Page 13 of The Good Girl

“Okay,” I say, then I put the card in my pocket and watch her leave.

“Are you ready to get checked out of here?” Olivia holds up a bag for me, and she’s smiling like it’s a ticket to Disneyland.

“Right now?” It’s all happening so fast that I can’t process leaving.

“You’re no longer a patient here, Karmen,” she says gently as I take the bag.

When I open it and look at what’s inside, I see that it’s everything I came here with. It’s not much. The clothes I had on, my cell phone, and my wallet.

“Unfortunately I can’t let you go back to your room. It's a security measure since you're no longer a patient," she says and nods to the bag. “But you can change in here, and I’ll meet you in the hallway.” I nod, and Olivia closes the door so I can get undressed.

It’s strange putting on my school uniform, but it’s all I have. When I try to turn my phone on, it's dead, so I toss it back in the bag. What the hell am I going to do?

When I’m finished getting dressed, Olivia is standing outside of her office waiting for me. “Now what?”

She walks to the exit door and taps her badge against it. When it beeps, she opens it for me. “You’ll take these stairs down to the first floor. Don’t worry, you can’t access the other floors without clearance.”

“What about Dr. Rourk? He’s been helping me.”

“You’re no longer court-ordered to see a psychiatrist.” She’s not being mean; she's just stating the facts.

“But what if I want to?” The thought of leaving without talking to Rourk is making me panic.

“He works for Bellevue Asylum, Karmen. He can’t see patients outside of this facility.” She’s looking at me with sympathy, but then she checks her watch like she’s got other things to do.

“All right,” I say, feeling defeated. If I push too hard to speak to him, it might raise a red flag. The last thing I want is to get him into trouble. He’s been my saving grace while I was here, and I thought there was more between us. Was I wrong?

I have no choice but to do what she says and take the stairs. As I exit Bellevue Asylum, my heart grows heavy with sadness and loss. To make matters worse, by the time I get outside, the sun is setting. Dark gray clouds are rapidly rolling in, and I feel a drop of rain hit me on my cheek.

The only thing I can do is walk away, so I put one foot in front of the other. As I leave the asylum, I feel more alone now than ever before.

Chapter Ten

ROURK

I’m running late by the time I get to Bellevue, but what I had to do was important. The lawyer I hired for Karmen needed me to see the evidence they found after the search warrant was issued. It was a shock to my system to say the least, but when he told me that they didn’t apprehend Andrew, I lost it. The police don’t know where he is, but there’s a warrant out for his arrest.

I run up the stairs, and when I scan my pass to the floor, I go straight to Karmen’s room. It’s empty, and the sheets have been stripped off the bed. I don’t think much of it because they could be cleaning, so I go to the group room. When I don’t see her there, worry starts to set in, and I go to the nurses’ station.

Olivia is doing data entry on the patient files when I go over to talk to her.

“Where’s Miss Phillips?” I try to sound casual about it as I take a seat at the staff computer and open Karmen’s chart. “We have a session scheduled this morning, and I was running late.”

“She’s been discharged,” Olivia says casually, and I turn around so fast I nearly fall out of my chair.

“Discharged?” I say more harshly than I intended. “On whose authority?”

“Detective Webb met with her earlier. She said the charges had been dropped, and she was free to go.” Olivia shrugs and I feel rage boil inside of me.

“How in the fuck did a patient get discharged without a doctor’s authorization?” I stand up, and Olivia sighs.

“Perhaps if you were less distracted by your patient, you might have read the rules.” She comes closer to me and lowers her voice. “I heard the two of you in your office.”

My office is at the end of a corridor with no other rooms around it. The only reason she would be there is because she’s nosy. “And yet you didn’t report me.”

“You’re only here temporarily.” She shrugs. “My concern is for the patients. Besides, Karmen needs someone to take care of her. It might as well be you.” I’m stunned by this revelation. “You may not know this, Dr. Rourk, but I’ve been here a long time and I’ve seen the worst of the worst. What you and Karmen have going on is one of the better things I’ve witnessed.”

“Then why would you let her leave?” I plead. “Her family has been listed as no contact, and the man she assaulted is missing. She could be in danger.”

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