My head snapped up. I stared at her, every muscle in my body rigid, the fury in my chest about to detonate.
How could she. How dare she.
My reaction seemed to delight her. She flicked her hair with a satisfied toss.
"You know, looking at you like this, if your dead parents could see—"
I couldn't hold back any longer. My palm connected with her face so hard the crack echoed through the room.
But before I could get a single word out, Barnaby's voice exploded behind me.
"Caroline! What the hell are you doing!"
The instant she heard his voice, the smugness on Lena's face dissolved into wounded fragility.
"Caroline, I just came to talk to you. Why would you hit me out of nowhere..."
Barnaby's gaze locked onto Lena's swollen, reddening cheek. When he spoke, his voice was cold enough to freeze blood.
"Caroline, how could you be so vicious? What did Lena say to you that made you hit her?"
I ignored Barnaby's interrogation. My eyes locked onto his, unblinking.
"That I'm mentally ill. You told her that?"
Barnaby froze. Lena jumped in immediately.
"Caroline, I only heard from Barnaby that you'd been through some trauma before. I was worried your injury this time might affect your emotional state. How can you twist things around like this?"
Barnaby recovered.
"I did mention it to Lena, but it's the truth, isn't it? She was just concerned about how you were feeling."
"Look at yourself right now. You've been acting unhinged ever since you left the hospital yesterday. Forget what Lena said. Even if she called you a psycho, she wouldn't be wrong!"
Tears fell from my eyes in heavy drops, each one crashing down as my heart shredded itself into countless pieces.
When my illness had been at its worst, the doctors kept me strapped to the hospital bed around the clock. The moment they loosened the restraints, all I wanted was to throw myself off the roof.
Back then, Barnaby had been the one sitting beside me, saying the same words over and over.
"It's okay, it's okay. Our Caroline is just sick, that's all. I'll stay with you. Be good for me, okay? We'll get through this together."
But now, the disgust in his eyes when he looked at me was completely unconcealed. He'd even joined Lena in calling me mentally ill.
Perhaps afraid I'd say something else, Lena grabbed Barnaby's hand.
"Barnaby, I feel awful. I'm so dizzy. Can you take me to the hospital for a checkup? Please?"