Chapter 42
PRESENT DAY
D r. Beck and Ramona emerge from Mary’s room about ten minutes later, looking worse for wear. Ramona’s hair has come nearly undone from her bun, and Dr. Beck has a long red scratch on his forearm.
“Jesus,” Dr. Beck declares. “That’s the worst I’ve ever seen her.”
I stare at the closed door to Mary’s room. “Is she okay?”
Dr. Beck nods. “She’s finally calm, thank God. I don’t think she’ll give us more trouble the rest of the night. But starting tomorrow, she should be on a higher dose of Seroquel at bedtime. We don’t need another episode like that.”
I chew on my lower lip. “Should I check on her? She and I were talking a lot earlier, and she trusts me.”
“Leave her alone,” Ramona says. “She’s drifting off to sleep.”
“But—”
“I know you’re eager to help, Amy,” Dr. Beck says. “But when they get like this, there’s no reasoning with them. She won’t even know who you are.”
That’s not true. She saw me in a crowd and was calling out my name. She knew exactly who I was.
Ramona picks the steel knitting needle off the floor and holds it up. “My God, I thought she was going to stab me in the eye with this thing. These are not the children’s safety needles we approved. How the hell did she get this?”
Of course, it doesn’t surprise me at all that Mary somehow managed to get her hands on a real knitting needle and make the switch. She was resourceful like that. Too bad it didn’t pay off in the end.
Dr. Beck scribbles a quick note which he stuffs in the chart, then he heads back to his office, leaving Ramona and me behind. Ramona has Mary’s chart open, and she is writing her own note.
“Ramona,” I say. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” she says without looking up.
“Are there any… couples among the patients on the unit?”
She stops writing and looks up at me this time. “Are you asking if anyone is hooking up ?”
“Well…” I glance across the hall, at rooms 905 and 906, right next to each other. The perfect proximity for a booty call. “I was just wondering about Carpenter and Schoenfeld…”
“Oh!” She laughs. “Yes, those two are definitely an item.”
Wow. Jade lied right to my face. Well, she technically didn’t lie, but she omitted a piece of very important information. She even suggested Cameron and I get together with her and her “boyfriend” without bothering to mention who her boyfriend was.
For all I know, it was Jade’s idea for him to cut that hole in his book and hide his pills inside.
Of course, Will lied about it too. When I was asking him questions, I specifically asked about relationships, and he told me he wasn’t involved with anyone. This isn’t exactly an ideal time in my life to be getting involved with a woman. I need to get myself together first.
Neither of them wanted me to know they were together.
I remember when I was talking to Will in his room, it looked like there was something he wanted to tell me. Well, now I know what it was. Except why would he hide that from me?
One thing I do know for sure:
It must have been Jade’s idea.