Willingly Stepped into the Fire

Everything happened so quickly that it left my mind spinning. The man and woman I remembered from my childhood were so different. I mean, they looked the same but the influx of shame, guilt, and a little bit of hope that rolled across their faces was new.

The only expression my mother ever directed toward me was contempt. Now, there was so much love I was frozen. I didn't know what to think.

My skepticism most have shown on my face because she spoke up quickly explaining that she was not herself back then. Apparently, she had been suffering from mental illness. She had been diagnosed shortly after I ran away and was now on a slew of medication that stabilized her moods, so she was better.

My father sat next to me rubbing circles into my hand and throwing in a bit of apology here and there as well. I was genuinely floored. Before I could sufficiently process anything, I felt an episode coming on. The noise level in the restaurant was rising and my mind was zeroing in on the conversations around me.

"I-I, I'm sorry, but I have to go. I can't." Sending a panicked look to Tianna, I gestured to my ears and got up quickly almost toppling over my chair as I scrambled to get to the bathroom. I prayed that putting a solid wall and a door between me and the thunderous noise would make it diminish.

As I rushed off, I glimpsed the shocked look on my parents' faces at my sudden departure but I desperately needed to get away. I barely made it inside the bathroom before everything reached a crescendo and I all but collapsed into the first stall I opened.

Back Inside The Restaurant

"Mr. and Mrs. Winspere, you have to help her! I'm Tianna by the way. Sorry I didn't introduce myself before. There is something you must know about why Nikki came back so suddenly.

Lately, she's been having these…episodes.

Sometimes it's her hearing. It will magnify to the point where she can hear everything within a five-block radius and then she passes out. Then there are times when her eyes will be so sensitive to light that she draws the curtains and can't leave her room for days.

Other times she gets extremely ravenous but eating makes her sick. I was able to convince her to see a team of doctors back home but, they were useless. Every test they ran came back showing either inconclusive or that she's okay.

There was even one doctor who suggested that the episodes were in her mind and that she should seek professional help for it. That doctor I gave a piece of my mind, but I digress. The point is that Nikki needs your help. She's having one of those episodes right now. That's why she ran off to the bathroom."

The crying, concerned, couple who had looked bewildered and a little hurt, only seconds ago were now looking at each other with such calculating eyes that I was stunned. It was like watching a mask fall off. Almost immediately, the look was gone.

For a moment, I doubted what I had seen but I had learned to notice flashes of emotion from living with an abusive husband. I was sensitive to minute facial expressions. I frowned.

"She has progressed that far? We need to get her back to the lab right now. Tianna, is it? Come, help me carry Nikki to our car. My love, settle the bill and start making arrangements."

Mrs. Winspere was quick to her feet, firing commands, and rushing towards the bathroom. She tried to look concerned but her glee was too much to hide from someone who knew the signs of an abuser. I could see that she was gloating at her daughter's pain. Michael used to have that same look after he smacked me around.

There was nothing I could do though. I had promised Nikki that I would give her parents the benefit of the doubt because they were the best genetic scientists on the East Coast. Still, I didn't trust them; not for a second!