Kill Switch Read Online Free PDF Page B

silence.
    â€œSomething’s wrong,” she said to Curtin. “Why isn’t Claire saying anything?”
    â€œAfter what she just got out of him, you’re asking that?” demanded Curtin. “Are you serious?”
    â€œYes, I’m serious,” Fairborn shot back. “Look at her. She’s as stiff as a piece of steel.”
    Curtin looked at the monitor. Sure enough, Claire was staring into space. Then, through the speakers, they heard Claire say, “How did you feel when you saw your mother kill your father and his lover?”
    Â 
    Claire knew the words were wrong as they were leaving her mouth. But Quimby’s story had shut her down.
    â€œHow do you think I felt? Are you blind or didn’t you see what you made me go through?”
    She picked up his file, reading to cover her discomfort. “I mean, was your heart racing? Were you sweating? Breathing hard?”
    â€œI can’t remember, okay? I was nine. What difference does it make?”
    â€œBecause that’s a sign of an anxiety disorder. If you’re anxious now, we have medication to help you with that.” Amy, what did he do to you? Stop! Stop! I don’t want to think about it....
    â€œI’ve been on medication. Xanax, Klonopin. That shit didn’t work.”
    â€œFrom the looks of things, you’ve been self-medicating,” Claire said, her face buried in his medical records. What is happening to me?
    â€œYou mean the dope? I was just having a good time.”
    â€œOr were you trying to forget about a bad time.”
    â€œWhat the hell kind of therapist are you?”
    â€œTherapy doesn’t work without the truth. Were you high when you exposed yourself to those women?” Dammit! Focus on him .
    â€œNo. I just had an urge. But I learned to stifle them in here.”
    â€œThen why were you taking the drugs?”
    Quimby’s features tightened up. Now he leaned toward her. “You ever see something so horrible, that scared you so much you knew you’d spend the rest of your life trying to forget it?”
    Claire sprang out of her chair. “I’ll be seeing you once a week,” she said, her voice icy. “You must be on time. It’s a condition of your parole that you come to all your appointments at my office in Manhattan City Hospital.”
    Claire scribbled the building and room number on a slip of paper, handed it to Quimby, and without another word headed for the door.
    â€œWhat’s your first name?” came Quimby’s voice.
    Claire stopped, turned back to him. He was smiling.
    â€œIt’s Claire,” she answered. “Why?”
    â€œClaire Waters? Clear Waters?”
    â€œSo?”
    â€œYour parents ever tell you why they named you that?”
    He was still smiling. The same look as when she first came into the room. He thinks he has me . He’s right.
    â€œThis isn’t about me.”
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    â€œWhat the hell happened to her?” Fairborn asked as she watched Claire on the monitor leave the room.
    â€œI don’t know,” said Curtin. “It’s like she hit a brick wall.”
    â€œIn her head,” replied Fairborn. “Not in his. She was doing so well until she started looking for a chemical explanation for Mr. Quimby’s problems.”
    â€œI saw it, too, Lois,” Curtin replied, annoyed.
    â€œShe can’t handle the stress, Paul,” Fairborn said. “She can’t separate herself from what the patient is going through.”
    â€œShe’ll learn.”
    â€œYou wanted her and I supported you,” Fairborn said. “But we don’t need someone who dodges the truth by turning to pharmacology for answers. If she can’t deal with sick, twisted people, she’ll never be a star.”
    Curtin stood up. The light from the monitor cast a metallic glint in his blue eyes. He looked down at Fairborn, still seated.
    â€œI’ll make her a