Page 56 of Ward D
She winks at me. “If I give you a chance, you always end up doing the wrong thing.”
I grunt. “I’m going to try to get some sleep. I… I must just be tired and that’s why I thought I saw the blood.”
“Yes, just keep telling yourself that…”
Jade is still chuckling to herself as I walk away from her, back to the staff lounge. I want to shrug off her comments, but it’s hard. I was so sure I saw blood on the floor. But it wasn’t there. I can’t argue with that.
And I also can’t argue that it isn’t the first time I have seen something that wasn’t there.
When I get back to the lounge, the lights are out. I frown, trying to remember whether I turned them off or not. No, I’m sure I left them on. I remember thinking to myself that I didn’t want to return to a dark room, and that’s why I made a point of keeping them on.
Of course, it’s entirely possible Ramona came by and shut the lights off. Preserving electricity, and all that. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything.
And then I see him.
The dark figure in the corner of the room. Waiting for me. And the door slams shut.
I don’t even have time to scream.
34
Will’s hand is on my mouth, nearly cutting off my air.
I wonder how long he’s been waiting for me in this room. The best I can say is he doesn’t seem to have a weapon. And when his hazel eyes meet mine through his glasses, there’s no malice there. If anything, he looks just as scared as I do.
“Please don’t scream,” he says. “I just need to talk to you.”
I stare at him, tempted to try to bite his fingers keeping pressure on my lips. Finally, I nod my head. As he pulls his shaky hand off my mouth, I eye the doorway, wondering how long it would take me to get there from where I’m standing. But Will is bigger and faster than I am—he could stop me if he wanted to.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “But I needed to talk to you. In private.”
“Okay…”
He glances at the closed door, then back at my face. “I saw the blood on the floor too.”
That is the last thing I expected him to say. “What?”
“It wasthere.” A deep crease settles between his eyebrows. “It happened just like you told Dr. Beck. The blood leaked out from under the door, and I could hear Miguel making sounds like he was… I don’t know… like he wasdyingor something. Choking to death. Like someone cut his throat.”
All notions of running out of the room fly from my head. I sink onto the sofa, my thoughts running a mile a minute. “So what happened to the blood then?”
“That nurse Ramona got rid of it.”
I suck in a breath. “What?”
“She came and cleaned it all up while you were grabbing Dr. Beck,” he says. “I saw her do it. She came out real quick as soon as you left, cleaned up the blood, and then she was gone before you got back and Dr. Beck could see it.”
My head is spinning. “Why would she do something like that?”
Will starts pacing across the room. “I don’t know. I don’t know what the hell is going on here tonight. Honestly, I’m getting kind of freaked out.”
I don’t know what to think right now. It would be one thing if Cameron were here and told me he saw the blood. But what am I supposed to think when the only person who saw what I saw is a guy with paranoid schizophrenia who hasn’t been taking his medications? And right now, Will is looking a lot more like the person that was described in his emergency room notes. His hair is sticking up, and his hazel eyes look wild.
He stops pacing and stares at me. “You don’t believe me.”
I play with the drawstring of my scrubs. It’s time to tell him the truth. “I know you haven’t been taking your medications. I found them hidden in your copy ofThe World According to Garp.”
He drops his eyes. “Oh.”
