Chapter 3

"Who did this?" Ethan repeated, his grip on Chloe' s arm tightening slightly. He turned to the facility director, who had just entered the room. "I want an explanation. Why is she covered in bruises?"

Before the director could answer, Liam rushed in, clutching his arm. He had a bandage wrapped around his forearm, though there was nothing wrong with it.

"Ethan, you have to be careful," Liam said, his voice strained with fake pain. "She just had another violent outburst. She went crazy, screaming and flailing. She attacked me when I tried to calm her down."

Ethan' s brief moment of concern for Chloe vanished, replaced by renewed anger and disappointment. He let go of her arm as if it were contaminated.

"Chloe, how could you?" he said, his voice laced with disgust. "Liam is sick, and you attack him? Is there no end to your cruelty?"

Chloe didn' t respond. She just stared blankly ahead, the world a blur of white and gray. She felt a sharp pain in her back where Nurse Emily had shoved her against the bed frame earlier. She swayed, a wave of dizziness washing over her.

"She needs to see a doctor," Dr. Jenkins said firmly, stepping forward. "Not just for the bruises. She' s running a fever and her back-"

Just then, a young doctor who was doing rounds on the floor walked in. He was a childhood friend of Chloe' s, Dr. Mark Evans, though she didn' t recognize him in her fogged state. He looked at the patient on the bed, his professional gaze assessing her condition.

"Her pupils are dilated, and she' s showing signs of severe dehydration and trauma," Mark said, his voice serious. He gently lifted the back of Chloe' s gown and saw the massive, dark bruise spreading across her lower back. "This is not self-inflicted. This is a sign of abuse."

Liam immediately stepped in front of Mark, blocking his view of Chloe. "Doctor, you don't know her history," Liam said smoothly, his voice dripping with condescension. "Chloe has a history of self-harm. She does these things for attention. Isn't that right, Ethan? You've seen her spiral before."

Ethan nodded, his face a mask of certainty. He remembered all the times Liam had pointed out Chloe's "manipulative" behavior, twisting her moments of sadness or frustration into something sinister.

"He's right," Ethan said to Mark. "She' s been unstable for a long time. She needs help, not accusations."

Mark looked from Liam' s smug face to Ethan' s misguided certainty, and then to the vacant, suffering woman on the bed. He didn't recognize her as the vibrant girl he grew up with, but he knew something was terribly wrong. Liam saw the doubt in the young doctor' s eyes.

"In fact," Liam said, turning to Ethan with an air of decisive concern, "I don' t think this facility is equipped to handle her anymore. Her violence is escalating. I know of another place, a private institution that specializes in extreme cases. We should move her tonight."