Page 27 of Ward D
Spider-Dan looks between the two of us. He has no idea that what he just said was complete nonsense. How does somebody get to the point where their brain stops functioning like a normal brain? That their reality completely breaks from the reality that every other person in the world lives in?
And what’s to stop it from happening to anyone else?
“Dan,” Cam says, “do you think that the Green Goblin is around here somewhere and is trying to hurt you? “
Spider-Dan considers this question for several seconds. Like it’s really important for him to let us know whether the Green Goblin is out to get him or not. “No, I don’t think that,” he says thoughtfully. “But my sense tells me thatsomebodyhere is trying to hurt me…”
“Who?” Cam asks.
Spider-Dan takes a shaky breath. “Damon Sawyer.”
Cameron blinks a few times, surprised by this response. Obviously, this isn’t something Spider-Dan told him the first time.Sawyer. That’s the name of the patient in the Seclusion One room. The one who somehow got out of his restraints and has been throwing himself at the door, trying to break it down.
“You think Damon Sawyer wants to hurt you?” Cam presses him.
Spider-Dan is quiet for nearly a full minute. Finally, he says, “Not just me.”
“Then who?” I blurt out.
“All of us,” Spider-Dan says in his monotone. “Damon Sawyer wants to kill every single one of us tonight.”
“Why…” My voice is a hoarse croak. “Why do you think that?”
“Because that’s what he told me he’s going to do.”
16
“You don’t really think we’re in any danger, do you, Amy?”
Even though Spider-Dan is safely back in his room, I can’t seem to stop shaking. I’ve been sitting on the couch in the patient lounge for the last five minutes, unable to get myself to leave. I can’t stop hearing the words echoing in my ears:
Damon Sawyer wants to kill every single one of us tonight.
“Sawyer’s locked up in that seclusion room,” Cameron points out. “He’s in restraints.”
Is he though? I heard him slamming his body against the door, which I’m not sure he could have done if he was restrained.
“And even if he weren’t,” Cam adds, “there’s no way out of the room. Not without the code.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Dr. Beck didn’t look worried.”
That’s not entirely true. When I suggested that Sawyer might have gotten out of his restraints, Dr. Beck looked decidedly concerned, although he seemed to be trying to hide it for our sakes. After all, one of the first things he told us when we got here was that the patient in the seclusion room was dangerous. He made a point of telling us to avoid the room for our own safety.
“Look,” Cam says. “You have nothing to worry about. I’m not going to let anything happen to you, okay?”
“Well, that’s a comfort,” I mutter.
“Amy…”
“I don’t know why you keep acting like we’re great friends,” I say. “We weren’t friends before, and we’re not friends now.”
He considers my statement for a moment. “Listen,” he says. “I brought you something.”
He digs into the pocket of his scrub shirt, and to my total surprise, he comes up with a packet of Ring Dings. I can’t even believe it when I see them. Ring Dings are like my favorite sweet treat in the entire world. I have a rule that I can’t buy them for myself, since I would just gorge myself. I like them better than a chocolate soufflé or any kind of other fancy desserts. They’re like the perfect food—you’ve got the creamy center, the chocolate cake, and then the chocolate coating. What more do you need out of life?
I have to admit, the sight of those snack cakes does make me feel better.
