Dreams of Reality (16 page)

Walking back into Dr. Himes office she looked on the back of the door. She knew he didn’t have his medical jacket on when she came in the room. As luck would have it, the doctor had not put it on when he had left the room. The keys were in there. Running back into the patient room, she quickly found the key and opened the cabinet.

Taking two of the multiple vials in there, she closed the cabinet back and replaced the keys back in the jacket. Sticking the vials in her purse she proceeded to an emergency exit that was right outside the patient waiting room door. The other way would lead to the nurse’s station. Before going through the emergency exit, she noticed an emergency stairway door near there and decided to enter that door instead.

Curiosities were gnawing on her mind like a hungry dog wanting a bone despite her gut screaming for her to get out of there. Dr. Porter had said upstairs were more patients like her. What did he mean by that? What she was or what was it she would become?

The second level wasn’t lit. Being noontime, the windows provided ample light down the long hallway and the floor was so quiet it was as if no one was up there. There was a long hall and about six doors on each side of the hallway. Looking through the first she saw a break room, but then she noticed the straps on the chairs and a cold chill went down her spine. Moving further down the hall she looked in the rooms. The first two were empty, but the third one she came to, a girl who looked like she was in her teens was lying on the bed. The patient looked unkempt and obviously screaming or shouting from the way her mouth moved, but the room was sound proof. The girl was strapped to the bed writhing as if she was in a lot of pain.

Going to the fourth door, the female in there looked in a more dejected state. The room was padded with no furnishings. The woman who looked to be about in the early thirties wore a straight jacket. She was rubbing the side of her face up against the walls. Skye saw other patches on the wall and marks all over her face of raw skin. There was a dazed look in her eyes as if she didn’t see anyone, but something.

Something put the weirdest smile on the female patient’s face. There was no reality in her eyes and Skye had the feeling there would never be for the rest of her life or as long as the doctor’s choose to keep her alive in misery. As she proceeded to the next rooms, each scenario worsened. Either the woman was spaced out or hysterically screaming and/or crying out their frustrated states of mind. The attention they were all in did not look like they were getting good medical care and when Skye looked at the charts next to the doors she found that each one had a number. It started at four and ended at fifteen. This made her wonder what happened to one through three. Either way, Skye had a feeling one of those first two empty rooms was for her if she took another dose of that stuff.

Dr. Carter had a list filled with women, she remembered. Women, who after checking their backgrounds, could disappear without a trace. Skye was one of them and this terrified her. She realized once they were done with test subjects, the doctors put them up in these rooms.

How long they kept you here or how long you lived after that was a mystery, but once the patients were gone, no one knew or cared.

Going back down the steps, she decided not to leave. Suspicion would be too great and she returned back on the couch in the doctor’s room without anyone seeing her. Sitting down in time as the other door opened, a nurse coming in carrying a glass of water and some pills.

“You’re up? Good.” The nurse set the tray on the coffee table as she had a seat next to Skye. “The doctor asked me to check on you earlier, but I was so busy I couldn’t get around. Have you been up long?”

“No, I just sat up.” Skye looked out her peripheral vision and noticed she had not closed the door to the other room. Since the nurse back was to this door, Skye was a bit relieved and hoped she could keep the nurses attention until she could get out the room.

“The doctor insisted you take these to help you and here is your prescription to be taken twice a day. There are three refills and if you need some more, feel free to call the office and I will make sure you get whatever you need.” She handed Skye a bottle of Valium with thirty pills inside.

The nurse waited while Skye looked down at the pills she was just handed. Putting the capsule in her mouth slowly, she tucked the pill under her tongue then sipped the water throwing her head back and pretending to swallow.

She tried her best to sound grateful when she wanted to slap this woman and go into hysterics again. “I feel better. Thank you.” It took every ounce of her strength to keep in control of her own sensibilities.

“Fine. Would you like me to help you to your car or call you a cab?” The nurse went behind the door and grabbed Dr. Himes jacket.

Skye shook her head while putting on her jacket and hurriedly walked out the office, before the nurse noticed the open door to the other room. “I’m fine,” she said relieved as the nurse followed her out into the hallway. “Have a good day.”

Once in her car, Skye took a deep breath. For some reason she felt she was still being watched. There was a juice bottle with a smidgen of juice left. The Valium was starting to dissolve under her tongue and she needed to get the pill out right away without them seeing her spit it out. Picking up the bottle she pretended to drink the juice, but instead spit the Valium out into the liquid.

As she drove off, she knew she had to do something right away. This was too big for her to handle. The list she had stolen the other night was the list Dr. Carter was referring to with the women names. They were going to drug them and carry on more experiments.

The same ones they were doing on her without her even knowing.

* * *

Getting in the house, she decided to delve more deeply into researching the birth control they were using on her. She would go into her medical dictionary and find out exactly what could the birth control contained, then find the contact Dr. Welch knew who could do the tests on the sample she had taken.

Until she knew everything she would try to stay calm and keep her feelings under control. Her panic attacks weren’t getting that bad anymore, and if she just didn’t lose her mind, she would be almost normal.

Chapter 15

“You are wondering again,” Thomas noted. “It’s because of Melissa and Nicole isn’t it?” Before Thaddeus could answer Thomas apologized. “I know I should have told them they weren’t invited knowing it would make you this uncomfortable, but they are just as close as any of my other friends, Thad. Plus, she is your sister.”

“Unfortunately,” he said sarcastically. “I’ve finally figured out why they get along so well. Birds of a feather flock together. I wasn’t thinking about those two conniving women. I do have other things to think about.”

“Like who? You have been distracted this entire trip. Not as talkative as you usually are. Matter of fact, I’ve heard you talk more on the phone than you do to me of late. It’s as if you’re finding work to do instead of taking it easy.”

“I have? Well, my new employee has really taken my interest. I needed an excuse to keep her busy so I could... spend more time with her.”

“What kind of interest?” Thomas curiosity was piqued.

“She’s quiet, aloof... I don’t know, but when she looked at me . . .” Thaddeus was thinking of the day in the parking lot. “It was as if she looked right through me. It felt... strange.”

“Disheartened is what you mean. You are so use to women looking with interest, the first one to not show it gets your attention. Hell, I should have clued Nicole in on that one.”

Thaddeus chuckled knowing Thomas was pulling his leg. Thomas wanted Thaddeus married- happily married, and they both knew Nicole wanted to be that woman badly. She had asked Thomas several times how to go about getting Thaddeus, which was why she was getting close to Melissa. It would be possibly the only way to get in Thaddeus proximity through his own sister - unless she tried Trisha. But he had a feeling the stuck up broad wouldn’t lower herself to even speak to Trisha.

Thomas probed further quite interested in the young man’s feelings. “What is her name?”

“Skye. She’s really plain you could say.” He was only speaking of his experience in the parking lot because that first impression had been the defining moment of his experience with Skye. “But it’s confusing. I’ve only seen her a couple of times, but I have spoken with her on several occasions, and I find her very intriguing. Maybe it’s her mind, maybe I really need to get a life and I’m just grasping at air.” He shook his head trying to get Skye off his mind, but he had been trying to do that since he met her and this trick didn’t work either. Nothing seemed to appease his curiosity about the woman. “I don’t understand it, Thomas, but I do know she has caught my interest and it’s not just a simple matter.” Thaddeus knew he could trust his good friend and father figure with the case he was working on. “I’m also involved in something for the police department where I find myself lustfully attracted to the case. I can’t really go into details about it. I am close to being dumbfounded about who I really like.”

Thaddeus shrugged. “I think. I have to force myself to stay safe with her. She’s had it a little rough around the edges compared to Melissa and Nicole, but other than that, I do believe she enjoys talking with me, although it’s only been through e-mailing.”

“So why don’t you call her and just talk. If she feels uncomfortable, then go back to e-mailing, but you should try to let her know how you feel. If she is as intriguing as you say, it’s a million and one chance you’ll ever meet another girl like her. It takes a lot to intrigue you, Thaddeus and now that you’ve found her, you should try to pursue. You did express last time we spoke on this, you were seriously thinking of settling down, but only with the right woman.”

“And what should I do about my feelings for the Case?”

“If it doesn’t work out, at least you have the Case,” Thomas said.

Thaddeus decided to change the subject lightly as he pondered on how he would speak to Skye next time they spoke. “Do you have any plans of getting married, Thomas?”

“I think right now, I would like to just concentrate on finding my daughter and giving her some kind of happiness that she probably never really had. For some reason I feel I can make her life complete by finding her and letting her know I was a stupid young man, and I have always loved her.”

Thaddeus knew whoever this girl was would be the luckiest woman in the world with her mother’s inherited fortune and a father like Thomas who would adore her. He prayed for Thomas’ good journey and hoped the man would find his daughter.

Standing up, Thaddeus decided to retire for the night.

Thomas knew he was only going to connect with his laptop to e-mailing the woman he called Skye. He prayed Thaddeus would find true unconditional happiness in his life. If this was the woman

Thaddeus wanted, Thomas also p rayed she would love the young man as much as he would love her.

* * *

Skye rubbed her eyes. Deciding to finish up her largest account before going to sleep had been a good idea for her peace of mind.

It kept her distracted. Right after she had left the doctor’s office she made a long distance call to Dr. Welch in Davenport. He told her there was a laboratory on the eastside he knew of where she could go and get something analyzed. He would call ahead for her and have his friend, John Dandridge be on the lookout for her.

After speaking with John, Skye found him to be quite disturbed by the vial and promised to give her a call or fax the results of his study in a day or two.

Once she was finished, she went online to send the reports over. After the e-mail was sent, she received two messages. One was junk mail, and the other was from Thaddeus Newman.

“I will be calling you about eleven tonight, please stay by the phone. Reply if you are unable to keep this appointment. TN”

Skye stared at the screen for a good minute wondering why he would want to speak with her personally. Usually when the main client called there was a problem with the account. She really didn’t need this now. She wondered if she canceled would he just have Trisha call. Deciding not to hit REPLY was hard, but she didn’t and waited. Shutting down her computer, cleaning up downstairs, and then taking a nice hot shower at 10:59 the phone rung.