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Dedication: Katiekinse for the amazing cover! Thank you so much!

Recap:

I let out a hot breath of air as I met Dr Ainsley's dark eyes. Should I tell him? Should I take the plunge and finally tell someone what has been happening to me?

"You really are going to think I'm crazy," I told him, gripping my fingers nervously.

"I promise I won't," he assured me.

"He's been contacting me," I whispered, my bottom lip quivering. "Casey has been sending me messages."

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Dr Ainsley stared at me, a perplexed expression etched onto his face.

"Casey has been sending you messages?" he repeated slowly.

"Yeah," I replied nonchalantly, leaning back into the kind-of-is-kind-of-isn't comfortable, leather chair. "It's been happening for a while."

He opened his mouth twice, no words coming out. I guess having a girl say her dead best friend is communicating with her probably wasn't in his training at university. I could tell he was trying to work out what to say next. I averted my gaze to my lap as I waited.

"How has he been communicating with you?" he eventually asked.

"Text messages mainly. He used to write on my window in condensation but I started ignoring him so he began texting. He's rang me a few times but I can only hear breathing, so I'm not sure if that counts or not."

His pen began scribbling furiously and I wanted to roll my eyes. He is probably writing that I'm crazy and having hallucinations.

"And you believe it is Casey?"

I let out a sigh. "I do and I don't. A part of me believes he is dead but the other half isn't so convinced. I never sighted his body after he jumped. A part of me hopes that he could be still alive. But why is the question. Why would he fake it? Why would he want to talk to me? It's all very confusing."

He nodded. "I agree. It is very confusing. Do you believe someone else could be sending you the messages?"

"I've thought about it but I've had my number changed, I've moved... I don't know who would go to the trouble to mess with me like that. And they know things that only Casey knew."

He nodded again, writing something down.

"Do you respond to these messages?"

"I did for the first time the other day in hospital. I thought he visited me, but it felt like a dream. I texted the number back and asked if it had been him. He said it was."

For the first time in the session, Dr Ainsley smiled at me.

"Do you know what that means?"

"What?" I asked with a frown.

"We can go through the hospital footage and see if he really did visit you."

"Are you allowed to do that?" I asked in surprise, my dark eyebrows raising.

I had never even thought to do that.

"If it's to benefit the mentally stability of my patient, then yes, we certainly can." he smiled, leaning forward. "Want to take a trip to the hospital?"

My eyes widened.

He stood from his chair, giving me a reassuring smile.

I was so not ready to see this.

***

I only had one session with Dr Ainsley and I felt strangely comfortable with him. It wasn't even a full session, either.

As we walked through the corridor, he greeted and smiled at people along the way.

"Sir?" the receptionist asked. She had a pale, round face that was scattered with cute freckles. She pushed her glasses up her nose as she stared up at us. "Do I need to cancel your 4:30pm appointment?"

"No need to cancel, although I may be late," he told her. "We have something we need to do urgently. I will be back shortly."

She nodded and began to type something into the computer, as we continued to walk out of the office.

"This way," he demanded, turning left.

I followed him down into the underground car park. He had a new-model Mercedes Benz parked close to the entrance. I gave him a small smile.

"Nice car."

"Thanks," he grinned as we entered.

"Is this okay to do this?" I asked, a little nervous. "I mean, taking your patient in your car?"

He shrugged. "I'm not walking when I have a day filled with appointments. It would take us twenty minutes to walk there."

"Fair point," I agreed.

It was a smooth and rather quick drive to the hospital. I grimaced at the sight of it, not wanting to be here again, so soon after my last stay.

"Stay here," he instructed, after we walked in, going over to the reception desk.

Letting out a nervous sigh, I folded my arms across my chest, my eyes scanning the environment around me. I hated it here. The look of it, the smell... Unwanted memories began to bombard my brain, making me feel nauseous.

What if we look at the security cameras and see Casey? What would happen then?

"Ready?" he asked me, pulling me from my thoughts.

"They agreed?" I asked in disbelief.

"Of course," he smiled, as if this was a regular occurrence for him.

We followed a nurse through the corridors and went to a floor I'd never been to. It didn't take us long to reach the security room.

"Hey guys," a man greeted us, obviously expecting us. "Come on in."

"Thank you for doing this Tom," Dr Ainsley thanked him as we walked in.

"Anything for my favourite brother-in-law," he smirked, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Brother-in-law?" I echoed, arching my left eyebrow as I stared at the two.

Dr Ainsley grinned. "I would have been allowed, even if we weren't related."

"Sure..." I trailed off, rolling my eyes.

"So, are you crazy?" the guy asked me with a lope-sided smile.

Dr Ainsley slapped Tom up the side of the head. "Don't talk to my patient. Sorry Sadie, please ignore him."

I let out a laugh. "I think I might be crazy to be honest."

"Me too," Tom agreed. "I mean, I think I'm crazy. You look pretty normal."

"Tom," Dr Ainsley warned and I laughed again.

This situation was so bizarre.

Tom sat down onto his leather seat roughly and began to type something into the computer that was situated in front of him. I leaned in as he began to go through the dates of different footage. After trying to work it out for an embarrassingly long time, we figured out what day it was but we didn't know the time. I was pretty out of it during my stay here, so date and time weren't top priorities for me.

We silently waited, sifting through the footage.

My fingers were interlocked with each other as I watched nervously. My stomach clenched when I saw a figure walking towards my room.

"Zoom in," Dr Ainsley demanded suddenly, his voice startling me.

Tom did as requested. The footage zoomed in and I let out a disappointed sigh.

It wasn't Casey, it was Isaac.

***

"So Isaac visited you the same day?" Dr Ainsley asked as we piled into his car.

"Yeah," I replied glumly.

"Hey," he said softly. "People have vivid dreams all the time. Just because he didn't come see you, doesn't mean it still isn't him messaging you."

He pulled out from his park with his right indicator on. I glared out the window at the people walking by as we drove.

"Don't act like you believe me," I sighed, my voice holding a sour tone. "I know you're just trying to be nice."

"I don't see a reason for you to make it up, Sadie," he told me as we drove back to his office. "I believe you."

Our eyes met and I felt my breath hitch in my throat.

I told the truth and he believed me.

Ever since I realised Casey didn't actually visit me in the hospital, I had felt overwhelmed with disappointment and hurt. Did I just make this all up? Am I actually going insane?

"I just realised our session is over," he said quietly as we reached his office. "Do you need a lift home?"

"No, it's fine. My mum is coming to get me," I replied with a forced smile. "Thank you for everything you did today. I appreciate you taking the time to hear me out."

"Of course, Sadie," he smiled, unbuckling his seat belt. "I look forward to working this out with you in our future sessions."

I gave him a nod, before tumbling out of his car.

As I walked to the front of the building, I dug my hands deep into the pockets of my hoodie. I leaned against the wall, waiting for mum to come get me. She didn't trust me to travel to my sessions on my own, apparently. Things were definitely tense between us.

Goose bumps scattered across my skin as my eyes darted around. I often felt it but today, I had felt someone watching me. I couldn't see anyone around but I felt them.

My phone vibrated against my leg.

Casey: I couldn't leave any evidence. Sorry.

My heart plummeted into my stomach.

Holy shit.

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Thoughts on what happened in this chapter?