As the police car cruised toward the suburbs, I felt increasingly deste. udia''s words lingered in my


    mind.


    "Ariana, you have no idea how much pain you''ve caused Nick," she said.


    Fear was no longer evident in her eyes. Instead, she eyed me curiously, as if the more tragic she made. Nichs sound, the guiltier I would feel.


    She showed me a video on her phone. The surveince footage was somewhat blurry, but it was still possible to discern what Nichs was doing.


    He was writing, but he suddenly froze, looking like agging character in a virtual world after receiving too manymands all at once. Once his mind sorted through themands, the pen''s function was no longer to write.


    A few people rushed into his room. They took the pen from his arm and injected an unknown substance into his body.


    His tall frame immediately went limp, and he was carried to the bed without any form of dignity. From that moment on, pens would no longer exist in his room again.


    In the next frame, Nichs was clearly arguing with udia about something. His fury startled her, but he calmed down after she handed him the phone.


    Cradling the phone against the wall, he had remained silent for the entire afternoon. Yet, he seemed unaffected when his phone was taken away at night. "Do you know why Nick stopped being obsessed with his phone?" udia asked.


    1 shook my head.


    She said, "Because Nick said, ''She never called me"."


    Sucking in a deep breath, I asked, "Why didn''t he just tell me?"


    She smiled. Shaking the handcuffs on her wrist, she began coquettishly, "How would I know? Men can be


    sensitive."


    I fell silent as I scrolled through udia''s album. There were more photos and videos of Nichs than of herself-she had indeed put a lot of effort into Nichs. "What did the doctor say? Is there any possibility of him recovering?" I asked.


    "There is, but there''s no rush. I have


    plenty of time to be with him," she replied pretending to be knowledgeable. "At least I think it''s fine now. He''ll only need mean the future."


    I frowned, not believing that merepanionship could cure


    someone''s illness. From the videos on udia''s phone, it was clear that besides injecting Nichs with tranquilizers, he hadn''t received any treatment.


    Recalling my meeting with Nichs yesterday, he was fully conscious and capable of living independently. Why would he willingly shut himself away? Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    I had too many questions that udia couldn''t provide objective answers for I took out my phone and called Dr. Edmund, asking him to help me contact the most renowned psychiatrist in Radiant City for a consultation-the sooner, the better. Money wasn''t an issue.


    Scenes from my dreams shed incessantly in my mind, and I couldn''t help but shout, "Go faster!"


    I needed to save him, not let him give up on himself!


    udia scoffed, "Ariana, don''t bother. Do you want me to remind you how harsh you were to Nick? It''s all toote now-you''re already divorced, anyway.


    "I advise you not to show up in front of him directly, or your actions might hurt him again. Just watch- Nick only needs me!"