Clang!

The bowl slipped, crashed onto the table, and tipped over. The soup splashed everywhere.

Startled, Hadley gasped and cried out, “Ah!”

“Hadley!” Eric shot up from his chair and pulled her back. “Are you okay? Did you get scalded?”

Still in a daze, Hadley shook her head and clung to Eric. “No… What just happened? Why didn’t I catch it? I didn’t see anything strange in the soup.”

Eric didn’t answer right away. His brow furrowed, his face tangled with worry. He knew Hadley hadn’t seen anything strange.

The truth was, when he handed her the bowl, she hadn’t quite lined up with where it actually was. By the time he noticed, it was already too late.

Her hand had reached just a little off to the side. When he let go, the bowl had nothing to rest on, and everything spilled.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Hadley asked, her voice growing unsteady. The longer Eric stayed quiet, the more anxious she felt. “What’s wrong with me?”

After a long moment of silence, Eric held her hand tightly and finally said, “I think… it might be a new symptom. Your spatial awareness, your sense of where things are… seems a bit off.”

“Huh?” Hadley was taken aback. “My spatial awareness is… off?”

Slowly, the realization dawned on her. She hadn’t caught the bowl because—

“I saw it. I know I did. So how could… how could I miss it?”

Hadley’s face drained of color. She closed her eyes and shook her head repeatedly. In a faint voice, almost to herself, she whispered, “I thought I was getting better. I really believed I was improving.”

Watching her fall apart like that tore straight through Eric.

“Hadley!” He pulled her into his arms and held her tight. “Don’t panic. Breathe. We’ll talk to the doctor and figure this out together, okay?”

Hadley didn’t answer. She just stayed silent in his embrace.

Would talking to the doctor really make her better? She wasn’t sure she believed that anymore. But what other choice did she have?

“Alright,” she finally said with a small nod. “Let’s do whatever you think is best.”

Eric stood, pulled out his phone, and stepped aside to make the call.

Hadley grabbed his arm. “You can make the call here. I have the right to know what’s happening to me. Don’t keep anything from me, okay?”

“Hadley—”

“I need to know!” she pressed, her grip tightening.

“Alright,” Eric eventually relented.

He dialed the doctor’s number and put the call on speaker. Once it connected, he said with urgency, “It’s me.”

“Mr. Scott, how can I help you?” the doctor asked calmly.

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