The Complication (The Program #6)(42)

While Dr. Warren’s back is turned, I get to my feet and creep toward the door. I open it slightly and then call her name. When she looks at me, I smile apologetically.

Got to go, I mouth like I’m really sorry about it. She puts her hand over the receiver to say something, but I duck my head and slip outside.

Once I’m back in the lobby, the receptionist glances up from her computer. She asks if I want to schedule my next appointment, but I tell her I’ll call and hurry past before Dr. Warren can chase me down and tell me not to leave.





CHAPTER FOUR


THE AIR OUTSIDE HAS WARMED and become humid as I walk out of the office and head to my Jeep. I’m keyed up, agitated that I can’t seem to find one damn person who’ll tell me the truth. I’m immediately struck by the fact that I lied to Wes today, placing me in that same category. I straight-up lied to his face, and although it may have been the right thing to do in our situation, it doesn’t feel very right. It feels as morally overreaching as The Program.

I start the engine of my Jeep, when suddenly someone appears outside the passenger door, and I yelp, clutching my chest. It’s Michael Realm, and I consider driving off, possibly over his foot. But he shrugs like he knows it’s outrageous for him to ask as he points at the door.

I curse myself, far too curious to not see what he wants, and unlock the door. He gets in.

“I can explain,” he begins, and when he turns to me, he can’t help but smile. “For the record, you should definitely not open the door to strangers.”

We’re quiet for a moment, and then we both laugh.

“Okay,” I tell him. “Any reason why I shouldn’t kick you out? Considering you’re still following me after telling me you wouldn’t.”

“Not sure I said that,” he points out, “but yes. I have several great reasons to talk to you. I’ve worked with Marie and Dr. McKee in the past, and—”

I scoff. “When, like yesterday?”

“Yes, actually,” he says with a self-conscious laugh. “But not today. Not anymore.” He pauses. “Not ever again.” I watch him, trying to measure his honesty.

“What happened?” I ask, wondering what could have made him part ways with the Adjustment doctors. Wondering if it brought him here.

Realm glances over to the front door of Dr. Warren’s office before turning back to me. “We should go first,” he says.

“Yeah, right,” I say. “I’m not driving off with a stranger.”

He looks at me guiltily, acknowledging that this could be scary for me. “I’m sorry,” he says. “Maybe . . . around the corner or something? I can’t let Dr. Warren see me. Not with you.”

“You know her?” I ask. I don’t love that he personally knows my therapist.

He waits a beat and grabs the strap to pull on his seat belt. “She was a doctor in The Program,” he murmurs.

The world drops out from under me, and the air within my Jeep turns to concrete. “What?” I ask in a stunned voice. “What—?”

“Tatum, please,” Realm says, looking at the building again. “We have to go.”

My mind spins, and I can’t wrap it around what he just said. My therapist, the person I’ve told everything to . . . she was part of The Program. Oh my God.

With my hands shaking, I shift into gear and pull onto the road. “That can’t be true,” I say, searching my memory. The street in front of me is slightly hazy through my blur of tears. “I mean, I thought she was definitely hiding something, but—”

“Everyone’s hiding something,” Realm says under his breath, and looks out the passenger window.

I don’t park around the corner; I drive a few streets over until I find a grocery store parking lot and take a spot near the back, half under sagging tree branches. I turn off the engine and take a steadying breath.

I needed another piece of the puzzle of my life, not to find out my entire picture was wrong. I squeeze my eyes shut and lower my face. This can’t be happening. I seriously can’t take more mystery. I fight back my emotions.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Realm asks.

I find his dark brown eyes have some sincerity to them. Despite that, they’re rimmed in red, slightly bloodshot. He looks exhausted. I don’t even know him, and I’ve already told him more than I’ve told my grandparents in the last twenty-four hours.

Fuck it.

“Everyone is always lying to me,” I say, raw with honesty. “I just found out I was in The Program, and let’s just say I’m not handling it well.”

Realm blinks quickly and looks down at his lap. He doesn’t look shocked, and prickles of realization climb up my arms.

“You already knew that?” I ask.

“I don’t want to lie to you, Tatum,” he says. “Yes. I already knew.”

I can’t believe this. The proof I needed sat down in my car, and just like that, I’m both validated and afraid. “And Marie?” I ask. “She denied it yesterday when I asked her.”

He laughs to himself. “Sounds about right. And I’ll tell you right now, you won’t get much from McKee, either.”

“But . . . why?” I ask, my heart sinking. “Why keep it a secret?”