"when twins are separated, their spirits steal away to find the other"
-
Daniel had pulled his car up, and Hallie and her father were walking towards it. Her head was pounding, but it couldn't have been as bad as her father, who was still bruised from "bumping his head" earlier.
"Ah, I... wanted to say I'm sorry for... last night," he said after a moment, refusing to meet her gaze.
Hallie frowned, trying to think back. "Last night?"
"You were right. I should've been there."
She sighed as the memories slowly returned. "Dad..."
Typically, she'd be upset, but her head was spinning too much to let her feel much of anything else.
"Just wanted to say that," her dad continued awkwardly. He walked over to Daniel's car.
Hallie stood there for a moment, taking a few steadying breaths. She looked up before shaking out her arms, preparing herself for the rest of the day.
Her dad sat in the passenger seat next to Daniel and they started off on their journey. It was silent for a while, Hallie staring out the window of the back seat.
"I got you a juice. Advil's in the glove compartment," Daniel said.
"It looks like sewage," her dad muttered.
"Suck it up. If we find Robby, you might wanna be awake. Hallie, I got one for you too."
He handed the bottle of green liquid back to her. Slowly, she reached out to take it. It made her nauseous to look at.
"Drive faster. I feel like I'm in a rocking chair," her dad said.
They chatted absently, voices growing more and more muffled as Hallie laid her pounding head against the window. She shut her eyes, trying to block out the light.
One minute or one hour later - she couldn't tell - she jolted up at the sound of loud rock music. Her father had turned on the radio.
"Knock it off," she could hear Daniel say as he turned down the music. "We're on a mission."
Her dad turned the music back up.
Hallie grumbled. "Can you turn it off."
Looking back at her, he did. Her ears were left ringing.
And suddenly, Hallie noticed she felt very weird. Her heart was pounding and she felt nauseous - she had thought it was just from the gross juice Daniel had gotten, but she felt really sick. Looking around, she reached for her phone to check the time, but didn't register anything on the screen.
"Hallie."
She looked up. "What?"
Daniel was looking at her through the rear view mirror. "I asked how you were doing. Are you alright?"
She took a shaky breath. "I... I don't feel good."
Just talking made her feel like she was going to throw up.
Her dad turned around to look at her. "Yeah, you do not look well."
Normally she would've retaliated, but she barely even processed anything he said to her. She was beginning to feel lightheaded. Raising a shaky hand to her chest, she could feel her rapid heart rate, which only made her more anxious.
"Alright, I'm gonna pull over," Daniel said.
"No... don't," she breathed.
She still wanted to find Robby, no matter what was going on with her. She had had panic attacks before, but this wasn't the same. She felt physically sick, like she was going to pass out.
But there was one thing she knew always helped.
"Um, is there, like... a convenience store or anything? I need to pick something up," She asked.
"Actually, yeah, we just passed one," Daniel said, turning the car around.
He pulled into the parking lot.
Hallie breathed. "Okay. I'm just gonna be, like, one minute."
She clambered out of the car, grabbing her phone and wallet. Walking into the convenience shop, she strolled along the aisles until she found what she was looking for.
She grabbed the bottle of Tito's and approached the front, placing it on the counter. A few minutes and one fake ID later, she walked out with her vodka.
Checking to make sure Daniel and her father weren't watching, Hallie ducked around to the side of the shop. She immediately opened the bottle and began chugging it.
It burned her throat, and her stomach lurched as she leaned back against the wall. Taking a few deep, shaky breaths, she rested her hands on her knees. Head still spinning, she crouched down to prepare to throw up, feeling her heart rate still going fast. She had begun sweating at some point. Sitting against the outside wall, she took a deep breath as the nausea hit its peak. Leaning over, she vomited, coughing.
Rolling back over to sit against the wall, she tilted her head up and took a few more deep breaths, one after the other, until the worst of the nausea subsided. She had probably been there for ten minutes now.
Not wanting her dad to worry, she took another drink of the vodka and stood up, hiding the bottle under her jacket before heading back to the car.
"Sorry," she muttered as she climbed back into the seat. "I just needed to get a snack."
"No worries," Daniel said.
They kept driving.
"What are we supposed to do, drive around all day looking for a van?" Her dad asked after a while.
"No, but hopefully our mutual friend can point us in the right direction," Daniel said.
He looked out the window.
They were pulling up to a large, fancy-looking building. People did yoga on the lush green grass out front, others painting on the patio.
"What the..." her dad muttered.
Slowly, they walked in. A woman brought a tray of food outside. Vines and plants decorated the outside of the building.
"This is what rehab's like?" Her dad asked.
"This is one of the best facilities in the country," Daniel said.
"Wait," Hallie paused. "Rehab? Why are we..."
They couldn't be here to see her mom, could they? What would she know about Robby's whereabouts?
As they walked into the lobby, two blondes with yoga mats walked past.
"Hey," Hallie's dad grinned.
"Gross, Dad," Hallie frowned.
"Focus, will ya? We're here on business, not pleasure," Daniel said.
"Welcome to Malibu Canyon Recovery," a woman said, approaching them. She looked at Hallie's dad. "You're doing a very brave thing."
Hallie laughed and pointed at her dad.
"What?" He frowned. "No, I'm not checking in. I'm no quitter."
"I understand," the woman nodded. "It can be hard at first. Don't worry, he'll get used to it."
