The House Guest - Mark Edwards Page 0,35

of psychiatric hospital? She’d heard about people getting committed to such places and never getting out.

She got to her feet again and staggered over towards the window.

Eden stood too and blocked her way.

‘I need some daylight. How do you open these blinds?’

‘I can do it. But first, let me explain—’

‘Eden, open the blinds!’ Gathering what remained of her strength, she shouldered her way past Eden and was about to start jabbing at buttons on the wall panel when Eden gently steered her out of the way and pressed the correct button. The blinds opened.

Ruth was speechless.

She had expected to see the grounds of a hospital, a lawn or a courtyard. She had thought she would see other patients shuffling about, nurses and doctors. At the very least she had expected to see the ground.

Instead, she saw the city. A sea of concrete and glass, stretched out before and below her. Rooftops and spires and skyscrapers. There, in the distance, was the familiar towering shape of the Empire State Building. Water shimmered out of focus on the horizon. A helicopter buzzed past, almost close enough to touch.

Ruth recoiled, and the world around her spun.

‘Great view, huh?’ Eden said.

Ruth watched as the helicopter retreated into the distance. ‘Where the hell are we? In a hotel?’

‘Not a hotel.’

‘Then what?’

‘Think of it as a hideaway.’

Ruth’s head was starting to throb. ‘None of this makes sense. I need to go.’

She crossed to the wardrobe and opened it. There was nothing inside but another pair of white pyjamas, neatly folded.

‘Where are my clothes?’

‘Being laundered.’ Eden approached her. ‘Come on, please, sit down. Let me—’

‘I have to get out of here. It’s Monday. That means I’ve missed two days of rehearsals. Sally is going to fire me. Cara is going to be going insane with excitement, thinking she can replace me. Does Adam know where I am? He’s going to be worrying about me . . .’

‘Ruth, please sit down. I need to tell you something.’

There was, Ruth noticed now, a sheen of sweat on Eden’s forehead, even though this room was air-conditioned, almost chilly.

‘I’m not going to sit down. I want my clothes, now. I want to get out of here.’ She took a step towards Eden and a white bolt of agony shot from her ankle up her leg. She cried out.

‘Ruth, please, sit down.’

Ruth had no choice but to obey. She limped over to the bed and sat on it, sucking in a deep breath, concentrating on her relaxation technique. Breathe it in, exhale it out.

‘I have to talk to Sally,’ she said. ‘Where’s my phone?’

‘It broke. When you fell.’

Fell?

Eden went on. ‘And I keep trying to tell you. There’s no point talking to Sally. She’s already made up her mind.’ She sat beside Ruth and produced her own phone, navigating to a page on the Playbill website. She showed the screen to Ruth, saying, ‘I’m so sorry.’

LAST-MINUTE CHANGE OF LEAD IN KLAY’S DARE

Ruth read the short news piece with horror. It said that Sally had decided to replace the female lead in her new play after the actress slated for the role had ‘acted unprofessionally’. British actress Ruth Armstrong is to be replaced by another unknown, 24-year-old Australian Cara Barker.

‘This can’t be happening,’ Ruth said.

‘I’m sorry. I called Sally, told her you weren’t well and needed to rest for a few days, but she was, well, a total bitch about it.’

‘You spoke to Sally herself?’

Eden hesitated for a split second. ‘Yeah. She was scary.’

Ruth was still holding Eden’s phone. ‘I need to call my agent, sort this out.’ She pressed the ‘Call’ icon and tried to remember Jayne’s number. It wouldn’t come to her, if she’d ever retained it. ‘I need to go online to look up my agent’s number. Better than that, I need to get out of here, right now. I need some clothes.’

‘You need to rest.’

‘Get me my fucking clothes!’

Eden didn’t flinch. ‘Ruth, don’t worry about your agent. She’s not the right person for you anyway.’

‘What?’

‘You have a lot of questions. And you’ll get answers . . . to everything. But first, I need you to come with me.’ She paused. ‘I want you to meet my friends.’

Chapter 17

‘I was going to wait until your clothes were ready, but . . .’

Eden went over to the door in the corner and took a key out of her pocket.

‘Wait,’ said Ruth. ‘Was I locked in here?’

‘Only because we didn’t want you wandering out in a confused state, maybe hurting yourself.’

Eden unlocked