Hollow (Perfect Little Pieces) Read Online Free Page B

positively amazing. How did he manage to talk so fast? How could he be so full of life in a place where the people looked half-dead?
    Jayden turned away and pressed his ear to the door once more. “Tomorrow, after the Rec Therapy session, we’ll talk. You’ll be all right until then?”
    I nodded.
    “Good.” He closed the distance between us, framed my face with his hands, and kissed my forehead. “Stay safe.”
    He let go and stepped back. The look on his face suggested that the spontaneous affection had surprised him as much as it did me. Cool air whispered against my skin, leaving me confused. I swayed on my feet as he opened the door and disappeared into the hallway.
    The door closed, and it felt as if the energy had been sucked out of the room. I felt cold and empty without his presence. Things were much too quiet. I rubbed my arms and curled up in my bed, suddenly feeling very much alone.
     
    *  *  *  *  *
     
    I was getting ready for dinner, when a knock sounded at my door. My heartbeat quickened and the darkness lifted in my chest. Did Jayden come back? After a quick finger-comb of my hair, I went to answer the door. Elias stood there, a wide grin on his face.
    “You got a phone call.”
    Phone call? From whom? I thought phone calls weren’t allowed until I had enough points. How many points did I have anyway?
    I opened my mouth to ask him these questions, but Elias had already started down the hall. I followed him past the common room to a small place just off the reception area.
    “The communications room,” Elias explained. There were rows of tables, each with two old-fashioned corded phones on them. Patients sat at various intervals, talking in hushed tones to loved ones on the other line. I immediately picked out the big, burly patient from this morning. Thank goodness he was sitting at a table with no free phones. He looked up at me as I passed and I caught a glimpse of the wildness in his golden eyes. His eyebrow twitched, and he scowled. I edged closer to the staff members along the perimeter as he started mumbling to himself in a language I didn’t understand.
    “You’ve showed up to enough meetings to earn you points for this phone call.” Elias grinned as he motioned to one of the tables. “You have ten minutes. Then I’ll take you to dinner.”
    I stared at the empty seat, unsure. On the other end of that phone sat someone from my past. I didn’t know if I wanted to talk to them.
    “Come on, sit.”
    I did as Elias instructed. He patted me on the back and moved away, presumably to get a different patient for another phone call. I moistened my lips and turned back to the receiver as questions filled my head.
    Who on Earth could be calling me? It couldn’t possibly be my mother. She’d make some big show out of seeing her daughter. What was the point in visiting if she couldn’t broadcast her good deed on the evening news? No, it had to be someone else, but who?
    I wiped the sweat from my palms on my jeans and picked up the receiver.
    “Hello?”
    “Hey Lucy, it’s Mia. How’s it going?”
    “Fine.”
    “Are you up for a visit?”
    I glanced around at the other patients, murmuring into their phones. “Not yet.” I wasn’t sure if I could handle Mia coming here. She and Bethany were my best friends, and a part of my old life.
    “Oh,” she sounded disappointed, and I felt bad for refusing her visit. Still, I didn’t think I was ready to face her just yet. After the accident, Mia had grieved and put the whole incident behind her. I was jealous of how she managed to hold everything together and live her life. Then again, she wasn’t there that night. She didn’t know what really happened. I did.
    “Perhaps some other time, then.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Do you have time to talk?”
    “A little.”
    She updated me on Jack and Kirsten, Molly, Derek and Denise. As she chatted about their love lives, jobs, vacations and accomplishments, I felt an odd sense of detachment. This