Subject #17: Anastasia

Chapter 1. Jennifer: 38The island had everything you'd need to live in paradise:Palm trees. Warm wind. The clinic’s white facades gleaming like a museum against the sea.Except the doors here only opened from the outside.Clinic of Doctor Kallias.Private. Secluded.On Wednesdays — bar therapy.One glass. One cocktail. One chance to remember why you’re here.I arrived a little early.Dim light. Soft jazz in the background.Patients were already settling in — some at the bar, some at the scattered tables.Each one was served the same cocktail.A tall, delicate glass. Deep red — almost ruby.A strawberry and a basil leaf floated on top.The taste — sweet, with a bitter edge. Spicy.On the stem of each glass, a little paper tag was tied. Mine read:Jennifer: 38Dr. Kallias stood in the middle of the hall, delivering his usual speech:— The compound relaxes cognitive control and lowers the mind’s inte…