Quick note: I would suggest to re-read the blurb. The scenes that take place in this facility will make sense then. Things take a drastic turn, so viewer discretion advised.

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•Luna •

A bright light blinded Luna's eyes, causing her to blink several times. As she glanced around at her surroundings, she stopped when she saw Chase sitting in a chair beside her. She looked down and noticed her limbs were bound to the bed's sidebar.

Tilting her gaze upward, she realized she was hooked to a machine that was pumping clear liquid into her veins, with a soft beeping sound near her ear.

Her stomach felt empty, and her mouth was parched. She knew some kind of medicine was pumping into her body, but she wasn't sure what it was. She wasn't even sure where she was.

The only memory that floated into her subconscious was hugging Liberty and Vikram before leaving her studio. She remembered pacing quickly toward the car and jumping in, then seeing Chase behind the driver's seat.

She couldn't even remember if Sarah was buckled in or not. But in the back of her mind, Sarah was not in the car. She remembered staring into total darkness, feeling upset.

She vaguely remembered Chase fussing at her for being enraged. But she didn't understand why she was enraged. Why were there restraints for her arms and legs?

When she coughed, Chase looked up from his phone and made eye contact with her. Moving closer to her side, he reached for her hand, soothing her skin. His hand was ice cold, and for some reason, she had this feeling that he was like his touch: cold.

But she couldn't recall why she had hatred for him. She hoped it will come back to her.

"Honey, you're okay." His voice was dry.

"Where am I?" she asked, surveying the room.

"What do you remember?"

He didn't answer her question. Instead, he covered it with one question for another.

"Where am I?"

"You are in St. Matthew's Psychiatric Institute."

"Why?"

"Well, Luna, you've been experiencing psychotic breaks recently."

Her brow furrowed. "What makes you think I am?"

"You've been seen talking . . . alone."

"And that gives you the right to sign me into a hospital? Just because I may like to talk to myself?"

"Please . . . please. Calm down."

"I will not calm down."

"You need to," he said, waving his arms out in front of him.

"Why did you do this, Chase?"

"In truth . . . Sam. He's back."

"No, he isn't. You have that wrong!"

"Then explain why you've been murmuring to yourself. Not just at the ballroom, but at our house, too."

"You've spied on me?"

He laughed a little and shook his head. "I've seen you talking to yourself."

"Why am I restrained?"

"When the staff brought you in, you kept trying to take the needles out. I'm only doing what you asked."

Luna tilted her head back and glared at the ceiling. "I didn't ask for this! Get me out of here!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"You need to get better first."

Snarling at him, Luna said, "I'm okay, Chase. I promise you. It's not Sammy. He is gone and buried."

She wasn't lying. She hadn't imagined Sam in years. But Chase was making a big deal out of nothing, and she demanded to know why.

"How long have I been here?" Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Since we left the studio. You can ask Liberty about what you told her."

"I don't remember anything. What day is it?"

"It's Sunday."

"The date!"

He exhaled a deep breath and spoke more calmly. "The second of June."

"I have been unconscious for six days?"

Anger curled hot and unstoppable in her gut, like a blazing inferno that wanted to burn her from the inside out. She hadn't seen her daughter in days because of what he'd done to her. Her soul was void of any emotion for him. And six days was a long time as her thoughts and feelings were jumbled.

"You were heavily sedated."

"Why?"

"Because of the way you were brought in. You tried to run, and you had to be held down."

"I didn't ask to be brought into a hospital," Luna seethed through her teeth. "What you did was illegal."

"Maybe, but I was only looking after your health care needs."

She took a deep breath and glared into his eyes. "Is my daughter okay?"

"Our daughter is fine. She's with Liberty and Vikram."

"My daughter, Chase. Sarah is my daughter and not yours."

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen," he pleaded, shaking his head. "I consider Sarah as my daughter and have never thought otherwise."

"I don't give a crap how you feel! You threw me into a hospital without my permission!"

"I didn't know what else to do," he said, moving himself to the edge of her bed.

"The hospital was the last thing you should have done. You could have spoken to me about what you suspected."

"Do you even know what's real and what isn't?"

"I haven't seen Sam in years," Luna snarled. "In case it hadn't clicked into your brain, we're done. You're nothing to me anymore."

"Luna, I think you just need a little time to cool down and relax. You're too emotional right now."

"I hate you!"

"I'm sorry. I should have spoken to you first," he mumbled, looking away.

"Ha! You would not have listened to me," she remarked.

"I would have. I swear, Lu."

"See? You can't even show an ounce of respect when it comes to my name. You're a jerk."

"I'm sorry, baby," he whispered.

Luna growled as she stared at the ceiling, then shifted her gaze toward him. Chase stayed still while his eyes roamed around the room.

"Give this place a chance. For me."

"I am not doing anything for you ever again. I can't stand you."

He exhaled a breath, groaning lightly.

"It hurts for me to know that Sarah has lost a good thing in her life. She looked up to you like a father. Neither of us knew what you were truly capable of."

Chase narrowed his eyes to his hands, twiddling with his thumbs. "Like I said. I'm sorry."

"Tell that to someone who cares, because I stopped the moment I woke up in the hospital, Chase."

Her stomach churned within, hungry for destruction. She knew it was beginning to be too much for her to handle. The pressure of this raging sea of fury was about to force her to say things she didn't need to say. She knew she needed to calm down before she erupted into a furious state and make things harder for her. He had total control, and whatever he wanted to do was in his hands.

Signing Chase as her health-care-appointed personnel was the worse mistake she'd ever made.

"Can I get these restraints off, please?"

Luna wanted to check on Amir and tell him what was going on, but the restraints prevented that.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"What am I supposed to do? Use the potty right here?"

"You have a catheter inserted, and luckily you have not produced many bowel movements."

"All I want to do is move!"

She glared down at her pubic region, and a distinct memory resurfaced inside her mind.

Chase and the bathroom scene.

The terrifying image of him pulling their clothes off and him pinning her to the floor, not allowing her to move an inch, flooded back into her mind as she felt the muscles of her heart tighten with incredible force. She never realized how controlling he truly was until he betrayed her. She vowed in her heart he will never have another chance to betray her again. Once she was out of this hospital, she was ready to kick him out of her life and put a restraining order on him.

Her revenge plot was suddenly interrupted when a beep came in on his phone.

He looked down and then gazed back up at her. "I have to take this. I'll be right back."

As she stared up at the ceiling, with tears slipping down her eyelids, she heard a noise in the corner and noticed Faisal standing there quietly. "Hey."

"I'm glad to see you're awake. You've been out of it for days."

"Chase just informed me."

"I can't believe he did this to you," Faisal said, shaking his head.

"He believes Sam is back, but he isn't."

"Sam?"

"He was Sarah's late father. I envisioned him a lot after he died, and everyone around me who sees me talking to another tethered soul and can't see them believes he must be back. They're wrong."

"I know, but you can't exactly explain the truth to anyone. Whatever has been pumping through your body is affecting Amir."

"What's going on?"

"He collapsed in his kitchen and urged Cassie and me to find out what happened with you," Faisal explained.

"Did you tell him where I was?"

He nodded. "He vowed to kill Chase before he passed out."

"Chase had the staff give me a sedative. I believe he drugged me when we were heading home from the studio, and then he checked me into here."

"That bastard."

Luna sniffed. "I can't even connect to Amir anymore."

"He's still asleep. He felt the medicine pumping through you earlier."

"Really? If I got shot, it would affect him?"

Faisal nodded slowly, causing her heart to sink.

"What about you? Wouldn't it affect you since you and I are connected, Faisal?"

He shook his head. "Tethered Souls doesn't work that way. You and Amir share a special bond. When Cassie was in trouble once, she was shot during a robbery, and I didn't feel it. I heard her crying out for me, so I went to see her."

When Faisal was finished, he stood to his feet and began talking to someone else who Luna couldn't see. But she did hear Amir's name being mentioned.

"What's happening?"

Faisal turned from whoever he was talking to and peered back at her. "Amir is awake now."

"He woke up?" Luna asked, and Faisal nodded but still looked like he had something he was hiding. "What is it?"

"Cassie is here and said that he leaped out of his bed quickly the moment he woke up."

"That's good, right?"

He shook his head and gulped.

"Why?"

"Amir is determined to fly here and break you out. He doesn't realize the consequences that will arise if he comes here," Faisal replied.

"The consequences of us being together physically have flown out the window a long time ago. If he can come here and use his medical background to get me out, then let him."

"That's not what I was referring to, Luna."

"Then what?"

"He could get caught and imprisoned or possibly tortured. We don't know what would happen if he jumped on the first plane to the States and was held in a cell. Security could think he seemed suspicious. And then what? He'll be locked away."

Luna shook her head, realizing what he was saying. "As much as I want him to get me out, Amir being thrown in prison isn't worth it."

"You don't know how my cousin is," Faisal said, staring in her direction. "We have our fathers' genes. They are fighters, and Amir took self-defense classes, so he'll take on anyone right now. He's like a Terminator."

"Then tell him he needs to wait. I have to play stupid around here and get myself signed out. I've been in hospitals before, so this isn't new to me."

"Cassie has now informed me Amir is browsing through the earliest flight tickets to Louisiana since he's unable to connect with you."

"Stop him. Please? Once it's okay, I'll connect to you both."

"Are you sure?" Faisal asked, and Luna nodded.

"I will figure something out. Chase is not going to keep me in here. No way."

After Faisal waved goodbye, Chase and a male doctor walked in with a vial of clear liquid in it.

"Luna, this is Dr. Daniel Kim from Shanghai, China. He is the head psychiatrist here, and he is going to give you a sedative to help you rest," Chase said, staring down at the vial.

Dr. Kim . . . Dr. Kim . . .

Luna tried to remember where she had heard this name before. She remembered hearing it somewhere, but she couldn't remember where. She finally remembered when she looked at the doctor.

Sefora said his name. 

She urged me to meet Dr. Kim. 

Did that mean she was working with Chase? They had this planned from the beginning?

Before Luna could react, the doctor put the needle into her drip, allowing her to drift away into the depths of her mind, in a dream in which she was with both Sarah and Amir.

━━━─── • ───━━━

So, some people have asked or stated they wonder what is with this sudden change in Chase. Keyword: Villain. Chase was always the villain before the author began writing the storyline. His POV was to introduce that side to him (his callous act with telling Lacey to get a hospital room ready), and his suspicious activity all along. That is why he never had a POV in early scenes. He didn't need one. Chase went from a being a "good guy" to a villain quick, and there are more sides to him coming up! Tethered Souls. 💫