Chapter 45
Robyn
Someone unlocks my cell door.
“Dr. Keller. You have a visitor.”
I sit up. “A visitor? Who?” Hope unfurls in me. I knock it back down the moment it rears its ugly head. If it’s him, I’m not going. Ridge can go straight to hell.
“It’s Carla Andrews. Would you like to see her?”
“Yes.” I stand.
The thin mattress squeaks under my hand. My legs are stiff from sitting all morning, and the gray overalls hang off me; the cuffs of the sleeves drop back down over my fingers, so I fold them up.
She cuffs my arms behind my back. By now, I am used to it, which I hate.
The lights in the hallway are fluorescent strips that buzz all night long. We turn left at the end of the corridor, then right, then through a door that has to be unlocked with a card.
One of the guards stops in front of a plain door with no markings on it. She holds up a finger. “Before we go in, I need to go over a few things.”
“Okay.”
“You will sit on the chair I show you. Your visitor will sit on the opposite side of the table. You will keep both of your hands on top of the table at all times, where I can see them. You will not touch your visitor in any way. No hugging, no holding hands, no leaning across the table. There will be a guard in the room at all times. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“This is a privilege. If you break any of these rules, I will end the visit immediately. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
She gives a short nod and slots the key into the door.
The room on the other side is small. There’s a metal table bolted to the floor in the middle, with a plastic chair on either side. The walls are a slightly different shade of gray from the corridor, which is the most exciting thing I have seen all day.
A male guard is standing inside, against the far wall, his arms folded in front of him.
He nods at the female who brought me, and his eyes flick to me for a second, then go back to the wall opposite him. And there, on the chair on the far side of the table, is Carla. Her head snaps up the moment I walk in.
“Oh, my god. Robyn.” She’s halfway out of her chair before the male guard clears his throat, and she sits back down. Her eyes are already shining. Mine fill up so fast I can’t see properly for a second.
“Hi,” I manage to get out.
The guard points me to the chair opposite her. “You need to sit with your hands on the table.”
I do as he says and press my hands flat against the cool metal of the table.
Carla puts her hands down on her side too, splayed wide. There’s a meter of bolted metal between us, and that’s it. I can smell her perfume from across the table. The one she always wears. Something with vanilla in it, and just that small familiar thing nearly undoes me.
“Hi, hon’.” Her voice cracks on it. A tear slides down her cheek, and she swipes it away with the back of her wrist. “I’m sorry. I told myself I wasn’t going to do this. I made it about three seconds.”
I let out a small, wet laugh. “Same.”
We just look at each other for a moment.
“You came,” I whisper.
“Of course I came. It would have been sooner, but they wouldn’t let me.” She swallows hard, her throat moving.
I open my mouth, and my breath goes shaky, so I close it again. Then I try once more. “I’m so happy to see you.”
“Me, too. You have no idea.” She pushes out a half-laugh and wipes under both eyes with her fingers.
“Look at us.” She glances quickly at the male guard, then back at me.
Without thinking, I move my hand a few inches across the table.
She does the same. Our fingertips don’t even touch yet, but the guard shifts his weight against the wall.
“No touching, ladies.”
“Of course.” Carla pulls hers back and gives him a look that, in any other circumstance, would have made me snort.
“We weren’t even close.”
“Hands flat.”
We both put them back. I press my palms down again. She does the same.
“They searched my bag three times. I half expected a strip search before I got back here.”
A small huff that wasn’t really a laugh comes out of me. She looks at me properly now.
“How are you, Robyn? Really. Don’t give me the brave doctor face. I know it too well.”
“I’m okay.” I hold her gaze and try to make my voice steadier.
“Okay as can be expected.” I draw in a breath.
“I have legal representation now. They appointed someone yesterday, and the firm she’s with sent a senior lawyer in this morning.
They’ve been with me for hours. I have a bail hearing the day after tomorrow. ”
“That’s great.” She sighs. “So you might get out?”
“Maybe. They don’t think it’s a sure thing.
The case against me is…it’s pretty bad, Carla.
” I swallow, and I feel my eyes start to fill again.
“If this goes to trial and I lose, I’m looking at years and all for something I didn’t do.
” A tear slides down my cheek before I can stop it.
I tip my face up to the ceiling and blink. It doesn’t help. Another goes down.
“Oh, Robyn.” Her voice has gone soft. “I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” I tell her.
“I know you didn’t do this. And it isn’t just me,” she says, leaning forward as far as the chair allows.
“Everyone at the hospital feels the same. Patel cornered me yesterday, so worked up I thought he was going to give himself a stroke. Lena cried in my office. Brody offered to give a statement. The list goes on. Even Mrs. Trenton from billing is wearing your name on a little badge under her cardigan, like some kind of one-woman protest. We are all rooting for you. Every last one of us. You are not alone in this.”
I don’t bother trying to stop the tears now. They roll down and drip off my jaw, and I let them.
“Tell them thank you.” My voice is a little shrill. “Please. Tell everyone.”
“I will.” She nods hard. “Listen to me. The truth is going to come out. It has to.”
I want to nod and tell her that of course it will. The words won’t come. I want to believe it. I’m trying so hard to believe it.
“I hope so,” I finally manage.
“What can I do? Tell me. Anything. There must be something I can do.”
“You’re here. That means the world.” My voice goes thick.
“I cannot believe Ridge did this to you,” she says.
Her voice has dropped lower. “He is the biggest dickhead. I’m so sorry, Robyn.
This is all my fault. I’m the one who told you to enjoy what time you had with him.
I’m the one who kept egging you on and telling you he was good for you.
I encouraged it. Every step of the way.” Her chin wobbles. “I’m so sorry. I was wrong. I—”
“Stop right there, Carla.” My voice is steady.
“You didn’t know. There is no way you could have known.
He fooled all of us. He fooled me, and I was the one sleeping with him.
If anyone should have seen through him, it was me.
I didn’t. And there’s a part of me that…
” I shake my head, looking down at the table.
“At least I understand why his behavior was off. And that note he left… He felt guilty. I just couldn’t see it for what it was at the time. ”
Her whole stance turns rigid. “He was at the hospital this morning.”
“Oh, and um… How did he look?” The second it’s out, I want to grab it back. I want to take it and stuff it down.
Why would you care how he looks?
Carla gives a small, tight shake of her head. “He looked fine, Robyn. Totally fine. Like nothing had happened. Like he hadn’t put you in here. Like he hadn’t ripped your life apart and walked off humming. Bastard!”
“Right.” I look down at my hands.
I knew I shouldn’t have asked.
“He came in to interview the staff. He told me he was looking for evidence that would clear you. That he’s trying to find out who set you up. That’s the story he’s selling, anyway.” Her mouth twists and she rolls her eyes. “I’m not buying it.”
“So you think he’s lying?”
“I think he’s lying through his pretty teeth,” she says, her voice hard.
“I think he’s saying that so everyone relaxes around him and lets things slip.
I think he’s hoping someone gives him something he can use against you, and they’ll do it without realizing because they think he’s helping. So I’ve warned everyone.”
“You warned them? Why would you do that, Carla?”
“I’m telling them to be careful what they say to him. Not to volunteer information.”
I shake my head. “Carla, no. You can’t do that.”
“I can and I am.”
“You’re interfering with an active investigation. That is exactly the kind of thing that could get you into serious trouble. You could lose your job. You could end up in here with me, and I’m telling you right now, you would hate the outfit.” I look down at myself.
She lets out a small, surprised laugh.
So do I. The laugh wobbles in the middle and turns into something else, and I have to bite down on the inside of my cheek to keep my face together.
“I don’t care,” she says, when her voice comes back. “I gave him a piece of my mind earlier, actually. A big piece.”
I smile because I can picture it.
“You didn’t.”
“I totally did.” Her chin lifts. “I told him exactly what I thought of him, and it was very satisfying.”
Despite everything, the corner of my mouth twitches. “Promise me you’ll back off.”
“Robyn—”
“Promise me, Carla. Please. If something happens to you, I…” My voice catches. “I can’t have that on top of everything else. Just be careful, please.”
She breathes out. “Fine. I will be careful. But I’m still telling people to watch what they say.”
I let it go. I know that facial expression. Carla has made up her mind.
“Thank you for sticking up for me,” I say instead. “For caring. For being here. For all of it.” I draw in a slow breath.
“You know I love you, right?” A tear slides down her cheek.
“I love you too, my friend.” My voice catches.
“I almost forgot. I brought a few things for you,” she says, brightening a little.
“I dropped a care package at the front when I came in. Nothing exciting. Some snacks, decent shampoo, the conditioner you like, and a few other things I know you can use. They have to check it all first, and then they’ll bring it to you when they’re done. ”
It takes me a beat to be able to answer. “Thank you. I—”
The male guard pushes off the wall and steps forward. “Time’s up. Wrap it up, please.”
“What? No.” Carla’s head whips around. “No, no. I just got here. That cannot be how long visits last.”
“Your time is up.” His voice is level but not unkind. “Please don’t make me ask twice.”
“Well, crap. I’ll have to come back.”
Her hand splays flat on the table on her side. Mine does the same on my side. We don’t touch. We don’t even try.
“Okay,” I whisper.
“We are going to get you out of here, Robyn.”
I nod, crying again. I can’t help it.
“Thank you for coming,” I manage to say.
Carla stands. “See you soon.”
I nod, standing too.
Then Carla is being led out the other side. She turns back at the last moment, her eyes are red, and she lifts her free hand in a small wave that breaks me a little. I lift mine back. Then she’s gone.
“Hands behind your back,” the guard from earlier tells me.
I do as she says, and the cuffs click back on.