“Sure. Gimme a sec.” After all these years, I know the drill. After I pull on my hoodie, tugging on my sleeves so that every bare inch of my arm is covered, I get up and move across the room. “Okay. Ready.”
The door opens. Duncan peeks his head in, verifying that I’m not about to jump past him and make a break for it or something. Only once he decides that I’m not a risk will he step aside and let the nurse in while he watches over him or her.
At least, that’s how he usually does it. Not tonight. For the first time ever, he goes against his normal routine. Instead of guarding the door like a bouncer, he strolls right into my room. He’s not alone, either.
Long, blonde ponytail. Pale blue scrubs.
It’s the tech from Sunday. Diana.
What’s she doing here?
It doesn’t make any sense. She’s just a tech. Besides, it’s Tuesday. Knowing my schedule and sticking to it is one of the things that keeps me sane inside of Black Pine. Jus
t like how I know that Amy is off on Wednesdays and Saturdays so that Penelope is my main morning tech, I know which nurse to expect on Tuesday nights.
“Where’s Nurse Stanley?”
“She’s busy,” answers Duncan. “We have the okay to give you your medications today.”
My gut goes tight. It feels like someone twisted it up in a knot, grabbed both ends, and pulled. I hate this feeling. Even worse? I know exactly what caused it.
Duncan just lied to me.
“Are you sure about that?”
He nods. I’m watching him closely now, and I notice that something… something’s really not right. His dark eyes are glazed over and he’s wearing this crooked smile that doesn’t seem normal. And maybe it’s because I don’t think I’ve ever seen Duncan smile before… I don’t know. It’s creepy, though, and I know he just lied to me again.
Diana approaches Duncan. She taps him on the shoulder and he crouches enough to allow her to whisper something to him. The big man nods. A second later, he disappears, leaving me alone with the blonde tech.
That’s worse. I’m not sure why, but it seems worse. And there’s nothing I can do about it.
I’m still not comfortable around her. She makes my fingers itch. I want to back up further, duck into the shadowy corner. I keep getting this feeling like she’s about to reach out and grab me or something. She won’t have my permission, but I don’t think that would stop her.
I sidle along the wall at my back, watching her as she turns to smile over at me.
Just like my nighttime nurses always do, she’s carrying a tray with two cups. She picks one up, her smile never wavering. If she notices how I’m slowly moving away from her, she doesn’t give any sign of it. She just holds the cup out toward me.
I take it. I have no choice. I snatch the cup out of her hand, careful not even to brush her skin with the edge of my glove. Then, once I’ve put space between us again, I look inside.
There’s only one pill in the cup.
I blink. Nope. Still just one.
“Where the rest?” I ask.
I look down at the pill again. Yikes. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s a horse pill, as big as a nickel, with a yellow center that looks wrong. The rest of the pill is white and speckled with green. It kind of reminds me of this mint Madelaine used to love. It definitely doesn’t look like any sort of medication I’ve ever seen before.
I shake my head and offer it back. “Yeah, no. I’m not taking this.”
“Oh? Is that so?” Diana’s laugh is sickly sweet. “You’ll take anything I tell you to.”
I gasp—and it has nothing to do with what she just said to me.
Her eyes are hazel. I remember from Sunday. When I was on the floor of the day room, when she was trying to help me stand, I looked her in the eyes. They were hazel.
They’re not anymore.
Now? They’re a vivid, shining shade of gold.