Ah, there was the flattery. It went without saying if Amy or any of the other intensively screened employees of Dream Garden had a single doubt about the vision we had here, they’d be terminated—entirely.
This specific location had the same team it had begun with years ago.
As I regarded Amy with no interest beyond anything professional, I didn’t miss how her eyes drank me in, appreciating the genetics I’d been blessed with. Unfortunately for her I would never blur the line of business with pleasure. Not to mention she wasn’t my type.
The only woman I was interested in was unknowingly imprisoned at my home. With that in mind I bid Amy goodbye and continued down the hall.
Unlike local hospitals Dream Garden had been designed with luxury in mind, even for our ward four patients that liked to play in their own shit. The floors were sleek and the art on the walls were all hand chosen pieces depicting the beautiful side of madness.
The lighting was bright, reminiscent of a perfect spring day. The air was pure and fragranced, not sterile, just clean.
Opaque melodies played on a continuous loop from the overhead sound system at just the right level to give the patients and staff an emotional lift. It also soothed the ones who suffered a bit more than the others.
One of my favorite parts of the building’s design was the ceiling, clear with a full view of the sky above. It was like standing out in the open without the risk of rain.
Reaching the check in area, I knocked on the reinforced window to be buzzed in. Lisa, one of our head nursing directors hired eons ago by my grandmother, sat behind the counter, a sudoku book spread out in front of her a Root Beer at her lips.
She looked up upon hearing the knock, smiling wide as buzzed me in the secured door adjacent to her station.
“I was wondering when you’d get here. Your girls been freakin out since she woke up. Thank lord for padded walls, right?”
“I’ll just be in and out,” I replied.
She waved me off and returned to her activity book, the row of patient rooms pulled up on individual screens behind her.
I went down the hall to the right, stopping in the medication room for what I needed. Our main pharmacy was on another ward.
Once I had what I needed I finished my commute to room eight-zero-six, the same one I’d put Meg in when she could no longer be unsupervised at my house. I peered in at Lydia Daniels, watching her pace the floor back and forth.
She wasn’t remotely crazy or unwell, but she had no family, no friends, and was a general waste of earth’s resources.
She’d been a legitimate patient of Dream Garden for three years, which had been more than enough time to have Demetri unbury all the history there was to know about the woman who frequently sent me inappropriate emails. If she weren’t so weak or easy, she’d have been a perfect candidate for ward two.
I swiped my keycard through the reader outside the room door. Hearing the beep Lydia spun around in a defensive manner, maintaining it until she saw it was me.
“Alaric,” she breathed, rushing towards me.
Her using my first name was highly irritating. I had never given her permission to do so.
“I’m so glad to see you!” she sobbed, throwing her arms around me. Her body odor nearly took me out.
“Shh,” I soothed, running a hand over her greasy brown hair.
The woman had only been here sixteen hours. She had the hygiene of a crack-whore that sold pussy Monday to Saturday, skipping Sundays because that was Gods day and they were devoted to his word.
As she continued to sob into the shirt I’d be tossing into an incinerator, I pulled the syringe I’d just grabbed from my pocket and easily jabbed her in the back of her shoulder. She jumped away before I could fully remove the needle, yelping in pain.
“What was that?” she demanded to know.
“Vitamins,” I lied, walking out of the room without bothering to lock her in.
I returned to where we kept the medication and retrieved a cadaver bag.
By the time I got back to Lydia she was collapsed on the floor in the middle of the hallway. I laid the bag out beside her, then ignoring whatever the hell she was slurring, placed her inside.
A few patients watched me curiously from within their rooms, all too doped up to know what was really going on. I hoisted Lydia over my shoulder and made my way back to the parking garage.
“Have a good day,” Lisa called after me, not giving a shit about what I was up to. I loved the woman even more for her ability to mind her own business.
I tossed Lydia in the trunk of my Audi, which I’d specifically driven for this purpose. The Bentley didn’t have a DNA proofed interior, and one could never be too careful.