he wouldn’t have been able to communicate. He was speaking! There is nothing wrong with him!” I started to shake Daniel vigorously. “Daniel, Daniel, baby, wake up! Tell them you were talking to me! Tell them what happened!” But he wasn’t responding. I turned to the doctors. “He was awake just five minutes ago, what did you just give him? He was awake!”
She shook her head.
“Why won’t you believe me?” I bellowed. “We kissed, we did more, he just had an orgasm, you can check for yourself, we—”
“Give her a shot, she’s out of control.” Kristin’s voice was cool but stern. Unemotional. Calculating. Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. “She needs to calm the hell down. We can’t have this kind of commotion going on. Prepare the syringe, I’ll hold her.”
I started thrashing, yelling and screaming. “Let me go! You have no legal right to do this! Let me go! What the hell are you doing? Let me g—” I could feel the needle sliding into my vein.
And then I blanked out.
I WOKE UP several hours later, according to the time on my watch. My head hurt, I ached—I felt like I’d run a marathon, or was just recovering from a bout of heavy flu. Then I remembered. I jolted up and rubbed my eyes. That bitch!
I was still in Daniel’s room, lying on a reclining chair. Everything was the same: the vase of lilies Pearl had brought, the roses Star had sent. But Daniel wasn’t there! My eyes roamed around the room frantically: they’d taken him away! I jumped up from the chair and raced to the phone on Daniel’s bedside table. Not “bedside” anymore because there was no bed—they’d wheeled him out of here. I dialed the extension where the nurses’ station was.
A bright voice picked up.
“Where’s Daniel Glass?” I demanded. “He was here, in Room 313, but now he’s vanished!”
“Just a moment I’ll look at my chart. And you are?”
“His fiancée,” I said. I was his fiancée—he’d proposed to me—and no, I hadn’t been dreaming.
“He’s been transferred,” she told me.
My pulse was thundering in my head, in my stomach, my heart; so much so, I thought I’d black out again. I needed to eat something. “Where?”
“I’m sorry, I do not have that information at this time.”
“Don’t have it, or won’t give it?”
“I do not have that information, ma’am, you’ll have to speak to his doctor.”
“Dr. Bellows?” I said hopefully.
“No, ma’am, Dr. Bellows left us yesterday. He is no longer working at this hospital. Dr. Jürgen is in charge of Mr. Glass’ case—you’ll need to speak to her.”
“Can you tell me where Dr. Bellows has been transferred to?”
“I’m sorry, I do not have that information at this time.”
“What about the nurse who was looking after him? Barbara. I think her last name is Mendez. Can you tell me where she has gone?”
“I believe she is on leave.”
“How can I contact her? Do you have her phone number? Address?” I didn’t need to hear her answer; I knew what it would be.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, I do not—”
“Have that information at this time,” I finished off. “At this time? Or any time? How can I find out?” I begged, my voice a desperate plea.
“I’m sure Dr. Jürgen will be most helpful, she’s a very respected neurologist; we’re lucky to have her with us. I can arrange an appointment with her tomorrow, if you wish.”
“That won’t be necessary, thank you.”
I tried to put down the receiver but my hands were trembling so badly, I didn’t manage to get it on its cradle. I needed back up. It was dangerous for me here. What Kristin Jürgen did to me was unethical, illegal, and insane, but she was in her own environment, a star in her neurological world, obviously. Doctors were bad enough at the best of times—always backing each other up, even when it came to malpractice. I could sue the bitch for what she did to me, I thought, for what she was doing now to Daniel . . . whatever, I needed to get away from here and organize backup, not be here alone. I glugged down an entire glass of water, grabbed my purse, then made for the door, half expecting it to be locked. It wasn’t.
I wanted to run around the hospital, screaming for Daniel, demanding his whereabouts, but I knew that would be crazy: I’d end up sedated again. No, I needed to come back, armed with an attorney, and maybe even a police