Page 84 of Ward D
“Oh my God.” I clutch at my cheeks. “I thought I was goingcrazy. That was you drugging me all along? How could you do that to me, Jade?”
“It wasn’t that big a deal.” She juts out her lower lip. “You were such a square. It probably helped you loosen up a little. It certainly didn’t make you any nicer though.”
I can’t believe it. When I started to see that little girl everywhere, I thought my brain was broken. I had never been so terrified in my life. But it was really just my best friend slipping drugs into my freaking drink behind my back.
But any relief is short-lived. I’m still stuck in this locked unit with two extremely dangerous people and no way out.
“Anyway.” Damon looks down at his watch. “We better get going with this. The sun will be up soon.”
My heart sinks. “Get going withwhat? What are you going to do?”
Jade ignores my question. “You’re right, Damon. Should I go grab the paint thinner?”
Paint thinner?
Damon tosses the paperweight, splattered in Nicole’s blood, between his hands. “Honestly, anyone who is dumb enough to leave a can of paint thinner on a psych ward is just asking to have the whole place burned down.”
I remember looking through Damon’s chart. The history of arson when he was a child. He had an affinity for setting fires.Two casualties.
“No,” I breathe. “You’re not going to do that…”
He winks at me. “Weren’t you the one who said this place was a fire hazard?”
I start to move towards him, but I’ve barely taken a step when Damon raises the paperweight over his head. I remember the way the marble smashed into Nicole’s skull and I freeze.
No. Not now. It’s not the time.
Jade goes back behind the nurses’ station and she pulls out a bucket. She starts humming to herself as she splashes the caustic material all over the floor. She drenches the floors with it, and for good measure, she pours a bunch of it on Nicole’s body.
“You can’t do this,” I croak. “You can’t kill all these people because you’re mad at me. That’s not right.”
“Oh, get over yourself.” Jade sneers at me. “This isn’t about you. Damon and I wanted a fresh start, so what better way to get it than to burn down the psych unit and pretend both of us went up in flames?” She smirks. “Although when I saw your name on the call list for this week, I did get excited about the idea of having a little fun with you in the process. We were going to do it last night, but we decided to move our plans just for you.”
“It’s true,” Damon confirms. “Jade made me wait a whole extra night. She must really hate you.”
A sweat breaks out on my palms as I imagine the entire unit going up in flames. I imagine the temperature rising as flames lick at my feet. I’ve heard being burned to death is a terrible way to die.
But hope is not lost. The two of them are going to need to leave the unit if they don’t want to burn down with it. As soon as they’re gone, I can short out the light circuit again. And then I’ll be able to get out.
Except then I see Jade crouched on the floor, going through Nicole’s pockets. My heart sinks when she pulls out a syringe—the same kind Nicole plunged into Will’s arm earlier.
“We’re not completely heartless,” Jade says. “You’re going to sleep through the whole thing. We’ll put you to sleep, and then you’re going to wake up dead.”
No. Oh my God,no.
“Damon,” Jade says, “how about you hold her down and I’ll inject her?”
He winks at me again. “That sounds like a plan.”
“Please.” Tears fill my eyes. “Jade, you can’t do this to me.Please.”
She frowns at me.
“We were best friends,” I remind her as I swipe at my eyes. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“Best friends,” she repeats mockingly. “Please, Amy. You should have seen the look of disgust on your face when I suggested the two of us go out to dinner. You didn’t even bother to come to my mother’s funeral. I mean, yes, I’m the one who killed her, butyoudidn’t know that. Is that how you treat a best friend?”
“I’m sorry!” I cry. “I was terrible to you, and I admit it. But I want to change. I want to get to know you. I want to be best friends again.”
