Chapter 1

Inside the livestream of Melvin Gilbert, the therapist influencer with millions of followers, he was walking another millions-strong influencer through a counseling session.

The other man was Elijah Swanson, an autistic influencer who had mastered every kind of instrument. Right now he was tied down to a chair.

Three days ago, he had suddenly started hurting himself.

Before that, he simply never talked to anyone, lost inside his own world of music.

Now, the moment the ropes came loose, he would tear at himself like a man possessed.

Melvin had all but talked himself hoarse without the slightest effect, and could only sigh at Elijah's mother and sister.

"You've both seen it for yourselves. Eli is very sick."

"My recommendation is hospitalization. Medication combined with shock therapy. There's an eighty percent cure rate."

Patricia Butler covered her mouth and began to cry. "But—but Eli is terrified of unfamiliar places."

I badly wanted to warn her that the drugs Melvin liked to use were foreign, never cleared in clinical trials, and that shock therapy did enormous damage to the internal organs.

And that a patient might look cured on the surface, but not long after coming home, the illness would only get worse.

But I had no proof. I didn't dare say it.

And Patricia had already lifted the pen to sign Elijah into treatment.

"I don't want to be hospitalized, and I don't want to be shocked!"

"There's a reason I hurt myself!"

"Someone save me!"

I heard Elijah speaking, but his mouth hadn't moved. Was this his inner voice?

1.

"Ms. Butler, maybe I could try!"

My conscience wouldn't let me stand there and watch Elijah be hurt.

Especially not after hearing his inner voice. I couldn't sit still now.

"Try what?"

Patricia asked, puzzled, her signing hand pausing.

"Who are you?"

Kathryn Swanson frowned and turned to Melvin. "Dr. Gilbert, is she your livestream assistant?"

Melvin shot me a hard glare. "Samantha Pruitt, you're a psych intern, and you're here as my livestream assistant. Watch your mouth."

That only made Kathryn angrier. "An intern. Who said you get a say? My brother's problem is this serious, and you think it's something an intern can just try her hand at?"

Melvin had a huge following, and the viewers in his stream weren't happy either.

"Some nobody intern thinks she can question Dr. Gilbert's authority?"

"Looks to me like she just wants to leech off his traffic."

"Stupid intern, shut your mouth before you get someone killed."

Melvin's eyes carried a threat now. "Samantha, you haven't even graduated, and you dare show off in front of me? Do you still want that degree?"

Studying medicine had cost a fortune to begin with. My family had lived hard for years just to put me through it.

If I couldn't graduate, not only would over a decade of study be wasted, my future would be gone too, and I'd have dragged the whole family down for nothing.

The pressure was crushing. I didn't dare say another word.

Seeing me go quiet, Kathryn quickly turned to Patricia. "Mom, just sign it."

Patricia glanced at me, and when I still made no sound, she got ready to sign.

But I saw it clearly. Right then, Elijah was staring at me with a look that begged for help.

He wore a white shirt and black slacks, his whole frame painfully thin, yet his features were still striking.

Beneath the long, loose strands of hair, his eyes seemed filled with pain and sorrow.

"You can hear my voice, can't you?"

"Otherwise you wouldn't have wanted to try just now."

"Please, will you help me?"

"I have a private account. Just help me, and I'll give you two hundred thousand. Two hundred thousand!"

Elijah's voice rose in my mind again.

So it was true.

I really could hear his inner voice.

And so, at the risk of never graduating, I strode straight up to him.

I crouched down, laid my hand on his knee, tilted my head up to look at him, and asked, "You said there's a reason you hurt yourself. Tell me what it is."