Page 31 of Ward D
“You,” he says.
I stare at him. “Are… are you okay?”
“No, I not okay,” he says in his accented English. “I told you, my father say I need to get outta here.Quiero ir.”
“I’m sorry.” I look over his shoulder, hoping somebody else is watching this exchange. That it’s not just the two of us alone out here. “I don’t have the authority to let you leave.”
His bloodshot eyes make contact with mine. “You got the code?”
347244. I’ve got it written down in my phone, but I memorized it too. “No. I’m afraid not.”
“Damn.” His face falls. “We gotta get the code. My father say we gotta get out of here.”
“How about in the morning?” I suggest gently.
“No, you don’t understand.” Miguel grits his teeth. “The morning is too late.”
“But why?” I press him.
“Because my father say Damon Sawyer is gonna kill us all by the morning. Kill us all.Muerto.”
As he utters the words, a sickening thump echoes from deep in the hallway. The whole wall seems to vibrate this time. I’m not certain, but I think it’s coming from Seclusion One.
The man inside is trying desperately to get out.
But he can’t. Hecan’t.
“Excuse me,” I manage. I push past Miguel and race into the hallway, breathing hard. Whatever else, I don’t want to be alone anymore. I’ve got to find Cameron or Dr. Beck or Ramona orsomebody. I can’t be the only staff member here. It’s not safe. That much is obvious.
Except the hallway is completely silent. Whereiseveryone?
I check behind me. Miguel hasn’t followed me. I hear a soft buzzing sound, which means he’s trying to get out but he doesn’t know the code. I hear it a second time. He’s trying numbers, attempting to escape.
I walk briskly through the silent hallways, the fluorescent lights flickering overhead. Granted, it’s late. But it shouldn’t be this quiet on a psych ward. Should it?
I finally run the full loop around the circle, and I come across the door labeled Attending Physician. I don’t want to bother Dr. Beck, but it feels like he ought to know that one of his patients is trying to escape the unit. So after a few seconds of contemplation, I knock on the door.
After a moment of shuffling, the door cracks open. Dr. Beck is standing in the doorway, wearing only his scrubs, his white coat tossed haphazardly on a sofa in the corner of the office that I suspect doubles as a bed on overnight shifts.
“Hi, Amy.” He squints at my face. “You okay?”
“Fine,” I lie.
“What’s up?”
For a moment, I stand there, frozen, having forgotten my reason for coming here in the first place. Then it hits me. “That guy Miguel is trying to get out. He’s typing codes in the door, trying to get it to open.”
“Oh.” Dr. Beck shrugs. “Well, that’s okay. He doesn’t know the code, so he’s not going anywhere.”
I feel slightly deflated by his response. I had hoped he’d march over to the door and take care of the situation. But I suppose he’s right. As long as none of the patients on the unit know the code to the door, nobody is going anywhere. The only people who can leave are me, Cameron, Ramona, and Dr. Beck.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Amy?” he asks gently.
“Yes,” I say, although with a little bit less certainty than before. “It’s just hard being here all night. That’s all.”
He nods sympathetically. Unlike Cameron, he’s got the empathy thing down pat. I bet he’s incredible with patients. He’s young, but he’s got the air of somebody who has been doing this for many years. “I get it. I forget how scary it can be the first time.”
I manage a smile. “You were scared on your first night in a psych ward?”
