Page 31 of Unwell
It took me a moment to understand what he meant.
The rats.
My stomach dropped as I remembered the tortured little body strung up in Ginny’s room. Telling him would only have incited him into a rage.
‘They’ll be back, I’m sure,’ I said. ‘Maybe they just found something yummy in another part of the hospital for now.’
Larry’s meaty hands tugged at the hem of his shirt.
‘It’s been days, Nurse Nancy.’
A sinking feeling spread through my stomach. I hated lying to him.
And the thought gnawed at me. Whoever was tormenting Ginny might be doing the same to Larry. The missing rats. The ribboned corpse in her room. It couldn’t all be a coincidence.
I glanced down the corridor. Only the shadows stared back.
But I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was toying with us.
NINETEEN
GINNY
The orderly’s hand clamped hard on my chin, forcing my jaw open. He held a small paper cup with two white pills sitting at the bottom. They rattled against one another as I shook my head violently.
‘Take it,’ he grunted, his fingers bruising me in their tight grip.
‘I don’t want to. It might hurt my baby. I don’t need any medicine.’ I lashed out at his arms, scratching at the hairy skin.
His lip curled into a menacing smile. ‘No one gives a fuck about you or your baby. The doctors will probably chop him up and feed him back to you for fun.’
Something inside me snapped.
I twisted viciously, bucking against his hold. Hejammed his knee between mine, pinning me to the wall. The hold had me panicking; the tightness making my chest ache. I fought him, scratching and kicking with my teeth bared. He forced his hand against my mouth, and I sank my teeth deep into the flesh like a rabid dog.
‘Help!’ he cried, his scream filling the ward. Blood, warm and metallic, flooded over my tongue and made my stomach churn. Still, I clamped down harder, the weeks of building anger peaking. I bit until I felt the hardness of bone scraping my teeth.
‘Let go, you little bitch!’ He backhanded me, sending pain bursting through my head. Everything ached, but I didn’t let go. With tears in his eyes, he tore his hand free of my mouth. Blood sprayed down my nightgown and dripped from my bruised chin.
Other staff members swarmed like ants, their hands pulling at me. Their faces blurred as tears filled my eyes. Their features twisted in disgust and anger. Two of them pinned me beneath the arms while the bitten one swore and sandwiched his bleeding hand under his arm.
‘She’s a fucking animal,’ he spat. ‘Put her in the Chamber.’
No.
My stomach dropped. I’d seen people come out of the Chamber, wild-eyed and mumbling about the voices. Sheer torment stuck on their pained faces.
I raised hell as they dragged me down the corridor. My bare heels scraped against the floor. They hauled me past doors that shut behind us with loud clashes offinality. Down the stairwell, and down, down, into the bowels of Wellard where the scent of decay grew stronger.
Flashes of familiarity attacked me. Like I’d been in the belly of the beast before.
The walls narrowed as the light dimmed. My screams bounced back at me from the concrete walls, surrounding me like taunting demons. Except the voices surrounding me sounded utterly feral.
The Echo Chamber waited with its door standing open like a gaping maw, nothing but darkness beyond.
The door stood black, rust eating at the hinges. A single vent was high above the door, where there didn’t stand a chance of me reaching it. The men shoved me inside and slammed the door behind me. With a terrifying scrape, they locked me inside.
In the darkness.
