Waiting for Jake and the doctor to finish their first meeting was torture. It didn't help that the waiting room was devoid of magazines, and I didn't have a phone. I had to force myself to stop staring at the paintings on the wall. I swear if I looked at them for too long the abstract shapes blended into a mask with a deadly gaze. It of course brought back memories of that stupid rutsack. It amazed me how one foolish decision made by Richy to try to pressure Amy into confessing just kept spiralling into new complications. Even when he tried to end his own life, he only caused more problems. Would the consequences of his actions ever end? The longer I stared at the painting, the more I felt a desire to slap it silly, which was ridiculous. It was just a random assortment of shapes, right?

Suddenly the office door burst open causing me to jump out of my seat. Jake marched out towards the front of the office, but stopped at the door and slammed his hand onto the door frame. Dr. Cumming leant on his office door frame arms folded with an inquisitive look on his face.

"Jake? Are you ok?" I asked nervously.

"These things happen," the doctor tried to excuse the scene I just witnessed.

"You normally have patients exiting your office in a fit of anger?" I frowned.

"Only when they are told things they don't want to hear," Dr. Cumming stood upright. "Jake, how soon can I see you again? We still have a lot to discuss."

"Um, next week?" I suggested.

"No, it is in everyone's best interests that we meet sooner," the doctor answered grimly.

"Tomorrow," Jake sighed.

"Tomorrow it is," Dr. Cumming confirmed.

"Wait, shouldn't you give him time between sessions?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Quite frankly we cannot afford the delay," Dr. Cumming responded vaguely. "This arrangement already goes beyond my better judgement."

"What are you talking about?" I asked perplexed.

Jake glanced at me with such a pained expression on his face that I couldn't understand, "Tomorrow is fine."

Jake unlocked the door and exited the office without another word. I shrugged and followed reluctantly. Before I walked through the threshold though, Dr. Cumming cleared his throat causing me pause.

"Keep my number close at hand, MC," Dr. Cumming warned quietly so Jake would not hear.

Closing the door behind me, I eyed the doctor one last time. His general soft expression was replaced by a cold stare with dissatisfaction written all over his face. By the time I turned back, Jake was already at the end of the hall about to head down the stairs to the basement car park. I had to run to catch up to him before he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Jake, are you ok?" I repeated. "What happened back there?"

"Nothing," Jake shook his head as he marched towards the rear gate, reaching into his backpack to pull out the RFID replicator.

"That wasn't nothing! What is this arrangement the doctor mentioned?" I pushed.

"Medication, alright? He has me trying a prescription," Jake answered abruptly.

"Well, that was to be expected, right?" I frowned in confusion. "You used to self-prescribe. Now you have a medical professional to make sure you're getting the appropriate drugs in correct dosages."

"Yeah, whatever," I noticed Jake rolling his eyes as pushed open the gate.

"There's something else you're not telling me," I sighed.

"I don't want to talk about it, ok?" Jake glared at me while holding open the gate. His chilling gaze sent shivers down my spine. "I've had enough talking for one night."

That was the last time Jake spoke to me that night. Even though we stopped to buy more supplies for treating my burns on the way back, he didn't look or speak to me again the entire trip back. As soon as we returned to our hideout, he headed straight for his desk, plopped headphones over his ears and buried himself in his laptop. I tried to get his attention when I headed for sleep, but he just waved his hand and grunted. Feeling hopeless, I let him be and went to sleep on the couch.

The next morning, before doing anything else, I looked for Jake to check on him. However, after searching high and low, I couldn't find him anywhere. I checked everywhere I could think of for a message from Jake, but there was nothing. Out of options, I sat down at his desk and opened his laptop with the intention of loading the CCTV feeds to figure out where he had gone that morning. However, when I entered his PIN on the login screen, instead of being greeted with his desktop I was greeted with an error message.

<<Incorrect PIN>>

I shook my head in disbelief, convinced I had somehow mistyped it and re-entered the PIN.

<<Incorrect PIN>>

Dumbfounded, I stared at the screen for a good five minutes trying to come up with any logical reason for Jake changing the PIN on me. Had our discussion the other day been compromised? It had to have been it. The idea he locked me out intentionally was beyond my comprehension at the time.

I went over to my laptop and unlocked it successfully on the first attempt. Closing my eyes, I tried to remember the details for the CCTV system, but I just kept coming up with a blank. I considered trying to contact Trix, but the last time I let my paranoia get the best of me I ended up making things worse. I decided I would give Jake a few hours before I raised the alarms. In the meantime, I tried my best to distract myself by watching videos on TikTok, but every little sound had me jumping to check if Jake was returning.

However, Jake didn't return until after 3 in the afternoon.

I ran down the stairs just as he exited the side storage room. He stopped in surprise when he saw me standing halfway down the stairs.

"Where the hell have you been!?" I exclaimed.

Jake reached into his back pocket and held up a phone. Then he pushed to show that he didn't have just one phone, but two.

"It took longer than I expected," he shrugged. "I thought I would be back before you got up."

"Excuse me!? I've been up for over four fucking hours!" I snapped. "You can't just do that! Not after what happened two days ago! You tell me where you're going and what you're doing! You don't leave me in the dark!"

Jake frowned, "Now I can tell you when I'm going to be late. How was I to tell you without access to a device?"

"I don't know! Go to a fucking library or an internet café and send me a fucking email! You didn't even try!" I shook my head in disbelief.

Jake rolled his eyes and shoved the phones back into his pocket, then walked off to the bathroom, "What's been done, is done. There's no point dwelling on it. Next time, I will be able to message you."

I bit my lip in anger, then went after him, "You don't even care, do you? What's with your laptop anyway? You didn't tell me the new PIN."

Jake stood in the doorway to the men's toilet and turned to look back me, "You're right. I didn't."

"What happened to making sure I can keep an eye on my surroundings when you're away?" I asked confused.

"I've changed my mind on the matter," he answered nonchalantly, then shut the door before I could say anything else.

"You'll make sure I can track your whereabouts on the new phone, won't you!?" I shouted.

No answer. There was no way he didn't hear me. His silence spoke volumes.

I threw my arms in the air and went back upstairs, then angrily sank into my chair in front of my laptop. Ever since the fire Jake had been keeping his distance from me. I thought seeing the psychiatrist would improve matters, but it only seemed to make the situation worse. How long was he out today? The last time he picked up a phone, it took him only minutes, not hours to do so. Did it really take him that long to lift two phones? I started to seriously doubt it was the only thing he did today, but why was he being so cagey about it? Given everything that we've been through, what could he be hiding from me?

Eventually Jake came up the stairs, but he avoided eye contact and went straight to his desk. He tossed the phones beside his laptop, then rummaging through his bag for a connection cable. I waited to see if he would even spare me a look, but he went straight to work on resetting the phones.

"You're still good to visit Dr. Cumming tonight?" I questioned.

Jake was quiet for a moment, then responded with a meek, "Yes."

I shook my head and went back to browsing on my laptop. I had to hope that this was just a rough patch as he adjusted to the sessions. I knew I had to be patient and give Jake space, but so much of this relationship relied on trust. It was clear he didn't trust me anymore and that frustrated me to no end.

After a couple of hours I got up to get ready for going out. By the time I had finished getting ready, Jake approached and handed me my new phone.

"I didn't have time to load up your last back-up, but at least you won't be bored in the waiting room," he said nervously.

"Jake," I sighed. "Tell me the truth. Was stealing these phones really the only thing you did while you were out?"

"You don't believe me," he frowned.

"You were gone, how long? Five, six hours?" I questioned.

Jake tilted his head uncomfortably, "I had to lose some cops chasing me."

"You nearly got caught?" I asked wide-eyed. "Why didn't you just say that?"

"I screwed up. I got sloppy. It's not something I am proud of," he shrugged and looked away.

"But you managed to get away and return to me," I smiled and cupped his face with my hands. "That's something, right?"

Jake darted his eyes away to ensure they didn't meet mine, "We should go before we miss the train."

I nodded, "I am ready when you are."

"Let us go then," he turned away and headed for the side exit, pulling his hood over his head as he went.

The second trip to the doctor's office didn't feel nearly as long as the first, and even with new phones, I spent most of my time keeping an eye on Jake, trying to work out what was going on with him while we sat on the train. After a few stops, I pulled out my new phone and examined the default home screen. Sure I could take time to customise it, but I preferred waiting for the back-up to reinstalled first. Then I remembered the doctor's words from the night before.

<<Keep my number close at hand, MC.>>

I thought for sure Jake didn't hear the doctor issue that warning, but glancing over to Jake who was still brooding next to me, perhaps he did hear it. Maybe he wanted to make sure I actually had a method of calling for help. Or did the doctor say something to Jake? The sudden urgency of obtaining new phones started to feel rather suspicious.

Jake suddenly stood up, catching me by surprise. He turned back when I didn't immediately stand as well and looked at me confused, "Ours is the next stop."

"Oh!" I jumped up, realising I had completely lost track of time.

"Is something wrong?" Jake raised his eyebrow.

"Why did you leave so abruptly this morning to get new phones? Were you worried about me?" I asked.

Jake frowned, "I got us new phones because we need phones. There is nothing complicated about that. Especially if we're going to be doing this trip several times a week, it is mutually beneficial to have some mobile entertainment."

"Uh-huh..." I narrowed my eyes, completely not buying it. "It's ok, I understand."

"Think whatever you want," Jake shook his head and headed for the train door just as we pulled up at the station.

Jake didn't say anything else for the rest of the trip to the doctor's office, barely acknowledging me again. The cold shoulder had reached the point of becoming unbearable. I tried to keep myself positive on the whole situation, but the voices in my head would not quiet.

I'm losing him.