The room is too quiet.Spadino’s soundproofing works too well. The acoustic foam on the walls swallows every noise, creating a dead, muffled silence that presses against my ears like cotton.I am pacing.Click. Click. Click.My boots on the hardwood floor are the only sound in the universe.I stop at the window. It is closed. Locked. The view is the same—guards, rain, grey sky.I turn around.I look at the tray of vitamins on the table. The horse pill. The red iron supplement. The glass of water, now lukewarm.I look at the pillows Spadino piled on the bed. A mountain of soft, suffocating velvet.I look at the door where the lock used to be.I can't breathe.It starts in my chest. A tightness. A heat. It spreads to my throat, choking me. It spreads to my hands, making my fingers twitch.It isn't fear. It isn't sadness.It is rage.Pure, molten, radioactive rage.I am tired of being handled. I am tired of being protected. I am tired of being a vessel, a prize, a problem, a patient.I a
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