Chapter 4: The Unexpected Visitor
The gray dawn had bled into a flat, white morning. Susanna was on the frayed couch, a magazine open but unread on her lap.Her fingers worried at its torn edges, a nervous pulse against the quiet. Lisa was in the kitchenette, the aggressive clatter of a knife against a cutting board punctuating the silence.She was making breakfast, a performance of domesticity.
“You need to eat,” Lisa called out, not turning around.“You’re getting all bony. Makes you look haunted.”
“I am haunted,” Susanna murmured, but the words were lost under the sound of sizzling butter.That’s when the knock came. Three precise, professional raps on the apartment door.The knife went still. Lisa’s shoulders tensed, a predator catching a new scent on the wind.Susanna felt her own heart stutter, a guilty, hopeful little jump. No one visited them.Ever.Lisa turned, her expression already shifting. The morning’s residual sleepiness evaporated, replaced by a sharp, calculating alertness. She wiped her hands on a dish towel, her eyes locked on Susanna’s. “Expecting someone?”
Susanna shook her head, a lie they both saw through.
Lisa moved to the door and looked through the peephole.A subtle, cold smile touched her lips.“Well, well. The good doctor makes house calls.” The charm was snapping into place, a visible armor clicking over her. She unlocked the door and opened it wide.Dr. Wick stood in the hallway, a silhouette of competence against the dim corridor.She wore a simple trench coat, her expression one of mild concern. Her gaze swept past Lisa, finding Susanna on the couch.“Susanna.I was in the neighborhood. I wanted to check in.”
Lisa leaned against the doorframe, blocking full entry but radiating welcome.“Dr. Wick!What a surprise. Come in, it’s a mess, but we’re just having some breakfast.” Her voice was all warmth, a hostess delighted by an unexpected guest. “Suze didn’t mention you were stopping by.”
“It was an impulse,” Dr. Wick said, stepping inside. Her eyes took in the room—the sticky notes, the leaning towers of boxes, the gallery of Polaroids documenting Susanna’s captivity in increments. Her gaze lingered on the photo of Susanna’s wrist, the silver bracelet prominent.
“Can I take your coat?” Lisa offered, already moving as if to help remove it.“I’m fine, thank you.” Dr. Wick’s tone was polite but firm.She turned her attention to Susanna. “How are you feeling today?”
Susanna opened her mouth, but Lisa was there, a hand suddenly on her shoulder, squeezing.“She’s tired.We had a late night. But she’s okay, right, sweetheart?We’re okay.”
The pressure of Lisa’s fingers was a warning. “I’m okay,” Susanna echoed, her voice thin.
“I’m glad to hear it.” Dr.Wick didn’t sit. She remained standing, an island of calm in the cluttered chaos.“Susanna, I was hoping we could speak for a moment. Alone.”
The air in the room changed.The friendly pretense crackled like static.
Lisa’s laugh was a light, tinkling sound that didn’t match the ice in her eyes. “Oh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.She’s really fragile right now, Doctor. Your last session really stirred things up. She came home quite agitated.” She stroked Susanna’s hair.“Weren’t you, baby? All that talk about the past, about boundaries.It’s a lot for her system.”
“I understand your concern, Lisa,” Dr. Wick said, her voice level.“But the therapeutic relationship is confidential. A brief, private conversation is standard.”
“Standard for who?” Lisa’s voice lost its musicality, flattening into something harder.“She’s not one of your specimens. You don’t see her when she gets in her head after talking to you.The crying. The confusion.” She knelt beside the couch, looking up at Susanna with seemingly earnest eyes. “You don’t want to be alone right now, do you?You feel safer with me here.”
Susanna felt split in two. One part screamed yes, yes, get her out, talk to her. The other part, the older, more conditioned part, recoiled at the betrayal in Lisa’s eyes. She felt the phantom ache of the bruises beneath her clothes. “I…”
“See?” Lisa said, triumph softening her features as she looked back at Dr.Wick.“It’s too much. Maybe next time at the office.”
Dr. Wick studied Susanna’s face, reading the conflict there with a clinician’s quiet precision.She took a step closer.“Susanna, it’s important. Just five minutes.”
Lisa stood up, her movement fluid and sudden.She positioned herself between Dr. Wick and the couch, not overtly threatening, but her presence became a wall.“I have to insist, Doctor. As her partner, the person who cares for her day in and day out, I’m saying she’s not up for it. Your ‘wellness check’ is causing more stress than wellness.”
The two women faced each other in the cramped space.The acrid smell of burnt incense seemed to strengthen.
“This isn’t about your comfort, Lisa,” Dr. Wick said, her voice dropping, becoming more direct. “It’s about Susanna’s well-being.”
“And I know her wellbeing better than anyone.” Lisa’s smile was gone now, stripped away. What remained was pure, cold possession.“I think it’s time for you to leave.”
She didn’t move. She simply stood, blocking the path to Susanna, her body a declaration. The locked bedroom door down the hall seemed to hum in the silence, its keychain a silent witness.Dr. Wick held her ground for a long moment, her eyes flicking to Susanna’s desperate, ashamed face.She saw the captivity, clearer here than in any office. A direct confrontation here, now, would only tighten the screws. She gave a small, almost imperceptible nod, a message meant only for Susanna.I see this.“Very well,” Dr.Wick said calmly. She took a card from her pocket and placed it on a stack of boxes. “Susanna, my direct line.Any time.” She turned back to Lisa. “Take care of her.”
“I always do,” Lisa said, the charm returning as she followed Dr.Wick to the now-open doorway. She made sure to stand in the frame, forcing the doctor to step around her. “Thanks for stopping by.Really.”
The door closed.The lock turned with a decisive thunk.
For several heartbeats, there was only silence. Lisa stood with her back to Susanna, her head tilted, listening to the retreating footsteps in the hall.Then she turned. Her expression was one of radiant, vicious triumph. She walked back, sat on the coffee table in front of Susanna, and took her hands.
“See?” she said, her voice a conspiratorial whisper.“See how they try to sneak in and pull us apart?But she’s gone. I protected you.” She leaned forward, her icy eyes searching Susanna’s. “You’re welcome.”
The words were a stone in Susanna’s throat. The apartment, which had felt oppressive before, now felt airtight. The yellowed photos on the walls seemed to lean in, their hollow-eyed versions of herself whispering a single truth: there was no outside. The door had been closed, deliberately, finally. And she had watched it happen from her cage on the couch, complicit in her own disappearance.Lisa kissed her forehead, a benediction. “Now,” she said, springing up, all brightness again. “Let’s eat those eggs before they get totally gross.”