Ashley’s eyes were tightly shut. “All right. When do we…do this?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Ashley was in a deep hypnotic state. Dr. Keller started with Toni.
“Toni, I want you and Alette to talk to Ashley.”
“What makes you think she can handle us?”
“I think she can.”
“All right, Dockie. Whatever you say.”
“Alette, are you ready to meet Ashley?”
“If Toni says it’s all right.”
“Sure, Alette. It’s about time.”
Dr. Keller took a deep breath and said, “Ashley, I want you to say hello to Toni.”
There was a long silence. Then, a timid, “Hello, Toni…”
“Hello.”
“Ashley, say hello to Alette.”
“Hello, Alette…”
“Hello, Ashley…”
Dr. Keller breathed a deep sigh of relief. “I want you all to get to know one another. You’ve suffered through the same terrible traumas. They’ve separated you from one another. But there’s no reason for that separation anymore. You’re going to become one whole, healthy person. It’s a long journey, but you’ve begun it. I promise you, the most difficult part is over.”
From that point on, Ashley’s treatment moved swiftly. Ashley and her two alters talked to one another every day.
“I had to protect you,” Toni explained. “I suppose every time I killed one of those men, I was killing Father for what he had done to you.”
“I tried to protect you, too,” Alette said.
“I—I appreciate that. I’m grateful to both of you.”
Ashley turned to Dr. Keller and said wryly, “It’s really all me, isn’t it? I’m talking to myself.”
“You’re talking to two other parts of yourself,” he corrected her gently. “It’s time for all of you to unify and become one again.”
Ashley looked at him and smiled. “I’m ready.”
That afternoon, Dr. Keller went to see Otto Lewison.
Dr. Lewison said, “I hear good reports, Gilbert.”
Dr. Keller nodded. “Ashley’s made remarkable progress. In another few months, I think she can be released and go on with her treatment as an outpatient.”
“That’s wonderful news. Congratulations.”
I’ll miss her, Dr. Keller thought. I’ll miss her terribly.
“Dr. Salem is on line two for you, Mr. Singer.”
“Right.” David reached for the phone, puzzled. Why would Dr. Salem be calling? It had been years since the two men had talked. “Royce?”
“Good morning, David. I have some interesting information for you. It’s about Ashley Patterson.”
David felt a sudden sense of alarm. “What about her?”
“Do you remember how hard we tried to find the trauma that had caused her condition, and we failed?”
David remembered it well. It had been a major weakness in their case. “Yes.”
“Well, I just learned the answer. My friend, Dr. Lewison, who’s head of the Connecticut Psychiatric Hospital, just called. The missing piece of the puzzle is Dr. Steven Patterson. He’s the one who molested Ashley when she was a child.”
David asked incredulously, “What?”
“Dr. Lewison just learned about it.”
David sat listening as Dr. Salem went on, but his mind was elsewhere. He was recalling Dr. Patterson’s words. “You’re the only one I trust, David. My daughter means everything in the world to me. You’re going to save her life.…I want you to defend Ashley, and I won’t have anyone else involved in this case.…”
And David suddenly realized why Dr. Patterson had been so insistent on his representing Ashley alone. The doctor was sure that if David had ever discovered what he had done, he would have protected him. Dr. Patterson had had to decide between his daughter and his reputation, and he had chosen his reputation. The son of a bitch!
“Thanks, Royce.”
That afternoon, as Ashley passed the recreation room, she saw a copy of the Westport News that someone had left there. On the front page of the newspaper was a photograph of her father with Victoria Aniston and Katrina. The beginning of the story read, “Dr. Steven Patterson is to be married to socialite Victoria Aniston, who has a three-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. Dr. Patterson is joining the staff of St. John’s Hospital in Manhattan, and he and his future wife have bought a house on Long Island.…”
Ashley stopped and her face contorted into a mask of rage. “I’ll kill the son of a bitch,” Toni screamed. “I’ll kill him!”