Secrets of Redemption Box Set

by Michele Pariza Wacek

  Daphne didn’t look convinced.

  Mia plopped a duffle bag on my lap. “So, what’s the plan?”

  I opened it and started rifling through. Underneath a couple of magazines was a pair of jean shorts, socks, underwear, tennis shoes, and a pink tee shirt. I also found a mound of black hair, which turned out to be a wig.

  “There’s a baseball hat in there too,” Mia said, as I studied the wig. “Your hair is pretty … different. I thought a wig might help.”

  “The wig looks like your hair,” I said.

  “Duh,” she said. “I signed in twice, too. You’re going to be me leaving, remember?”

  I glanced up. Mia was wearing a pink tee shirt, although hers was a lighter pink with the words “Keep Calm and Drink Wine” on it in white. She also had a University of Wisconsin baseball cap on. All of a sudden, I understood where Daphne was coming from.

  “Daphne was right,” I said. “This is stupid. There’s no way anyone is going to think I’m you.”

  “As you pointed out, that orderly is barely glancing at people coming and going.” Mia said. “I’m not sure if he even looked at me, so why would he remember me? Besides, I’m going to stay behind. You get dressed and leave with Daphne, and I’ll be the distraction. And, in case anyone remembers that Daphne walked in with a cute dark-haired chick, well, there you are.”

  “A cute short dark-haired chick,” I retorted. “I’m about a foot taller than you.”

  “I told you this was a stupid idea,” Daphne groaned.

  “Well, we needed to do something to cover up Becca’s hair,” Mia said. “That might cause a second look. And she needs to sign out as me. So it makes sense to have her look as much like me as possible.”

  I took a deep breath. Was I really going to do this? Staring at Mia, I was starting to get a bad feeling. Maybe I should stay put and figure out a better way—a legal way—to get out.

  But then I thought of Chrissy. And that giant ticking clock inside me. Something was wrong. I needed to get out.

  “So, when are we going to do this?” Daphne asked. “Right now? Or …”

  I glanced at the clock. “They come with meds at around 5 o’clock. It’s quarter to four now, so yeah. If we’re going to do this, let’s do it now.”

  I collected the clothes and headed for the bathroom to change. I had no sooner shut the door when I heard the door open to my room. “Where’s Rebecca?” a voice snapped, and my heart sank.

  It was Nurse Ellen.

  I hadn’t seen her earlier and had been hoping it was her day off. No such luck.

  I heard Mia tell her I was in the bathroom.

  “How long is she going to be in there?” Nurse Ellen definitely sounded impatient. Crap, now what would I do? I stared helplessly around the bathroom as I held my clothes. I needed to hide them, but where? While the bathroom was relatively roomy and had lots of metal handles everywhere, it was also pretty sparse: a bathtub, sink, toilet, and cupboard above the toilet, which held a pink plastic bin, some extra gloves, and disinfectant. I shoved my clothes behind the pink plastic bin, trying to be as quiet as possible, before flushing the toilet, washing my hands and opening the door.

  Nurse Ellen was standing by the door to the room, arms crossed, a displeased expression on her face. Mia and Daphne were sitting on the bed. Daphne was staring out the window.

  “There you are,” Nurse Ellen said. “Let’s go.”

  I didn’t move. “Go where?”

  Nurse Ellen frowned even deeper. “To see Dr. Ellison. Where do you think?” She turned to Mia and Daphne sitting on the bed, and my heart jumped into my mouth. My cell was sitting there in the middle of the bed. Oh God, was she going to confiscate it? “You two might as well leave,” she said.

  Mia and Daphne looked startled. “Ah …” Daphne started to say, but I interrupted.

  “Dr. Ellison always comes here to see me, though. I thought he wasn’t seeing me today.”

  Nurse Ellen tapped her foot. “He only did that because you didn’t leave your bed before. But, now that you’re up and walking around, he wants to see you in his office.”

  I didn’t see how I could possibly get out of seeing the doctor without drawing unwanted attention to myself, so I started shuffling forward.

  Mia reached out to touch my hand. “No worries, we can wait until you’re done.”

  “It’s a waste of your time,” Nurse Ellen said. “Who knows how long she’ll be with the doctor, and then it will be time for meds.”

  “That’s okay,” Mia said firmly. “We’ll wait.”

  “Suit yourself,” Nurse Ellen snapped, turning on her heel and striding out of the room. I looked back at Mia and Daphne before walking out the door—Daphne looked worried, but Mia winked at me.

  Nurse Ellen appeared to be in a particularly foul mood, muttering to herself as she strode down the hall. I had to hurry to keep up since I really had no idea where I was going. She finally stopped in front of a door, knocked and pushed it open, and left without looking at me.

  Hesitantly, I approached the door. I hoped I would be able to find my way back on my own.

  Dr. Ellison was behind a desk, shuffling papers, but he looked up and smiled at me. “Ah, Rebecca. So good to see you walking around. Come in.” He stood up and gestured for me to sit in one of the two chairs in front of his desk.

  I sat in the hard, wooden chair, trying not to fidget. How fast could I make this without raising his suspicion?

  The room was small and cramped. There was no couch, just a big messy desk, a lamp, and the two wooden chairs. The walls were painted with what I imagined to be a soothing blue with yellow accents, although, because there were no windows, the effect felt more claustrophobic than comforting.

  He leaned back in his chair, tenting his fingers. “Are you ready to talk about what happened?”

  Oh no. He looked like he was settling in for a long conversation. I dropped my gaze to the coffee mug on his desk. It featured a cartoon picture of a cow standing in the middle of a field with the words “outstanding in my field” below it. It reminded me of my dream the night before, drinking tea with Aunt Charlie. I shivered.

  The doctor noticed and leaned forward. “Are you cold? I can turn up the heat in here.”

  I shook my head. “I’m fine.”

  He settled back in his chair. “Tell me about that night.”

  I fiddled with my hospital gown. “There’s nothing to tell. Clearly, I wasn’t in my right mind.”

  “Tell me how it seemed from your standpoint.”

  This wasn’t going well. I really didn’t want to get into a big discussion about my mental health. “I woke up and saw Chrissy wasn’t in her room. I found her downstairs and I thought she had been sleepwalking, but I guess she hadn’t been. All I was trying to do was get her back to her bed.”

  The doctor nodded slightly. “And the knife.”

  “I didn’t have it.”

  “Your husband says otherwise.”

  I bit my lip. “It’s true I had put it in my purse. But, I didn’t have my purse with me when I was talking to Chrissy.”

  He nodded again, and jotted a few notes. “What else?”

  “Stefan came down and … and he started yelling at me. And then you showed up.”

  “Do you remember why Stefan was yelling at you?”

  “He said I was a danger to Chrissy, but I wasn’t. I was just trying to get her back to bed.”

  Dr. Ellison took a few more notes. “Anything else?”

  I shook my head.

  “You don’t remember threatening Stefan?”

  I made a face. “No.” I said, and clamped my mouth closed before I could say “because I didn’t threaten him.” I figured the less confrontational I was, the better.

  Dr. Ellison pursed his lips. “What about Chrissy?”


  “What about Chrissy?’

  “Do you remember threatening her?”

  “No.” Because I didn’t threaten her either.

  I could feel myself wanting to lash out and protest my innocence, but I forced myself to stay calm and breathe. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to get myself sedated.

  Dr. Ellison peered at me over his glasses. “That’s not the story I got from Stefan and Chrissy.”

  Chrissy too? Oh boy. Although it made sense that she would back him up. After all, he was her father. And if she were possessed by Nellie, she would probably lie just to make more trouble for me. I decided to try a different tact.

  “I … I’m tired, Dr. Ellison. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

  He took his glasses off to study me. “I think we should talk about this now.”

  I went back to plucking at my gown. “Things are still … a blur. And I’m really tired. It’s been a long day.”

  He opened his mouth, as if to protest, then closed it. “I think you’re right. Let’s pick this back up tomorrow, after you’ve had a chance to rest and think about things some more.”

  Fat chance, I thought grimly, but I nodded as I rose to my feet. He called my name as I was turning to the door and I looked back at him.

  “Good job today,” he smiled at me. “You’ve had a big breakthrough.”

  You have no idea, I thought, but I nodded again and left.

  After a few missed turns and some help from a couple of nurses, I made my way back to my room. Mia and Daphne were still there, thank God.

  “You won’t believe it,” Mia hissed as soon as I closed the door, but no sooner had I shut it, when someone wrestled it open from the other side. Nurse Ellen. Of course.

  “Your meds,” she snapped, muscling her way in. I took a couple of steps back.

  “The doctor said I had a breakthrough,” I said hesitantly. I wasn’t completely sure if I could fool her with the pills.

  She smiled. It wasn’t a very nice smile. “I know.” She held out the paper container and a glass of water. “I have your new prescription right here.”

  Oh crap. I slowly reached for the container and the water. Her smile widened, looking even nastier, if that was even possible.

  I tossed the pills into my mouth. My first thought was to hide them under my tongue but at the last moment I jammed them between my lower teeth and gum. I took a gulp of the water, making a big deal out of swallowing it.

  I went to hand back the glass, but she didn’t move. “Open your mouth,” she said.

  Oh God. This was what I was afraid of. I opened my mouth, praying I had hidden the pills well enough.

  She peered inside. “Lift your tongue,” she ordered.

  Thanking God for the impulse that kept me from using my tongue, I lifted my tongue.

  She nodded, apparently satisfied, and took my glass away from me. “Doesn’t make sense for your friends to stay. You’re not going to be worth much very soon.” She turned on her heel and left the room.

  I quickly whirled around so my back was to the door and spit the pills out. “We don’t have much time,” I hissed, heading to the bathroom. “If she thinks those meds are going to knock me out, she’s going to be back here soon.”

  “Becca, maybe we shouldn’t do this now,” Daphne started to say, but I shook my head.

  “No, I have to get out of here. Now. I can’t wait any longer. “ The ticking in my head was so loud I could barely think—all I could hear was “go, go, go.” As I shut the bathroom door, I heard Mia say to Daphne, “What on earth did you see in that witch?”

  I hurriedly stripped off my gown, then dug the clothes and wig out of the cabinet. I was glad Mia had brought that silly wig, after all. It would be more difficult for Nurse Ellen to spot me with that wig on.

  Roughly, I pulled the clothes on. In my haste, I got tangled in the shorts and nearly lost my balance. “Becca, get ahold of yourself,” I muttered as I struggled to right myself.

  Finally, finally, I was dressed. It felt like it had taken hours. Quickly, I pulled my hair back and arranged the wig on my head. I didn’t have a mirror, so I had to feel around to make sure I had tucked up all my hair. I slapped the baseball cap on and was about to open the door, when I spied my hospital gown on the floor. Not completely understanding the impulse but doing it anyway, I scooped my hospital gown off the floor and shoved it in the cabinet where I had hidden my clothes before opening the door.

  Mia was standing in front of the door and Daphne was still on the bed. They both did a double take. “Wow,” Mia said. “You look nothing like yourself.”

  I fretted with the wig. “Is it straight? There’s no mirror in the bathroom.”

  Daphne got off the bed and came toward me. “Here, let me.” She adjusted the wig and the hat, taking a moment to walk around me and check me from all sides. “Okay, that should work.”

  “No one is going to recognize you,” Mia said. “We just need to get you out of the room.”

  “Yeah, that’s the tricky part.” I scooped up the duffle bag from the bed. The ticking in my head had become a gong. I had to get out. “Any suggestions? I could just …”

  “Hold on,” Mia interrupted. “Turn on the light in the bathroom and close the door.” She rolled her eyes at my questioning look. “How else am I going to pretend you’re in the bathroom?”

  “Oh, makes sense,” I said, as Daphne crossed the room to do what Mia suggested.

  “Daphne, you leave first,” Mia continued. “Once the coast is clear, let Becca know and she can slip out. I’ll wait here. And I’ll do my best to keep them from realizing you’re missing, Becca. Hopefully, if they think they just lost track of you, it will buy us some time.”

  “I think you missed your calling,” I said. “I know you wanted to be Erin Brockovich, but you should have been a spy or something.”

  “Naw,” Mia said cheerfully, although her smiled faded slightly when I mentioned Erin Brockovich. “I’m more of a Mission Impossible or Ocean’s Eleven girl.”

  Daphne shook her head as she approached the door. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

  “That’s Star Wars,” Mia said cheerfully.

  “Are you sure?” I asked. “I think that’s Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

  “Oh, you might be right. Still Harrison Ford though,” Mia said.

  Daphne blew out air in exasperation. “I wasn’t making a movie reference. It’s what I feel.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, I have a bad feeling too,” I said. “But I have a worse feeling about staying here.”

  “Ready?” Mia asked, positioning herself to stand behind the door as it opened. Daphne nodded, and Mia opened the door.

  Daphne stepped out and looked around. I think she was trying to be casual, but her entire body was stiff and jerky. I heard Mia hiss “relax” at her. Daphne scowled, and gave me a quick nod.

  I took a deep breath. Mia whispered to me: “Remember, whatever you do, don’t stop. Just head straight to the door and sign out.”

  I nodded, took a second deep breath, and stepped into the hallway.

  I don’t know what I was expecting—maybe an alarm to go off or one of the nurses to yell, “There she is, grab her before she escapes!”—but absolutely nothing happened. A glassy-eyed woman with dark, stringy hair lurched by me, hand trailing on the opposite wall. Down the hallway by the nurse’s station, two nurses appeared to be doing paperwork, completely oblivious to their surroundings.

  I turned and started walking down the hallway, Daphne next to me. “Slow down,” she muttered. “We’re not in any hurry. And hunch over.”

  I slowed my pace and bent my head, letting the dark hair from the wig cover my face. A nurse passed us going the other way, and I quickly angled my head away … but she completely ignored me.

  “Remember, you have e
very right to leave,” Daphne murmured. “Just act like you have total confidence in what you’re doing.”

  Easier said than done. Thinking about this escape plan and actually doing it were two completely different things. I sucked in a breath and squared my shoulders, repeating to myself, “I have every right to leave. I have every right to leave.”

  I could see the doorway just up ahead. Almost there. God, it was agonizing how long it took. I felt like I was going to hyperventilate, so I focused on slowing down my breathing.

  From behind I heard a shout. “Daphne.” It was Nurse Ellen. Daphne gasped, and I could see her face grow paler. “Keep going,” she muttered. “Whatever you do, don’t stop.”

  Nurse Ellen called her name again, sounding more frustrated. Daphne stopped and turned. “What is it?” she said, her voice tart.

  “Are you leaving?” Nurse Ellen asked.

  “What does it look like?” Daphne snapped.

  Even though I had my head down and hadn’t stopped, I could still hear their conversation.

  “You might want to rethink visiting Rebecca,” Nurse Ellen said. “I don’t think your visits are helping, and they may even be setting her back.”

  I finally, finally, reached the desk that manned the door. The orderly was bent over, in front of a computer.

  “What are you talking about?” Daphne demanded. “She looked great to me.”

  I opened my mouth to say, “Signing out,” but all that came out was a squeak. I closed my mouth, swallowed hard, and tried again. “Signing out.”

  “Where did you go to medical school again?” Nurse Ellen asked. “Oh. That’s right. You didn’t.”

  Without looking at me, the orderly thrust a clipboard at me. I reached for the pen and saw my hand shake badly. I dropped my hand to the desk to steady it.

  “That has nothing to do with anything and you know it,” Daphne said.

  “Oh, so you do think you’re qualified to diagnose Rebecca?” Nurse Ellen said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

  “Don’t be absurd,” Daphne said. “I didn’t say anything of the kind.”