by Jw Schnarr
She flopped down in the seat beside Alice and impulsively reached out and squeezed her hand. “So what are we watching’? She said.
“News,” Alice said. The sports ended and a woman with a business casual blouse and tight red hair smiled on the screen. Behind her, a map of the local area flashed on a green screen.
“The weather for next week will be seasonal with a chance of thunderstorms toward the weekend,” The woman said. “We’re keeping an eye on the weather patterns as you know, this is tornado primetime.”
Dorothy perked up at the mention. Then she chuckled, self conscious. “I’m not supposed to watch the weather channels or any weather news,” she said again.
“No problem,” Alice said. “We can change it if you want.”
“Naw, I’ll be okay. I’m a big girl.”
“I won’t tell on you,” Alice said.
“Aww, thanks!” Dorothy said. She reached out and rubbed Alice’s shoulder. She gave it a firm squeeze. Her fingers lingered a moment on the hem of her shirt before retreating. Alice smiled. The weather report ended and the anchor came on, sitting behind a nondescript blue desk with the station logo splashed across the front in lights.
“In local news, police are asking for the public’s help in finding this man’s killer,” The Anchor said, and Alice felt her heart stop. The man from the blue car appeared in the screen, very much alive in the photo. He was smiling, and standing in front of a barbeque full of sausages. Maybe a kid’s birthday party. Oh my dear, a voice in her head whispered. It was not her own. Why so much fear?
She fumbled with the remote, trying to hit all the buttons at once, but her fingers were rebellious and she knocked the device into Dorothy’s lap.
“You alright?” Dorothy said.
“Change the chah-hannel, please,” Alice said. She squeezed her eyes shut.
“…Police say Greg Haines, fifty-two, a local resident was found brutally shot to death in his car in the Marlborough industrial park early Saturday morning. They are looking for a woman with blond hair in her twenties, of average height and slim build who was seen leaving the area. The woman may be injured...”
“Please turn it off,” Alice said.
Dorothy grabbed Alice’s hand, and with the other hand she used the remote to flip the channel to Dancing with the Stars. “Hey,” she said. “Easy. Take it easy. You’re alright.”
She’s a pretty girl, the Hater whispered. Would you hurt her? Commit another murder?
Alice clenched her eyes shut, willing the voice out of her head. The Hater didn’t speak again, but Alice could sense him in there somewhere, lingering like smoke on a warm breath. On the television, minor celebrities were dancing to what Alice could only describe as droning bees set to a human heartbeat. Their voices were warbly and faintly sinister. She couldn’t make out any words though. She thought they might be talking about her.
“You okay now?” Dorothy said. “You look like you’re kind of fading in and out. You want me to get a nurse?”
Alice looked up into Dorothy’s face. She was bathed in soft yellow light. Warm light, like the feeling she always got from heroin. Warm amber blanket of light that wrapped around her soul. That face promised more than love; it promised pure bliss.
“No,” Alice said. “I’ll be fine. Listen. I need to get out of here. As soon as possible. There’s shit I gotta deal with and I can’t do it in here.”
“Oh,” Dorothy said, her eyes clouding for a moment. Disappointment broke out on her face, and Alice fought the urge to kiss it off.
“Dorothy,” Alice said. “Do you want to come with me?”
“What? Where?”
“Well, I gotta make a stop when we get out,” Alice said. “But after that the open road could be our plaything. I mean, we could go wherever we want to, right? It doesn’t matter. I need a beer, and I need a cigarette. Where I get it, well, it doesn’t matter much to me.”
Dorothy bit her lip.
Alice put a hand on Dorothy’s neck and stroked it gently. She’d been hooking long enough to know how to get a person’s wheels going. It was old hand to her now.
“I would love some company,” she said.
Dorothy looked up at her. She flashed a crazy grin.”Yeah!” she said. “Let’s do it. I’m totally in.”
“I’m glad,” Alice said. “Now we just need to figure out a way to get off this floor. I think we can pretty much walk out of the hospital then.”
“Well,” Dorothy said. “I can easily get off the floor. I’m not a flight risk at all. And I think I know how we can get you out of here. Won’t even be a hard thing to pull off.”
“Really?” Alice said.
“Well, yeah,” Dorothy said. “It’s not like this is a prison. I could just leave if I wanted to and none of them could really stop me. Probably wouldn’t even notice me gone ‘til pill time.”
“Okay,” Alice said. Impulsively she leaned in and planted a quick peck on Dorothy’s lips. Dorothy closed her eyes for a moment, shocked, opened her mouth for a longer kiss, and Alice pulled back. The two women stared at each other.
Finally, Alice said: “Tell me.” And Dorothy did.
Chapter 12
Dorothy was standing at the water machine. She filled a cup of water and took a drink, and then jumped when the bottle garbled back at her. She tried to breathe deep and calm her nerves, but it didn’t work. She closed her eyes. A kiss. A sweet kiss, but what did it mean? Did Alice love her? No, that was ridiculous. They’d only been friends for a short while. And yet the connection was there, she could feel it. Butterflies in her stomach, like she’d been eating grubs in the garden and they were hatching. The thought of Alice’s face and the smell of her hair calmed Dorothy, and she took a deep breath.
You can do this, she could almost hear Alice say. Easy as a pie. Dorothy turned and walked up to the front desk. Maybe it is easy for a girl like Alice, she thought. Someone brave and beautiful and sharp. But Alice isn’t here. I am. And I’m boring and lame and clunky. Alice was sitting on the couch pretending to watch television. And waiting.
“Yes?” The duty nurse said. Dorothy had never seen her before. She was young and cow eyed, perfect for what Dorothy was planning to do. Alice had said as much when they were going over the escape plan. If Dorothy stayed calm and acted like she belonged there, the nurse would assume it was true and they’d be home free.
The other part of their plan involved the two of them watching carefully and waiting for just the right moment to strike; a moment when the senior nurse was off busy with something and the new nurse was all alone at the station. Just a couple minutes was all they needed. A bathroom break or a coffee run. They needed to have only one nurse at the station, and they needed someone who might not think to watch the elevator and handle a minor crisis at the desk.
The window of opportunity finally opened two days later. The head nurse burped, and then blew her breath out and waved it away with her hand. Then she laughed.
“Oh god,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong. I love my husband, but that man needs to stay away from shellfish.”
“Sounds like you do too,” the other nurse said. She was much younger, and new to the ward.
“Garlic clams,” the head nurse said. “I don’t know what else he added, but I’ve got a double dose of the turkey trots today.” She laughed, and the younger nurse curled her nose.
“Better make that a triple dose,” the head nurse said. She pawed at her stomach. “I’ll be right back.” She got up and waddled into the nurses office, where their private bathroom was located. The younger nurse sat at the desk struggling through paperwork, a sour look etched across her face. The air was ripe with brine and garlic.
Dorothy approached the desk carefully, her cup of water tight in her hand. “I’m going to go get a little air. Something stinks.” She felt like she was stepping outside herself with the very first lie. She was on her way now, no turning back. No chickening out. She’d told Alice she could deliver, and Dorothy
wanted to be known as a girl who could be depended on. That kind of thing would probably impress a girl like Alice.
“Ugh,” the nurse said, “Tell me about it. You need to sign out first. Wait, are you allowed to leave the floor?”
“Sure am,” Dorothy said. She put her cup of water on the counter. Had she said that too defensively? No. The duty nurse wasn’t even looking at her. She was shuffling papers. Maybe she was trying her best not to look at Dorothy. Did she know? If I blow this Alice will hate me forever. Please God don’t let me blow this.
Dorothy pressed the pen hard onto paper. Is the nurse watching? She felt like a hundred pairs of eyes were on her. She didn’t dare look up because she knew if she did she would lose it and chicken out. Sweat broke on her brow. She didn’t dare wipe it away. Would I be sweating if I wasn’t doing something wrong? She didn’t want to seem out of the ordinary. I’m just a normal girl signing out for some fresh air, she thought. I promise. Stretching her legs. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone off my meds. The pen was slippery in her hands, and she fumbled with it as she wrote. Oh God, what if they look at my penmanship and see how nervous I am? She felt like she was in a roller coaster with nobody at the control switch.
She finished writing her name and put the pen down. It clunked on the table.
The duty nurse smiled at Dorothy and hit a switch behind the counter, unlocking the elevator. It would be allowed to travel up to the psychiatric floor now. Ward Nine.
Dorothy smiled at Alice, pleased as punch that her plan was going off without a hitch. I am dependable, she thought. You can love—
The water!
Dorothy spun around, unsure of what to do next. Her original plan was to spill water on the desk when she was writing her name in the book. But she was done that now. She felt exposed and guilty. She considered throwing the cup of water on the desk anyway. That would be too suspicious. How did I screw this up so bad?
The elevator would be there any moment, she was sure of it.
“So,” Dorothy said. “Uhm, what are you doing?”
The duty nurse looked up. “Me? Paper work. What else?” She had a light accent Dorothy couldn’t place. She couldn’t focus on the nurse’s voice at the moment, however. Spill the water! She thought. Spill it now!
“Maybe I could help,” Dorothy said. The words were falling out of her mouth before she could register them. Any moment she’d say something completely ridiculous and blow the entire thing.
“I don’t think so,” the nurse said.
“No I’m good with paperwork!” Dorothy exclaimed. She stepped forward. The cup of water hit the counter awkwardly, its paper shell crumpled, and Dorothy tipped it onto the corner. The water ran across the tabletop and spilled down onto the pile of papers below.
“Oops,” Dorothy put her hands over her mouth.
“Ahh shit!” the nurse exclaimed. She started grabbing sheets and pulling them off the counter. “I’m supposed to have these in before lunch!”
“I’m so sorry,” Dorothy said, backing away from the desk. The elevator behind her beeped. It had reached the floor. Dorothy turned.
“I’ll just get out of your hair,” she said. She stepped toward the elevator. On the other side, of the room Alice stood up and went to the wall beside the elevator door. With the duty nurse distracted, she’d be able to get into the elevator unseen. The plan was as easy as it was simple.
A bell went off. Dorothy walked toward the elevator. Alice leaned back against the wall, her hand resting on the doorway. Dorothy stood halfway between the desk and the elevator, trying to block any prying eyes. Her heart was in her chest. The doors clunked open.
I’m doing it! I’m doing it! I’m do—Dorothy froze in her tracks. Her stomach lurched.
As the door opened fully, two uniformed police officers stepped out into the room. They looked like two bulldogs with guns on their hips.
“Alice Pleasance?” One of them said.
Dorothy simply stared at them, too terrified to react.
Chapter 13
Alice shrank back against the wall the moment the door opened. She’d caught a glimpse of a badge and instinct took over. Dorothy, apparently, didn’t have that particular instinct. As the two cops stepped off the elevator she froze, a look of guilty horror on her face.
“Alice Pleasance?” One of the cops said to Dorothy. His badge said Sgt Pepper. Any other time Dorothy would have laughed at that. Now all she wanted to do was piss herself and then crawl away to hide.
Dorothy said nothing. She stared at the cops like she’d just been caught red handed murdering a kitten. In a way, it worked perfectly, because their attention was now drawn away from their target: the blond woman slinking against the wall. Alice made her move, sliding along the wall and stepping into the elevator. She stood very still against the wall closest to the two policemen, jammed into the front corner and well out of sight if one of them should happen to look back.
“Are you Alice Pleasance?” The other cop spoke this time, a brick wall with a shaved head and a badge. His eyes were bloodshot, and they were mean.
“I uhm...no,” Dorothy said.
Come on, Alice thought. Come on, get in here. Any second now the elevator would close. Not a disaster, but she really wanted Dorothy away from those cops before she said something stupid and set off their bullshit radar. Plus if she headed downstairs by herself she’d have to find somewhere to hide until Dorothy could get down, and she wanted to be out of the hospital as soon as possible.
“What’s your name?” The Wall said.
Alice couldn’t see which one was speaking. They seemed to be interchangeable though. Carbon clones pumped out of a factory in some hidden industrial complex to keep the machine in place.
That’s right, The Hater whispered. You got it girl, spot on.
Alice clamped a hand over her mouth. Jesus Christ, had she said that out loud?
“Dorothy Gale,” Dorothy said.
“You don’t know a blond girl named Alice Pleasance?” the wide cop said. “Came in the other night? About your age.”
“Oh,” Dorothy said. Her voice was getting higher and higher in pitch, ambling toward all out panic. “Maybe...I think. Actually, no, I don’t.”
“Tough question, hey?” Sgt Pepper said. He raised his hand to wipe his brow and revealed an armpit dark with sweat.
They can smell her lies, Alice thought. Why can’t she just shut up and get into the elevator? She still had her hand clamped over her mouth.
That idiot is going to blow it. They’re going to catch me and put me away forever. The elevator bell went off and the doors began to close. Alice would have to hide downstairs and pray Dorothy could make it on her own. Hopefully she was smart enough not to give them away.
“She’s just a baby,” the Hater whispered through Alice’s fingers.
“My elevator,” Dorothy said.
The doors were about to shut when a large hand appeared and knocked the safety tab, popping them open.
“Can I help you?” Alice heard the rookie nurse say.
“Alice Pleasance?” the cop said. The other one still had his hand on the elevator door.
Alice could see scrapes on the man’s knuckles. She wondered if they had been caused by someone’s face.
“One second, I’ll go get Dr Weller.”
“Thank you,” Sgt Pepper said.
The other one tipped his hat to Dorothy. “You have a good day.”
“Thanks,” Dorothy rasped. She stepped into the elevator. She was shaky and pale.
She looks like she’s about to pass out. Alice thought. If she does, they’ll be in here in a heartbeat. Maybe she should have stayed behind.
Dorothy stared at the ground and gasped for air. She kept her head down as the elevator bell went off. She collapsed into Alice’s arms as the doors were closing, but nobody seemed to notice. The elevator lurched, and the two girls began their trip down to the main floor.
“Hey,” Alice said. “You alright?”
>
“I feel sick,” Dorothy whispered. “I almost blew it.” Her eyes were wet.