Chapter 52
I t finally makes perfect sense.
Jade is the one who helped Sawyer escape from Seclusion One during the blackout. She’s been helping him with everything tonight. Including misleading the rest of us by pretending Will had been her boyfriend. I fell right into that trap.
I close the chart with a snap and push it away, like it’s made from poison. Damon Sawyer, who has a list of psych hospitalizations as long as my arm, is now roaming Ward D. Damon Sawyer, who required four staff members to restrain him in the emergency room.
Oh God, what do I do?
I stand up from my seat and creep into the hallway. I look both ways, but nobody is around. The door to room 905 is closed and the light is off inside. It occurs to me that Sawyer could be hiding in that room. Maybe that’s where he’s been all along.
We need to survive the night.
Those were Will’s words of wisdom before Jade convinced me to turn against him. He was right. I don’t need to be able to fight Damon Sawyer. All I need to do is survive the night.
I knock on the door to room 906. It’s not surprising that I don’t hear anyone call out that I can come in. Again, I check the hallway to make sure it’s empty and I let myself into the room.
The lights are out, but thank God, Will is still lying in bed. He hasn’t vanished and been replaced by bloody sheets. I quietly walk to the bed, where he is out cold. I crouch down, grab his shoulder, and give him a good shake.
“Will!” I whisper. “Wake up!”
He doesn’t stir. But his chest is rising and falling. So he’s alive, at least.
“Will!” I press the palm of my hand into his sternum, which is how they taught us to rouse extremely lethargic patients. “You’ve got to wake up. We’re in big trouble here.”
He groans, but his eyelids don’t even flutter. Even if I manage to arouse him just a little bit, it won’t help. Ramona made sure to completely knock him out. He’s useless now.
I straighten up. At this point, I have to weigh my options. And I don’t have many.
I can’t leave Ward D. Not without help. The code that worked at the beginning of the shift is no longer functional. The phones are down and so are the computers. My cell phone isn’t getting any service. And the only guy on the unit that I could trust is now unconscious.
There’s only one thing left that I can possibly do.
I have to tell Dr. Beck what’s going on.
I’m fairly sure he’s going to think I’ve lost my mind, and who knows how it will impact my medical school career.
I mean, he already thinks I have that folie à deux thingy going on.
But at the same time, he’s the boss here.
If I tell him what Jade is up to and can be convincing enough, he can help me.
It’s my only chance.
Will is sleeping soundly in his bed, his right arm thrown across his forehead. He is still wearing his glasses, and I pull them off and put them on the nightstand next to his stack of books. “Don’t die,” I instruct him. “I’m getting help.”
After I leave Will’s room, I walk around the circle to get to Dr. Beck’s office.
I’m keeping a close eye out for Ramona. After Jade, I trust her the least. She was the one who cleaned up that blood before Dr. Beck could see it, and she claimed it was strawberry jelly when it definitely wasn’t.
I don’t know what her motivation is, but I can’t trust her.
When I arrive at Dr. Beck’s office, the light is thankfully on underneath the door. At least I don’t have to wake him up yet again. I knock on the door, and after a minute, he pulls it open.
“Amy.” He doesn’t look thrilled to see me. I can hardly blame him at this point. If he has to give me a grade, it’s not going to be an A. “What’s going on this time?”
While I walked over here, I thought about what I was going to say. At this point, the only thing he is going to listen to is some objective evidence, not wild theories. “I’m worried about our safety in case of an emergency,” I say.
He frowns. “Okay…”
“Because the phone lines are down,” I point out. He can’t argue with that one. “And also, did you realize that the code to the unit door doesn’t work anymore? We’re trapped here.”
His face blanches. “What? Are you certain?”
I nod vigorously. “Absolutely certain. Ramona didn’t tell you?”
“No, she didn’t .” He swears under his breath. “That’s unacceptable. What if there were a fire?”
“Exactly! That’s what I said!”
“The codes must’ve reset when the power went out,” he says. “That happened once before.”
I feel a rush of relief. Finally, somebody in a position of authority is taking charge of the situation. “So what do we do?”
“Let me check it out.” He smiles almost apologetically. “Sorry, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but…”
“It’s fine,” I say.
He digs into the pocket of his scrub pants and pulls out a set of keys to lock his office door. Then we make the loop around the unit one more time to get to the exit. I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed that this could be the last time I have to make this loop.
The keypad in the dim hallway is glowing green like usual. Dr. Beck punches in the code—the same one I’ve been trying. And just like during my attempts, we get that same buzzing sound in response.
“Damn,” he mutters. “What a pain.”
“Can you fix it?”
“Maybe…”
Although he doesn’t look hopeful. The thought that he might not be able to fix it hadn’t even occurred to me. After all, Dr. Beck is the attending physician. He’s all-powerful.
“Maintenance fixed it last time it happened.” He rubs his chin. “I’ll grab Ramona and see if she has any ideas.”
“No!” I gasp.
His eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “What’s wrong? Ramona has worked here longer than I have, and if anyone can fix it, she can. She’s the expert.”
“She couldn’t though,” I insist. “I already asked her.”
He waves a hand. “I’m certain if we put our heads together, we can figure it out. Let me get her.”
This is just great. Not only have I not found a way out of here, but I might have put Dr. Beck in danger too. I start to protest, but a wave of dizziness washes over me. It’s like the events of the evening have finally caught up to me.
“Amy?” He furrows his brow. “Are you okay?”
“Yes… just a little… lightheaded…”
Dr. Beck has to help me into the staff lounge, and I barely make it to the sofa before I collapse. My hands won’t stop shaking.
“You’re not going to pass out, are you?” he asks.
“No,” I manage.
He lets out a long sigh. “I’m so sorry. This night has been such a mess. Let me just sort out the door code, and I promise, we’ll get you home in one piece. Hang in there.”
I don’t want him to leave me, but before I can get out the words, he is out the door. I guess his priority is making sure that we have an emergency exit. And I’m grateful that he’s finally taking the situation seriously, even though I’m scared about what’s out there.
What if Dr. Beck doesn’t come back? What if he disappears like Cameron did?
I lean my head back against the sofa and close my eyes. The dizziness seems to be subsiding, but I still feel uneasy. A crazy man is wandering the unit. And Jade… I don’t quite understand her part in this. But she’s held a grudge against me since high school.
Jade will never forgive me. I did what I had to do—it wasn’t like I had a choice in the matter. I couldn’t let her kill our trigonometry teacher. But she could never see it that way.
Where is Dr. Beck? Shouldn’t he be back by now? The unit only takes like sixty seconds to walk around. How long has it been since he disappeared out the door?
Did Jade and Ramona do something to him? Is that why he isn’t back yet?
I reach into my pocket to grab my phone and check the time. God, how did it get so late? But the night is almost over. One way or another, I’m getting out of here.
Then something makes my heart leap:
I’ve got a bar on my phone!
It’s just one bar, but it’s the most I’ve had the entire night. I hold up my phone, and it vibrates in my hand as a text message from Gabby comes through. This is amazing! I can call for help! I can finally get out of here!
I click on the text message from Gabby, which came hours ago, shortly after I texted her that I had arrived at Ward D, and that Dr. Beck was cute. God, my priorities were different back then. Her text message fills the screen:
You think Dr. Beck is cute??? You perv, Dr. Beck is like eighty years old!!!!
I stare at the text message on the screen. My heart is pounding out of my chest.
Dr. Beck is like eighty years old!
So according to Gabby, who spent a week working with him, Dr. Beck is an old man. And if the attending physician on this unit is an old man, then who the hell was just with me in this room ?
And then the bar on my phone disappears.