The next morning, I woke to a sight that I hadn't seen for weeks. Jake sprawled at the end of my bed, a blanket and pillow stolen from me to keep him comfortable. The time was 8:15, and I panicked when I saw that Dr. Dempsey's office had called again. This time, the voicemail was from Sally, the receptionist.

"Hello, this is Sally from Dr. Dempsey's office. I'm calling to confirm your appointment for today. Please call us back and let us know. Thank you." She said.

I redialed the number she'd called from, and my nerves shot up as the tone rang. When she answered, she sounded surprised to hear from me.

"Miss Cobblestone?" She gasped a little. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. I'm calling to confirm the appointment for Jake?" I said, uncertainly.

"Oh, of course!" She said, sounding a little nervous. "We weren't expecting to hear back from you."

"Yeah, well, neither were we," I told her.

Waking Jake after I set the appointment for 11:00 am, I went to get dressed. Jake seemed nervous, but I knew why. Neither of us had expected to get a call from Dempsey, and it seemed like they hadn't expected to hear from us. When ten rolled around, Jake and I walked outside, talking about what we would say to Dempsey.

When we got in the car, I rested for a second. Just like the first time we'd met with him, I was shaking. Why was he asking us to come back if he was still in contact with Morison?

Driving to his office, I kept my face blank as I thought. After this appointment, I'm going to read those books and put a stop to this. There must be a way to get rid of the ability I have. After the fight last night, I didn't want Jake upset with me. But, if he knew that I was planning to get rid of my ability, he might be.

Reaching the parking lot of the doctor's office, I glanced at Jake. His face was empty, aside from a thought gleaming in his eyes. I tried to relax as the time of our appointment drew near. As if it knew my teeth were on edge, my phone let out a shrill buzz that alerted me to its presence.

"Yes?" I answered with hesitation.

"Hello, this is Trinity Andredge from Briton Medical?" A trill voice came from the speaker.

Jake perked up fearfully, an uneasy look in his eyes.

"Can I help you?" I asked, uncertain of why I'd taken the call.

"I work at our hospice care, and I'm afraid I have unfortunate news," She said. "This is Reagan?"

"I- uh- Yes?" I fumbled, baffled at the question.

"As you may know, your grandmother has been sent to us for-"

"Wait!" I interrupted her. "You said what? My grandmother is with you?"

"Yes, Miss Cobblestone, and unfortunately her health has been rapidly declining." Trinity said somberly.

I choked on words, and somehow barely managed to come out with a clear sentence. "Jesus. Well, is she going to be ok?"

"We intend to monitor her condition. It may continue to decline, though." She said calmly. "If you'd like, we would suggest you come see her now."

"That'll be the first thing I do tomorrow," I said as shock ran through me.

After minutes of background noise following the sound of typing, Trinity returned.

"Alright, sorry about that, we're quite busy here at the moment." She said. "But, like I said, the doctor feels final visits are in order."

"Thanks," I squeaked, unable to force out more. "Um... I'll be on the first plane there."

"Have a nice day," Trinity said before the line clicked.

The silence in the car was too loud, and the thoughts in my head had too much room. Everything around me felt numb, and I tried to deny that I might lose one of the most important people in my life. Jake was frozen, his eyes fixed and unmoving. Out of all of the emotions I felt and things I wanted to say, one thing stood out; my anger. Our whole lives had been away from her. All along, I'd thought we had done the right thing, but this entire time she'd been left alone. I couldn't believe that I'd never even thought to visit once. It was understood that I had no intention of going back.

However, the more I thought I knew, the less I did. I had never actually heard Jake, never listened to his cries of missing home, never even noticed that we'd always gotten a package for our birthdays every year. But as I looked at him, it was obvious. He wanted to go back too. And to think that our aunt had been hiding that Grams was sick this whole time? What was she thinking?

"Reagan," Jake whispered slowly.

"We'll leave first thing in the morning," I assured him. "I will make sure of that."

"Right. First, let's stop keeping Dr. Dempsey waiting." He mumbled, getting out of the car quickly.

We walked silently into the office of Jake's psychiatrist, and I felt simultaneously numb and angry. I was sick of all the lies, the secrets that they were so desperate to keep. But I knew I had to focus on Jake. Especially when I saw him sit down next to me and sigh nervously.

"What do you think he needs?" Jake asked.

"Maybe to make sure you're ok?" I suggested uncertainly. "Don't worry. I'm sure it won't be bad or anything."

"When was the last time that something involving us wasn't bad?" He shot back with a fierce frown.

"I-"

"The Doctor is ready," Sally said, pointing to the door of Dr. Dempsey's office.

I followed Jake, ready to have his back just in case. I couldn't deny that he was right. Nothing had been as it seemed for the past week, and now everything had changed.

Dr. Dempsey greeted us warmly and told us to sit down in the two green chairs in front of his desk. With the hope for an ordinary meeting, I tried to put my mind at ease. He seemed perfectly happy to see us, and there was no sign that it was going to be anything more than a follow-up thing.

"Hello, Jacob," He said kindly, reaching out to shake Jake's hand. "How have you been since our last appointment?"

Jake took the doctor's hand cautiously, holding back a nervous breath. "I'm fine, thanks."

"I am delighted that you could come in today." Dr. Dempsey said, a smile on his face.

"What exactly is this, if you don't mind me asking?" I chimed in.

"Just a follow-up meeting. I like to check on my patients to make sure they're doing ok. And the last we spoke, I didn't like how we ended things. I want to fix that." He informed me.

"Well, we're fine, Dr. Dempsey, really," I said.

"Are you, Jake?" Dempsey asked, eyeing him suspiciously. "You seem a little distracted. Is everything ok?"

"We just found out something. Something very... upsetting." I told him before he bombarded Jake with questioning. "Right, Jake?"

Jake's eyes were on Dempsey, and his face showed nothing but concentration. As if he could barely hear me, he uttered a response with little effort.

"What? Yeah..." He said thoughtlessly.

"Jake?" I jumped up in my seat, grabbing his arm and praying he would look at me.

He blinked rapidly, turning his gaze to meet me. "I'm fine, sorry. I just thought I saw... something."

"What did you see?" Dempsey asked as he wrote in his notes frivolously.

"A man walking. He was talking to somebody. Somebody that sounded like you, Dr. Dempsey." Jake said tentatively.

"And what did this man say?" Dr. Dempsey asked.

"He was... afraid. Like he was going to hurt somebody. He was asking you to stay away... from... Marcus..." Jake's face fell into a confused frown.

"What else did he say?" Dempsey seemed far less confident in his question, his face hardening as if he were growing angry.

"He kept saying that you were lying. Who did you lie to, Dr. Dempsey?" Jake leaned forward, his eyes on Dempsey with uncomfortable certainty.

"Th- that is p- private information. I- I don't know where you two have been snooping, but I do not appreciate it." Dempsey sputtered through a growl.

"Who did you lie to, Dr. Dempsey? Because they're angry, very angry, I can feel-" Jake pressed on, but was silenced with a harsh scream.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Dempsey roared, spit patting the desk unceremoniously.

"Who did you betray?" Jake asked, desperately.

"ENOUGH! YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR! LEAVE! GET OUT IMMEDIATELY!" The doctor screamed at both of us.

"Wait, Dr. Dempsey, please-" I begged.

"OUT! NOW!" He screeched.

I jumped from my seat, followed by Jake as I made my way out of the building in a sprint. When we reached my car, I spun around, grabbed Jake by the arm, and forced him to look at me.

"You need to tell me what the fuck that was all about, Jake. And quickly." I said harshly.

"I tried to tell you! I don't mean to... sometimes I can... see things." He mumbled, shifting his gaze to avoid me.

"What things?" I pried carefully.

"I... it's more like a... feeling. I don't know, Reagan! Sometimes I... know things. Things people would normally never tell me." He explained. "Sometimes, I know part of it, but I need them to share the rest with me."

"Like the fact that something was bothering me?" I offered.

"You know, you saw yourself. People seem to... tell me things. I don't mean to, but if I want them to, I can... make them snap. Just like that." He sighed, looking back at me. "I don't know why all of this is happening to me."

"Maybe that's your ability?" I wondered. "But what the hell did it do to Dempsey?"

"If someone's got a secret, something so dark and deep that they've never told anybody, maybe it makes them break. He probably got angry because he's-" He grabbed his head, swaying unsteadily.

"Hey, you ok?" I held him, steadying him and helping him into the passenger seat. "Did you see something?"

"Yeah. I- Gregory might've killed somebody." Jake let out shakily.

"What!? We- Oh, my god! We need to call the police!" I yelped, grabbing my phone from my pocket and ready for dialing.

"Years ago. Many years ago. And it was indirectly." He told me. "I told you I don't know everything when I... see things. The feeling is far more accurate."

I nodded, not wanting to get into another argument. Getting into the driver's seat, I turned on the car and tried to remain steady. My head was spinning, my heart was racing, and my body was shaking. Between Jake, the doctor, and worrying, I had so much going against me. The main thing against me was time. The tape hadn't said when Jake was going to kick it, and if his ability was stronger than I'd known, did that mean he had less time? I could feel tears welling in my eyes at the thought of it. Protecting Jake was my top priority.

"How are you feeling?" I asked Jake when we got home and made it inside.

"Tired." He admitted.

"Yeah. It's been... quite a long day." I agreed.

"No. I mean, mentally." He corrected. "It's exhausting."

"Don't stress, ok? We'll figure out everything, and you'll be ok." I said, patting his shoulder comfortingly.

"I keep seeing him. Waiting for me." Jake said quietly.

"Who?" I asked wearily.

Jake shook his head sadly, waving to me as he climbed the stairs. I sat on the bottom step, cold and confused as mid-day turned into late afternoon. Fidgeting with my phone, I glanced at the notification for one voice message. Opening it up, I listened.