Page 78 of Ward D
I stand up from my seat and creep into the hallway. I look both ways, but nobody is around. The door to room 905 is closed and the light is off inside. It occurs to me that Sawyer could be hiding in that room. Maybe that’s where he’s been all along.
We need to survive the night.
Those were Will’s words of wisdom before Jade convinced me to turn against him. He was right. I don’t need to be able to fight Damon Sawyer. All I need to do is survive the night.
I knock on the door to room 906. It’s not surprising that I don’t hear anyone call out that I can come in. Again, I check the hallway to make sure it’s empty and I let myself into the room.
The lights are out, but thank God, Will is still lying in bed. He hasn’t vanished and been replaced by bloody sheets. I quietly walk to the bed, where he is out cold. I crouch down, grab his shoulder, and give him a good shake.
“Will!” I whisper. “Wake up!”
He doesn’t stir. But his chest is rising and falling. So he’s alive, at least.
“Will!” I press the palm of my hand into his sternum, which is how they taught us to rouse extremely lethargic patients. “You’vegotto wake up. We’re in big trouble here.”
He groans, but his eyelids don’t even flutter. Even if I manage to arouse him just a little bit, it won’t help. Ramona made sure to completely knock him out. He’s useless now.
I straighten up. At this point, I have to weigh my options. And I don’t have many.
I can’t leave Ward D. Not without help. The code that worked at the beginning of the shift is no longer functional. The phones are down and so are the computers. My cell phone isn’t getting any service. And the only guy on the unit that I could trust is now unconscious.
There’s only one thing left that I can possibly do. I have to tell Dr. Beck what’s going on. I’m fairly sure he’s going to think I’ve lost my mind, and who knows how it will impact my medical school career. I mean, he already thinks I have that folie à deux thingy going on. But at the same time, he’s the boss here. If I tell him what Jade is up to and can be convincing enough, he can help me.
It’s my only chance.
Will is sleeping soundly in his bed, his right arm thrown across his forehead. He is still wearing his glasses, and I pull them off and put them on the nightstand next to his stack of books. “Don’t die,” I instruct him. “I’m getting help.”
After I leave Will’s room, I walk around the circle to get to Dr. Beck’s office. I’m keeping a close eye out for Ramona. After Jade, I trust her the least. She was the one who cleaned up that blood before Dr. Beck could see it, and she claimed it was strawberry jelly when it definitely wasn’t. I don’t know what her motivation is, but I can’t trust her.
When I arrive at Dr. Beck’s office, the light is thankfully on underneath the door. At least I don’t have to wake him up yet again. I knock on the door, and after a minute, he pulls it open.
“Amy.” He doesn’t look thrilled to see me. I can hardly blame him at this point. If he has to give me a grade, it’s not going to be an A. “What’s going on this time?”
While I walked over here, I thought about what I was going to say. At this point, the only thing he is going to listen to is some objective evidence, not wild theories. “I’m worried about our safety in case of an emergency,” I say.
He frowns. “Okay…”
“Because the phone lines are down,” I point out. He can’t argue with that one. “And also, did you realize that the code to the unit door doesn’t work anymore? We’re trapped here.”
His face blanches. “What? Are you certain?”
I nod vigorously. “Absolutely certain. Ramona didn’t tell you?”
“No, shedidn’t.” He swears under his breath. “That’s unacceptable. What if there were a fire?”
“Exactly! That’s what I said!”
“The codes must’ve reset when the power went out,” he says. “That happened once before.”
I feel a rush of relief. Finally, somebody in a position of authority is taking charge of the situation. “So what do we do?”
“Let me check it out.” He smiles almost apologetically. “Sorry, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but…”
“It’s fine,” I say.
He digs into the pocket of his scrub pants and pulls out a set of keys to lock his office door. Then we make the loop around the unit one more time to get to the exit. I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed that this could be the last time I have to make this loop.
The keypad in the dim hallway is glowing green like usual. Dr. Beck punches in the code—the same one I’ve been trying. And just like during my attempts, we get that same buzzing sound in response.
