that.”

One of the police officers shifts on his feet, while we begin to attract the attention of my neighbors. Unfortunately, I tend to do this more often than I’d like. An older woman from across the hall looks scared and worried as she watches, and I shake my head wildly, spitting in the man’s face.

I doubt I’m winning any points for my sanity, but I don’t want what’s in that syringe.

Haven continues to step forward, while no one tells him to stop except for Liliana, who is actively fighting the cops. One of them gets annoyed with her and shoves his taser in her side, ignoring the people outside. No one in my apartment seems to give two shits about human rights. I bet Ignacio was treated better in prison.

“Next time,” Haven whispers as he uncaps the syringe, “take the fucking Haldol, little girl. Then I wouldn’t have had to come out here to make you.”

My hair is pulled hard by someone to bare my neck, and I feel the sting of the syringe entering my skin. I’ve worked so hard to get to the place that I’m at right now, yet I can feel it all slipping away. I’ve fought the voices, forced myself to leave the house to go to work, I was going to move in with Ignacio and Liliana!

But now… the darkness is gnawing and wide, and there’s no outrunning it.