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Move over, Monet


“Angelo sorry, he doesn’t know all the secrets,” Angelo said to Miss Parker. She nodded, trying to veil her angry disappointment.
“But Sydney knows,” Angelo added. “Sydney knows all the secrets.”
Miss Parker looked somewhat surprised, but didn’t answer, and turned, walking quickly out the door of Raines’ forest home, leaving Broots to clean up their findings.
“Boy, that was a great thing to say,” Broots muttered to Angelo as he began placing the items in a box.
Angelo stood to the side, watching him for a moment, then noticed a paper laying on the counter. It was a child’s painting, and was partially burned. Curious, Angelo reached out for it, his fingers hovering over where a young hand had signed ‘Ethan’ on the corner. Broots bent over to look on the floor for any overlooked items, and didn’t notice when Angelo picked up the picture. Then Angelo wasn’t there anymore.

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“Yes, I’d like to speak to Dr. Raines, please,” Janice Clausen said, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, watching her husband Tom cradle their young son Ethan. “Hello, Dr. Raines, this is Janice Clausen. Would you mind explaining to me why you neglected to tell us that our son was a schizophrenic?”
Ethan sobbed harder against his father’s shoulder, his tiny body shaking with emotion.
“No, you said he was gifted with genius,” Janice argued angrily on the phone. “You never said anything about him hearing voices. Then why can he? Then explain to me how he knew his teacher would be hit by a truck in front of him before he even left for preschool this morning!”
“Janice”! Tom said in a warning voice, holding Ethan closer. Janice drew in a deep breath to calm herself.
“Can you be over here in ten minutes? Yes, alright then.” Janice angrily hung up the phone, and joined her husband on the couch, wrapping her arms comfortingly around Ethan.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” she whispered. Ethan sucked in a ragged breath, and let loose a fresh wave of sobs. Janice glanced out the window at the policemen that hovered outside, finishing their reports, and getting into their cars.
“Ah!” Ethan suddenly gasped in agony, burying his head deeper into his father’s jacket. “Daddy, Daddy!” he shrieked pleadingly. Then he abruptly went limp, and began to cry again.
“Tom, what’re we gonna do?” Janice whispered. “They say trauma…” Tom didn’t answer.
“Dr. Raines better have a good answer for us, that’s all I can say,” Janice said. “I thought Ethan was just talking about imaginary friends until now. He’s never said anything before it happened.”
Tom just held his tiny son closer.
“Jan, you knew when we agreed to take Ethan that he was different. Raines said that right from the beginning, when he was just a baby.”
“He said his parents were gifted. He never said anything about schizophrenia.” Tom let out a sigh through his lips, and began to rock Ethan, who was losing his steam, and was starting to relax.
“Raines is here,” Janice said, getting up as the doctor’s car pulled in. Tom got up as well, still holding his son, and nodded in greeting as the creepy doctor with the air tank came in.
“How are you doing, Ethan?” Raines asked the boy. Ethan turned his head, fixing his glassy dark eyes on the doctor but not answering.
“Can I have some time to talk to him alone, first?” Raines asked the Clausens. Tom and Janice exchanged reluctantly looks, but slowly nodded.
“Alright,” Janice mumbled. Tom carried Ethan into the play room, and kneeling, very gently set him on his feet.
“Now, Ethan, Dr. Raines wants to talk to you for a moment. He won’t hurt you, just tell him exactly what he wants to know, okay? Mommy and I will be right out here if you need us.”
Ethan sniffed softly, and nodded, his sweet face red from crying. Tom stood and nodded at Raines, then left quietly, closing the door. Raines sat down on the couch, and carefully acknowledged Ethan, who stood still, staring at him, his finger in his mouth.
“I don’t want you to tell anyone else what I ask or tell you,” Raines said.

An hour later, Tom and Janice were still waiting in the living room, trying to read magazines and not be concerned. They’d always trusted Raines when it came to Ethan, because he had always been right about their son, but this was a strange experience for them.
Finally, the door opened, and Raines came out, followed by Ethan, who smiled as if nothing had happened.
“I painted this for Dr. Raines!” he said, running to show his mother his collage like art. Janice beamed.
“That’s lovely, Ethan!”
Raines smiled as if satisfied.
“He’s alright, now,” he said. “Now listen very carefully. You are right. Ethan is schizophrenic. So you must be extra careful with him, and not let him associate much with other children, until he learns to understand his condition. Never mention what happened today to him ever again. And I would like to see him once a week, until I feel he is turning towards a cure.”
“A cure?” Tom asked, getting to his feet. “You can cure schizophrenia?”
Raines nodded.
“Yes,” he answered. “As his doctor and psychiatrist, I can cure him, but you must not interfere or he may get worse, understood?”
The Clausens didn’t answer, but exchanged another look. Ethan, who’d listened with large, beautiful eyes, smiled and held the picture up to Raines. Raines took it, patted Ethan on the head, and turned towards the door.
“I’ll call you tomorrow to set up our first session,” he said. “Good night.” The Clausens didn’t answer, but Janice followed him to close the door, and Tom scooped up Ethan to carry him to the window to watch as Raines left. Janice joined them, and after Raines had disappeared down the street, she turned and looked at her son. And tears came to her eyes.
“His innocence is gone,” she whispered. Tom looked, and nodded sadly.
“It was the accident,” he said. But Ethan’s young brow furrowed. He knew better.

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“Angelo?” Broots grabbed Angelo’s arm, pulling him back into reality. “What is it?”
Angelo looked down at the picture he held in his hands, and laid it on the sink.
“Bad memories,” he said. “Forever lost.”
“What’s lost? The memories?” Angelo shook his head. Broots watched him for a moment, but when he got no answer, picked up the picture, and examined it again. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he put it in the box with the other things, and closed the lid.










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