Ten | newtmas

forty seven

I have to leave. Leave Thomas. Leave Chuck. I have to say goodbye and face everything ahead of me alone. Recovery, my parents' divorce, trying to expose TIMI; it'll all be on me to handle. Can I do that? Is all of that even possible?

Dr. Paige and Dr. Janson are supposed to meet us in here any moment. We're back in my building, and we're in Ava's office. Being in here with my parents makes it all seem a lot smaller. They have no clue what's gone down here, so they probably don't think much of the place. To them, it's just an institution that their son doesn't belong in anymore. But I'll always see it as a lot more than that.

The Normals are in their class now, so we didn't run into anyone on the way in. That's probably a good thing, though. If I'd seen Thomas...

I hear Ava Paige and Janson enter the room from behind me, but I don't turn my head to look at them. This is about to be wildly uncomfortable, but it's nothing compared to what's coming.

They both sit down; Ava in her chair behind her desk, and Janson awkwardly sitting in a smaller chair to the side of her.

"We have to discuss Newton's outpatient treatment plan," Janson starts.

"So he'll just be seeing a therapist weekly, right?" my mother says.

"You can have him continue coming here for therapy and possibly a group—"

"No," my mom cuts him off. I look at her, then at Janson.

"I could keep coming to therapy here?" I ask.

"We're not interested in doing that, we've found a local therapist for him," Mom says.

So am I just not getting any say at all with this whole thing? She never told me that, and I didn't know coming here was even an option. Coming here would mean possibly seeing Thomas every week. "But Mom—"

"Newt, please," she says.

"Alright, well, we just have to go over a few other things then," Janson says.

As they discuss my medication, I feel anger building in my chest. Dr. Paige doesn't jump in often, and it makes me wonder why she's even here. The only consolation in this situation is the fact that she lost. But the rest of the situation frustrates me so much that even that isn't helping.

I don't speak much either until something comes up that I refuse to let be decided for me.

"Could we take him now?" my father—surprisingly enough—asks.

"No," I say, flying forward in my seat and shaking my head. Ava Paige raises her eyebrows. "I-I need to get my stuff together and pack," I add.

"You're going to make us come all the way back tomorrow?" Dad asks.

I'm fed up. With him, with Ava Paige, with being helpless, with everything. I'm not even sure what's about to come out of my mouth when my mother interjects.

"That's fine, sweetie," she says. I look at her, and the relief that floods through me at the one victory is small, but appreciated.

"Thank you," I say, sitting back in my chair.

Tomorrow it is.

They continue talking until finally they feel they've made a good enough plan for me without any of my input, and my parents tell me they'll be back for me tomorrow after lunch. Just like when Frypan left.

Mom brings me back to my room, and I check the clock in the hallway to see that it's only nine. The Normals won't be out until almost ten.

She stops my chair when we get into the room, and I stand up slowly, trying not to show my shakiness. Lunch isn't until noon, but I don't know if I could stomach anything right now anyway.