Unhinge - Calia Read Page 0,63
story of us. After all, you’re the one who’s locked away. Not me.”
The second he’s gone I try to close the window. Aren’t these windows impossible to unlock to begin with? It should be a breeze to lock back up. I put all my strength into twisting the lock but it doesn’t budge.
I take a deep breath and tap my head against the wall.
This man used to be everything to me, but now I see he’s my Achilles’ heel. So I cover my ears and scream.
I wake up Evelyn. She screams in fear, but I scream louder.
A nurse runs into my room, looking every which way. “What’s wrong?”
“Wes was in here.”
Within seconds, her expression relaxes. I want to shake her, make her see the truth. “Victoria, he’s not here.”
“Yes, he was.” Anxiously I rush over to her and grab her hand. She tries to pull away but I tug her close to the window. “He escaped from here and now the window won’t lock.”
She jerks her hand away from me, shoots me a dirty look, and inspects the window. Furiously, I rub my hands together. Evelyn’s wails have died down. A good mom would be comforting her child right now, but this need, this obsession to have someone catch Wes has taken over.
“What did you do to this damn window?” Kate says between grunts. She tugs on the lock and just like me ends up failing to flip it back into place.
“I didn’t do this. He jammed the lock!” I point at the lock smiling and she looks at me like I’m truly, positively insane, and I don’t care. “Don’t you see? This is my proof. He was here.”
The nurse drops her hands to her sides and gives me a thorough once-over. I catch the fear in her eyes. “He wasn’t here, Victoria.”
“Yes, he was! And now he’s probably right outside my window, waiting for you to leave just so he can sneak back in.”
“I promise you, no one’s out there, okay?”
She doesn’t get it. No one gets it and it doesn’t matter how many times I try to explain it to them; they’re not willing to listen to what I have to say. She works on the window and after a few minutes, finally gets it to lock. She tugs on the cord and the blinds slam down onto the windowsill, blocking out the clear black sky and full moon.
“He was just there a few minutes ago,” I say weakly.
Kate’s face drops in pity. “Why don’t I get you something to help you sleep?” She reaches out and pats my arm. “Would you like that?”
I jerk out of her grasp. “I don’t need medication.” It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her I haven’t swallowed a single pill in months. “I need you all to believe me.”
Kate tries a different approach. “Why don’t you lie down? Maybe if you take a quick catnap you’ll feel better?”
“I’m not a baby. You can’t talk to me as a child.”
“Victoria, lie down or I’ll get the doctor.”
Translation: Either listen to me or the doctor will knock you out with drugs.
Anger festers in me, running through my veins, begging for a way out. But I slowly move to my bed. I lie down in the exact same position I was in just minutes ago.
How? How is that even possible? Time trudges by but then it’s gone in the blink of an eye.
I’m so tired of looking like the crazy one. I’m so tired of looking like a liar. As I lie there in bed I know I shouldn’t back down to Kate, but I’m too tired to care.
Kate draws the sheets up to my chin like I’m a child and gives me a plastic smile. “Thatta girl.”
Like a mummy, I lay there unmoving.
“I’ll check up on you in a few minutes.”
Tonight, I have no doubt she will.
“If you’re still bothered by this tomorrow, maybe you should bring it up with your doctor,” she says.
“Maybe,” I reply dully.
Kate walks to the door, but before she leaves she looks over her shoulder. “Do you need anything else?”
“No,” I whisper.
Last night’s events trail behind me like a ghost.
I didn’t get a wink of sleep and now I’m paying for it. My eyes feel heavy. They keep opening and closing, over and over again. Evelyn didn’t sleep much either, but that’s my fault. I held her in my arms all night, paranoid that Kate or the night shift doctor would stop by my room for