Chapter 279 He Has Never Been Like This Before
Schizophrenia...
That was Caroline's final diagnosis too.
"You're in charge of taking notes." Lina stood up and walked toward the consultation room. "No matter what happens in there, don't panic, don't move, and don't speak. Leave everything to me."
Alexander nodded.
Elena was brought in by a community volunteer.
Elena was in terrible shape, looking disheveled, almost exactly like Caroline had been. The volunteer had clearly tried their best to care for her, but Elena's hair was still tangled and messy, her face drained of color, as if she hadn't slept or eaten properly in a long time.
Elena's gaze was unfocused, but she was highly alert. With each step, she would scan her surroundings first, as if checking for exits and potential dangers, before taking the next step.
The volunteer also seemed exhausted. After handing Elena over to Lina, they left quickly.
"Elena." Lina approached, her voice was gentle. "Come sit down. I've prepared some water for you."
Elena looked around the room, her gaze was inevitably landing on Alexander.
When Elena saw the white-haired man, her body tensed immediately. Her pupils contracted, her lips began moving faster, as if speaking in a low voice to someone invisible, or talking to herself.
"He's my assistant." Lina spoke up promptly. "He won't hurt you. You can trust him, just as you trust me."
Elena stared at Alexander for a few seconds, as if making a judgment. Only after confirming he wasn't moving closer did she gradually relax and slowly shuffle to the chair and sit down.
Elena sat only on the edge of the chair, leaning forward, as if ready to get up and flee at any moment.
Lina sat down across from her and pushed the glass of water toward her.
Elena didn't touch the glass. Her gaze remained fixed on Lina, mumbling something intermittently.
No one could hear clearly what Elena was saying, and she didn't seem to need a response. She just kept speaking in a low voice, her pace sometimes fast, sometimes slow.
Lina listened quietly, occasionally nodding or using a brief "mm-hmm" to show she was present.
Alexander watched Elena, his thoughts drifting away.
Caroline had been like this when she was sick. She would cry at empty corners, then suddenly laugh, as if responding to something others couldn't see.
She would be scared, sad, and occasionally briefly happy, but rarely showed anger.
It was only now that Alexander realized Caroline almost never got angry.
The only time he'd seen it was when he forced Caroline to kill someone, and then forced her to kill Daniel.
What was Caroline thinking in that moment?
Was Caroline thinking, Daniel had saved her, so why couldn't she trust him?
Before and after that, Alexander never saw Caroline lose her temper again.
He even wondered if he had pushed her to the point of having no emotions left.
The tip of his pen pressed unconsciously on the paper, ink spreading and leaving a deep black dot. He started to tremble, but didn't notice immediately.
The next second, Elena suddenly screamed.
She seemed frightened by something, jumped up abruptly, knocking over the chair.
She rushed to the corner, clutching her head with both hands, fingers digging into her tangled hair and pulling hard. She curled herself into a ball, crouching on the floor, trembling violently.
"They're coming... they're coming again..." Elena said in fragments.
"They're cursing me... they say I'm crazy... they say I should die..."
Lina slowly crouched down, moving carefully, approaching Elena bit by bit.
"No one is cursing you, Elena." Lina's voice was steady. "There's only you and me here, and my assistant. No one here will hurt you."
Elena shook her head desperately, tears streaming down, "Can't you hear them? They're right outside! They keep saying... keep saying..."
Alexander almost instinctively stood up, his feet moving forward, as if to rush over.
Elena's face overlapped with Caroline's in Alexander's eyes. He seemed to be back in that hospital room, seeing Caroline dancing alone by the window. When Caroline turned and saw him, fear suddenly exploded, and she was instantly pushed into terror.
A chill crawled up Alexander's spine, his heartbeat losing rhythm.
It was wrong...
He shouldn't have entered Caroline's room that day. He shouldn't have appeared, shouldn't have continued to upset her.
The doctor had clearly said at the time to try not to visit Caroline, not to stimulate her further.
But what did he do?!
He couldn't control himself, still ran over, still intruded into her line of sight, still frightened her.
Lina reached out her hand, gently covering Elena's hand.
"I heard them." Lina softened her voice. "But what I heard wasn't cursing you."
"What I heard was them saying you're very brave. You've held on this long, and that's not easy."
Elena's trembling paused.
Elena lifted her head, tears blurring her vision, and looked at Lina. "Really?"
"Really." Lina nodded, her tone serious. "I won't lie to you."
Elena stared at Lina for a few seconds, then slowly released her hands from her head.
Elena's shoulders were still shaking, but clearly not as badly as before.
Lina helped Elena back to the chair and handed her the glass of water. "Have some water."
Elena held the glass with both hands. Slowly, she calmed down, and her fingers gradually stopped trembling.
She began to sip the water. With each sip, Elena would look up and scan her surroundings, as if confirming the environment was still safe, before continuing.
Alexander stood frozen in place.
His notebook had fallen to the floor, but he hadn't noticed.
When Caroline was sick, he had never treated her this way, not once.
He found doctors for Caroline, got her medication. He tried to control her, tied her to the bed, gave her sedative injections.
Alexander had always thought he was saving her, thought he was pulling her back from the edge of collapse.
But today, he witnessed another way of handling it.
And he had never tried it.
He had never crouched down, put his eyes at the same level as hers, looked into her eyes, and told her, "I'm here. No one will hurt you."
Not once.
After Elena finished the water, her emotions finally stabilized.
Lina asked a few more questions. Elena's answers were still fragmented, but at least understandable.
Lina didn't force Elena to continue, nor did she immediately take any treatment measures. It seemed Lina felt that just having Elena willing to say a few more words today was enough.
After the session ended, Lina walked Elena to the door and reminded the volunteer to bring her back at the same time next week.
As Elena reached the door, she suddenly turned back and looked at Alexander.
"Thank you," Elena said. "It's been a long time since anyone listened to me talk so quietly."
Alexander didn't know how to respond.
In fact, he didn't really hear what Elena said later. His mind was full of Caroline.