<h4>Chapter 345: Medicine</h4>


    "Are you going to attack me if Ie close, Miss Mnie?"


    Mnie didn’t answer. She sat motionless on the floor, her back resting against the wall as she stared at the broken pieces of ss scattered near her feet. Onerge shardy in her hand, tilted slightly so that the light caught its jagged edge. A small cut ran across her palm where the tip had dug into her skin, but she barely felt it.


    She didn’t even turn her head to look at the man who had entered the room. His voice had been calm and almost conversational, but it didn’t matter. Nothing really mattered at that moment. Not after the video she had just seen


    It hadn’t just hurt seeing it- it had broken something inside her.


    She shifted slightly and the ss crunched beneath her knees. Her fingers pressed around the shard tighter, but she didn’t wince or even realise that she was only huring herself more.


    Dr. Jung moved carefully, avoiding the ss as he stepped closer. She didn’t raise her eyes. Not even when he crouched near her.


    "You’re bleeding. Let’s get that cleaned up. It’ll get worse if we leave it.", she heard him say but she was not interested in getting medicine.


    "Are you imprisoned here too?" Her voice came out quiet and detached. "Just to treat the victims of that crazy man?"


    There was a brief pause. Then the man chuckled softly, "Not exactly. I came here willingly. Though I admit, I’m not sure that was the wisest decision."


    That made her nce up at him. "You came here willingly? You must be insane too to havee to this ce."


    "I suppose that depends on your definition of insane. He’s my friend. And my patient too. But mostly a friend."


    Mnie looked away again. Her fingers were still curled around the ss. The edge dug deeper, but she didn’t react.


    Dr. Jung pointed at her hands and knees. "You’re hurt. May I?"


    When she didn’t respond, he reached into his coat and pulled out a small kit. He moved slowly, deliberately, giving her the chance to object, but she didn’t.


    "I won’t take it from you unless you let me," he said, ncing at the shard in her hand. "But I need to clean those wounds." She loosened her grip slightly and let go of the ss.


    He began with her knees. Gently brushing away the bits of ss embedded there, dabbing them with antiseptic. She hissed once, more from surprise than pain. The sting was nothingpared to what she felt in her chest. There, it was a deeper kind of ache. Heavy. Dull. Suffocating.


    "You’re lucky it didn’t cut deeper," he murmured, not looking up. "ss wounds like this can get ugly."


    "Pain is rtive," she muttered. "Not all of it bleeds."


    He didn’t respond to that. Just kept working.


    When he was done with her knees, he turned his attention to her hand.


    He examined the cut, then began to clean it with careful strokes.


    "My name is Dr. Jung," he said quietly after a while. "I’ve been with Cadence a long time. Longer than most people would tolerate."


    Mnie said nothing.


    "I know he’s unwell," he continued. "I’ve known it for a while. But he wasn’t always like this."


    She looked at him, brows drawn slightly. "You mean, he wasn’t always violent?"


    "No," Dr. Jung said. "He used to be... intense, yes. Obsessed with control, maybe. But not cruel. Not like this."


    Mnie scoffed at that. Was this some kind of a good guy, bad guy routine? Whether he was a good man or bad, was of no concern to her.


    Just then, the doctor’s voice cut through her thoughts and she stiffened at the name he called her.."Melody."


    She tried to pull her hand away but the man continued, " I know you are not Melody. She is your sister, you say. But the two of you have not grown up together, right? You don’t know her well..."


    Mnie nodded at that. Yes. that was true. She didn’t know Melody well.


    He wrapped the gauze slowly around her palm and continued, Melody Thomas in not a good woman. In fact, she is crazier that Cadence, if anything."


    "I know you might not believe this but, Cadence was not always like this. Yes, he had some problems with Scitzophrenia but not what you see now."


    Dr Jung sighed," When Cadence started dating Melody, I thought it was luck. That my friend finally would have who cared for him in thest days of his life. But Melody... she was the worst choice Cadence could have made. Melody knew exactly what buttons to push to manipte someone. She had a way of ying with emotions. Pulling someone close, then pushing them away just when they needed her most. And when they tried to detach-she’d punish them. Withdraw affection. Make them feel like they failed her."


    He looked up at her. "But if they reacted the way she wanted-jealousy, anger, possessiveness,she’d reward them. She made that his normal. That’s how she trained Cadence to love her until he started to associate rage with love. Obsession with loyalty. It wasn’t a rtionship. It was maniption. Controlled chaos."


    Mnie swallowed. "And you stayed through all that?"


    "I tried to help him," Dr. Jung said. "But I’m a doctor, not a magician. He didn’t listen. He didn’t want to believe that she was hurting him. I suppose part of him still doesn’t."


    He gently tied off the bandage and set her hand down on herp.


    "But I will say this," he added, sitting back on his heels. "I’m relieved he didn’t seed in bringing her back this time. You are not that woman and I hope you can be more understanding of him."


    Mnie stared at him as her hands clenched and she scoffed at the doctor," What sort of hoax is this? Are you trying to make me sympatihze with my kidnapper’s plight?"