Compulsive (Liar #1) by Lia Fairchild Read Free Book Online Page A

glance around. “Why isn’t he here?”
I said under my breath.
    “ He ?”
    I didn’t answer and walked toward the door.
    Alyssa followed. “You didn’t say it was a he .
Is he hot? Doesn’t matter now ’cause he’s not here. What a royal ass. My mom
was right about at least one thing. You can’t count on men. Gray, why aren’t
you answering?”
    “Never mind. Let’s just go.”
    I evened my irrationally amplified heart rate with
some deep breaths as we headed back to the exit. I would worry about the
implications of the list and Dr. Wallace later, but something else needled my
brain. When we came to the place in the corridor to turn toward the exit, my feet
planted themselves in place.
    “What? Why are we stopping?”
    “C’mon. I have to check something.” I turned, leading
us back into the hospital wings I’d been in yesterday, taking the same turn
which led me to that treatment area where he spotted me. “Try to be quiet
here,” I said when we walked into the main area. There were several more people
this time, sitting and walking around. “Look.” I pointed to a small room off to
the side with a television and some chairs. “Can you please sit there for me? I
need a few minutes.”
    Her shoulders plummeted dramatically as she sighed.
“Whatever.” I watched her until I saw her take a seat next to a woman, a small
boy playing with cars at her feet. All at once my ears rang with a boom
followed by raging silence. The boy turned his head to me as he ran his car
back and forth on the rug. Like a silent movie running in slow motion, he took
his hand from the car and raised it to his mouth. Then, he kissed two fingers
and held his hand to the sky, smiling sweetly at me. My eyes stung, I clutched
the side of my pants with one hand, struggling to take in air. When I felt my
knees start to give, I heard a screeching cry behind me.
    “No! Leave me alone!” The distressed voice sounded
like it was coming from the end of the hall.
    Heads in every direction turned that way, then around the
seating area to gauge others’ reactions. Confused and concerned glances were
exchanged. I looked again to the TV room where Alyssa shrugged at me and the
little boy lined up his cars as if he hadn’t heard a thing.
    I held up a finger to Alyssa and turned toward the
scream, the same spot where I had seen Dr. Harrison yesterday. Two steps later,
I froze. There he was in the far back, leaning against the wall, his head hung
low wagging back and forth. A door opened across from him; a woman exited. A jagged
sobbing from what sounded like a young girl followed the woman out before being
cut down by the closed door.
    The woman shuffled over to Dr. Harrison where she
leaned into him, his arm coming around her, pulling her closer. He rubbed her
shoulder, and his mouth released words I couldn’t hear. Queasiness filled my
stomach as he kissed the top of her head. Then, just as I started to turn away,
he spotted me. My heart skipped more than a few beats as our eyes locked. A
tight-lipped grimace seemed to convey a realization that he’d missed our
meeting time.
    My feet led me toward them, carrying an awkwardness I
couldn’t escape. When the woman spotted me, Dr. Harrison said something to her.
“I’m going to go call Elliot.” I heard her say before nodding to me and walking
off.
    “I’m sorry, Gray. We’ve had sort of an emergency
here.” He glanced over to the closed door the woman came from.
    The sobbing continued along with incoherent words. The
door opened, releasing a nurse who attempted to cover her distress with a smile.
“I’ll try back in a few minutes.”
    Dr. Harrison nodded.
    “Look,” I said when the nurse passed us. “You’ve
obviously got your hands full here. I’m going to go.” I started to turn when
his hand touched my wrist, sending a chill along the back of my neck.
    “Just a minute.”
    I turned to meet his gaze, his features attempting to
mask something. A trace of sadness or