Split (Split #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

was supposed to be. After all, the study itself had fallen into her lap so randomly--off of Craigslist of all places! Maybe it was all a big sign.
    “Wonderful, Claire. Are you ready for your little nap today? I have you scheduled for another three hours!”
    “Sounds like a good afternoon to me.” Claire picked up the pink pill from the table in front of her, jumping back into her happy place.
     
    ***
     
    The sun was just about to rise from behind their view of the Pacific. It was the end of a great vacation in Orange County, Claire had spent the week doing nothing but cooking seafood and knitting the blanket that currently lay underneath them on the sand.
    Luke had woken her up at 4am, with a bottle of wine in one hand and the blanket in the other. “Let’s go enjoy the beach.”
    Claire knew that “enjoy the beach” really meant “have sex on the beach.” She was completely okay with that. The waves crashed calmly into the shore as they made love. No one else was on the beach; they may as well have been the last two people on Earth. Maybe, in this world, they were.
    “I missed you the other day.” Luke was always whispering.
    “You missed me? Where was I?” She giggled.
    “You were gone. You were gone all day.” She laughed him off; he was so cute when he pretended to complain about something. Like a little puppy.
    “I’m here right now, you.” Claire playfully tugged at his hair.
    They bantered like this for a few minutes before Luke pulled her up from the blanket and walked her down to the gentle ocean waves.
    “Close your eyes, Kitten.” She nearly rolled her eyes; he was always about the surprises.
    “Mmmkay.”
    “Open.”
    There, on one knee, Luke asked her to marry him. A sapphire engagement ring sparkled in his hands.
    “So yes. So yes.” She whispered.
    He grabbed her for a kiss---
     
    ***
     
    Claire woke up with a start, smiling despite herself. A wave of sadness hit her as she wondered if that’s how Luke would have really proposed.
    Dr. Johns knew a lot about Luke by now, there would have been no other way for Claire to keep participating in the study. She knew more about Luke than almost anyone but Claire, really.
    “You seemed to be happy with how things went today. How was Luke?”
    “He proposed.”
    “My goodness, that is a good day.” It was nice to feel like Dr. Johns understood her feelings. She seemed to get that this was Claire’s way of working through her past.
    “It was really perfect.”
    Dr. Johns made a few notes in her book, as she always did. Now that their relationship was less chilly, Claire had been meaning to ask her a question for a few weeks.
    “Dr. Johns?”
    “Claire, you can call me Elizabeth now. I think we see each other too often to be so formal, don’t you?”
    “Yeah, thank you. So, Elizabeth, can I ask a question?”
    “Of course.”
    “I’ve been wondering why I only ever dream of Luke. Is that something you can tell me without compromising the study?” She knew the answer was probably no.
    “Well, I can tell you that often participants dream about what’s most important to them. Beyond that, yes, any other information would compromise the work we’re doing here. I’m sorry about that. Hopefully I’ll be able to tell you one day.”
    Claire was looking forward to that day, to when all of this would start to make a little more sense. Until then, she wasn’t really complaining. She looked at her left ring finger, and tried to imagine how that beautiful Sapphire would have looked on it.
     
    ***
     
    The only time Claire had time to meet Sarah for lunch this week was right after her session. It wasn’t ideal, Claire liked to have time to go home and process her dreams before hanging out with any of her “real life” people. Today was especially difficult; she just couldn’t stop thinking about that proposal. She felt giddy and unbearably sad all at once.
    “Ohh, I’ve been meaning to do lunch at Good forever. Let’s go