Page 12 of The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

She took a deep breath, then nodded. She had to be calm and rational if she had any hope of convincing him that she was telling the truth.

Hazel moved forward to undo the straps, but Br. Baldwin put a hand up to stop her. He gave Sage a stern look.

“I need you to say it,” he said.

“I’ll behave,” Sage said. “No more kicking and screaming.”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise.”

Someone knocked on the door. Hazel unlocked it and a nurse entered. Without a glance at Sage or the others, she opened a cabinet drawer, retrieved a glass vial and a syringe, set them on a tray, then stood next to Hazel with her hands clasped together, waiting. Sage gritted her teeth. No matter how mad or upset she got, she needed to keep quiet and cooperate—at least until they untied her.

Dr. Baldwin gestured for Hazel to undo the straps, then addressed Sage. “I have to admit I’m a little disappointed in you,” he said. “You know the rules are in place for a reason. And you know what happens when you don’t follow them. I’d rather not put you back on a double dose of Thorazine, but if you keep running away, I’ll have no choice.”

Hazel unbuckled the straps one by one, smiling and patting each of Sage’s wrists and ankles with a warm hand once they were free, like a mother comforting a child.

“I’d like you to tell me where you went this time,” Dr. Baldwin said. “Were you looking for your mother again? Was that it? Did you get lost in one of the other buildings? I know it’s an easy thing to do when there are so many. Believe it or not, I’ve done it myself a number of times.”

Hazel loosened the strap over Sage’s chest and let it fall to the sides of the gurney, metal striking metal with an ear-piercing clang. Then she lowered one of the railings and stepped back, silent but on high alert.

“Were you in the woods this time?” Dr. Baldwin continued. “Or hiding in the basement somewhere?”

Sage sat up and swung her legs over the side of the gurney, rubbing her wrists. The room spun around her and she grabbed the mattress, closed her eyes, and waited for the dizziness to pass.For the love of God, please make it stop.

“Are you all right?” Dr. Baldwin said.

She opened her eyes and nodded, doing her best to look sane while feeling anything but. “I’m fine,” she said, and started to get down. Before her feet could touch the floor, however, Hazel stepped forward, pressed a hand against her shoulder, and shook her head.

“Hold on,” Dr. Baldwin said. “There’s no hurry to get back to your ward. We need to talk first.”

“But I—”

He held up a hand to silence her. “I need you to tell me where you’ve been.”

Sage locked eyes with him. “I haven’tbeenanywhere,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm. “I live over in Mariners Harbor with my stepfather, Alan Tern. He’s the one who told me Rosemary was missing from Willowbrook. I didn’t even know she was alive until then. That’s why I came here, to help look for her. But my purse was stolen on the bus and now everyone thinks I’m her. But I’m not. We’re identical twins and look exactly the same.”

“I’m sorry,” Dr. Baldwin said, “but I’ve spoken with your mother many times over the years and she never mentioned anything about Rosemary having a twin sister. There’s a girl in your ward, I believe her name is Norma, who you call your sister, but that’s it. We’ve talked about this several times since you came to stay with us, and I’ve explained that it’s all part of your condition. Sage isn’t real, remember?”

Her breath caught in her throat. “No,” she said. “You’re wrong. I’m Sage. And I’m real. Rosemary is my twin sister and she’s still missing.” She pressed a hand over her churning stomach, fighting the urge to swear and scream. How many times did she have to say it? “So why aren’t you out looking for her? Why aren’t the cops here with a search party?”

He chuckled to himself, as if amused by a private joke. Then, in that same condescending tone, he said, “Let’s start over, shall we? Like I said, you’ve been through quite an ordeal, and it’s not uncommon to have short-term memory loss after experiencing trauma. Especially for someone with your disorders.”

“But I haven’t been through an ordeal or experienced any trauma, up until that other doctor strapped me down and drugged me. And I don’t have a disorder or a condition or whatever you want to call it. I’m perfectly sane and I came here to see if—”

“Where did you go again? You forgot to tell me.”

She shook her head. Was he trying to confuse her? “I didn’t go anywhere. I came here from our apartment in Mariners Harbor. I rode here on the bus and—”

All right,” he said. “Let’s say you’re telling the truth. How did you pay the bus fare?”

“With money, like everyone else.”

“Where did you get the money?”

“I stole it from my stepfather.”

“I see. And do you have any money now?”

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