Page 52 of Ward D
A typical manic episode for Jade. And apparently, this boyfriend of hers isn’t exactly the best influence. Glad I said no to the double date.
I skim through a quick summary of Jade’s prior hospitalizations, and the list makes me ill. When she first got hospitalized, my mother assured me she was going to get help and it would make her better. But ithasn’tmade her better. She’s been in and out of the hospital every few months since we were teenagers. She never managed to get her bipolar disorder under control.
Mental illness is really difficult to treat.
While I’m flipping through the chart, a noise comes from around the corner of the nurses’ station. It’s a sickening sound, like somebody is gagging or choking. And that’s when I realize how quiet it has been since I’ve been sitting here. Ever since they locked Miguel in Seclusion Two, he’s alternated between singing pop hits and yelling about Damon Sawyer. But now the singing has stopped. In fact, there’s no sound at all from the seclusion rooms.
I abandon Jade’s chart on the desk. I step out into the hallway, instinctively feeling for the knitting needle that Mary gave me and being reassured by its presence. There might be better weapons at the nurses’ station, like a pair of scissors, but I would look like I was nuts if I started walking through the hallways, holding out a pair of scissors. Not that a knitting needle is any better.
I step through the dark hallway in the direction of the seclusion rooms. I hear that choking sound again, coming from Seclusion Two, and now it almost sounds like someone is gasping for air.
“Miguel?” I call out. “Are you okay?”
Then something emerges from the crack under the door. A dark liquid.
It’s blood. And it’s leaking out from under the door.
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“Miguel!” I gasp.
I don’t know what happened in Seclusion Two. Maybe Miguel harmed himself. I have no idea. But he’s obviously bleeding in there. I’ve got to help him.
I start to punch in the code for the door, but then I hesitate. What if this is a trick? Or worse, what if Miguel is inside there with a knife and when I get the door open, he’s going to do to me what he did to himself. Or worse.
No, I better not open the door. Not until I have Ramona or Dr. Beck with me.
I hurry around the circle to get to Dr. Beck’s office. The light is off inside, which means he might be sleeping, but I don’t even hesitate to knock on the door. I pound on it with the palm of my hand until he pulls it open, looking mildly irritated. His scrubs look crumpled and he’s not wearing any shoes. He was clean-shaven at the beginning of the night, but now he’s started to get a hint of stubble on his chin.
“Amy.” He yawns loudly. “What’s going on?”
“There’s blood,” I gasp. “It’s leaking out from under the door of Seclusion Two.”
Dr. Beck takes a moment to process what I just said. “What?”
“It’s all over the floor.” Tears prick at my eyes. “Something must’ve happened to Miguel. But I wasn’t sure if I should open the door…”
He blinks a few times. “Wait. You said there’sbloodon the floor?”
“Yes…”
He squints at me. “Are you sure?”
“Yes!” I wipe my eyes. “Please come look.”
Dr. Beck finally nods. “Okay, yes. Of course. Let me just… Let me get my shoes on. I just…”
He seems a bit disoriented, which I guess is fair considering I woke him up in the middle of the night. But then again, he’s on-call. He should expect something like this. Well, maybe not exactly likethis.
Dr. Beck shoves his feet into his sneakers and follows me around the hall to the seclusion rooms. My heart is pounding so hard, my chest hurts. I can’t even imagine what is inside that room. There was so much blood on the floor. There’s no way he’s all right. Poor Miguel…
We’re going to have to call 911. Or actually, I guess we’re inside a hospital so there’s no need to call 911. I’m sure he’ll have to go straight to the emergency room. If he’s alive at all.
Please let him be alive. Please.
Except when we get to the room, I get the shock of my life. On the floor outside Seclusion Two, there’s absolutely nothing there.
No blood.Nothing.
