Page 25 of Heart Sick

“Do you want to be my friend, old timer?” I tease with a smirk.

“You help me. I help you.”

“What’s the catch?”

He enters the room, which means whatever he’s about to say he doesn’t want anyone else to hear. “You give me the only currency which talks in here,” he explains while I arch a brow. “Your pills.”

On the outside, money talks. But in here, it’s the red and blue pills that get you what you want. “I don’t want them. So you’d be doing me a favor. But how do I do that without them finding out?”

The last time I was given my medication, the nurse pretty much gave my mouth a strip search to ensure I swallowed my pills. Our drugs are administered from the nurses’ station in the sunroom, where we are monitored closely to make sure everyone is sedated well before bedtime.

We stand in an orderly line and are told to take our drugs as it’ll make everything “better.” So far, I feel fucking worse, and the only drug which seems to be working is Luna. Speaking to her last night, I heard it again.

Music.

It was soft, a dull sound rattling around in my head, but it was there.

During therapy, I couldn’t stop watching her because I feel like I’m looking at her through familiar eyes. She incites warmth inside of me, but she also has a blanket of sadness dragging me under. It makes no sense, but I suppose none of it does. One would be thankful to get a second chance at life, but not me.

I can’t shake the feeling that I need to tell Luna something, but I don’t know what. I have this grave secret I want to share, but I can’t formulate the words.

Maybe I really am losing my mind.

She is fucking beautiful, but I find myself attracted to her because I want to…protect her. And I want to protect her because I feel…guilt. But I don’t know what I did.

My new friend, who will be dubbed Old Timer, looks at me, appearing to realize I zoned out. I assume that happens often here. “You move it around,” he explains like I am stupid for not knowing this inside info. “She wants to check your cheeks, you move it under your tongue. She asks to look under your tongue, you push it to the back of your throat. Get the idea?”

I nod, impressed with him being such a sly bastard.

Giving us our pills all at the same time, and in the same room, allows them to watch us easily. It also, however, gives the other patients like Old Timer here a front-row seat to the drugs other patients are taking.

“I give you my drugs, what do you give me?”

“Safety and power,” he says, and I suddenly realize he is unsupervised. Usually, an orderly would unlock the door, but they sent Old Timer instead. “You can sleep easy knowing Noah and his friends will leave the pretty brunette alone.”

Just the mention of that asshole has me clenching my fists.

“You work with me and I will make sure you and your friend are safe.”

I have no idea what Old Timer gives Noah in return, and I don’t want to know.

“Okay, I’m in. But only if this means Misha stays safe. If anything happens to her, I will make sure you and this place suffer in ways unimaginable.”

Old Timer nods, but appears taken aback by my aggression, and he’s not the only one. I have never been a violent person, but since waking from surgery, I feel like I’m barely holding on. I don’t like it and decide to talk to Dr. Norton about it.

Something isn’t right. I just don’t know what that something is.

“Let’s bounce.”

The moment the words leave my mouth, I wonder why I would use them because I’ve never used them before. But they’re out now and Old Timer gets the message.

I follow as he leads me from the room and when I step into the concreted hallway, I realize why it’s so dark—we’re underneath the main building.

“Are there tunnels under us?”

Old Timer looks over his shoulder, grinning. “You don’t miss much.”

This changes everything.

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