Straightjacket (10 page)

“I don’t—I don’t know what to say,” she said. Getting even those innocuous words out was a struggle.

“Just say whatever you want.”

She began to sort through the thousands of things that swam about in her mind. “This sucks.” She hadn’t meant to say that. It just came out.

“What does?”

“All of it. Being in this place. Having to go home afterward. All of it. It sucks.” She waited for an answer, but all he did was point to his tightly pursed lips and shrug. He made her laugh, and this time she didn’t cover her mouth. He turned his hands so that the palms were facing upward, goading her for more.

“As bad as it is here, I just…I can’t handle thinking about going home. It’s so bad. I can’t even tell you…it’s just so bad.” His hand slid toward her. He wove his fingers between hers, and his touch made her feel like her chest was swelling, opening up to let him in.

“Tell me,” he whispered.

“They make me so mad. And I do whatever they say. It’s not like I don’t listen.” Her jaw tightened, and, once she realized it, she made an effort to relax it. “My mother knows exactly what to say to make me…hurt. At least here I don’t hurt in that way.”

“You should never have to hurt like that,” he said quietly. “Not ever.”

She’d opened herself up to him, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted to be closer. She wanted to do for him what he was doing for her.

“What’s it like? I mean, in heaven?” The question hadn’t done what it was supposed to. She could tell it had left him stunned.

“I thought we were talking about you.”

“And now we can talk about you.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know if we should.”

“Come on. I promise I won’t freak out.” Now she was the one to shut her lips tightly, twist her pinched fingers, and throw away an imaginary key. He laughed, and the sound of him happy made her feel dizzy.

“Okay, okay,” he said, leaning his head back on the bench so that he was squinting up at the sky. “Heaven is…heaven is whatever you want it to be.”

“That’s it?”

“Isn’t that enough?” He laughed again.

“Are there big pearly gates, angels sitting on clouds playing the harp, you know, all that stuff?”

“I guess there could be if you wanted it. That wasn’t really my thing.”

“What was your thing, then?”

“I thought you threw away your key, Miss Chatty?”

“Come on! You have to tell me,” she said. “It’s not every day you get to ask somebody what heaven’s like.”

“All right. I had a studio where I could sit and draw for as long as I wanted. I didn’t have to stop working to sleep or eat or do anything I didn’t want to.”

“That drawing of the studio in your room, that was it, right?” She didn’t give him a chance to answer. “What about that drawing I saw, the one with the fountain? Was that part of your heaven?”

“No, that was part of the commons. If you want to see other angels, you can go there.”

“What about—what’s his name, your guide? Where did he live?”

“Samuel, yeah, he’s a golfer. Golfs all the time, but he still sucks.”

She laughed and thought about his answers, which she was accepting as facts. She tried to picture him walking around in heaven. He would fit in perfectly.

Still giggling, she caught sight of a strange man near the doors to the courtyard. He stood like he was ready to pounce.

And he was staring right at her.

Squinting at her through the drifting clouds of smoke, he looked as though he hated her. His hands were formed into tight fists. Her giggling trailed off as her gaze traveled up his arms and she saw the veins popping up over the surface of his skin and his tightly flexed muscles. He had a tattoo running up one arm, but she couldn’t make out what it was. His thin black T-shirt stuck to his chest, exposing the outline of his muscles underneath. She turned toward Caleb, reasoning that if she waited a few seconds, the man would find someone else to scowl at. But when she returned to him, he was still staring at her, and she started to feel uneasy. She focused her attention back on Caleb.

“What’s wrong?” There was a hint of alarm in his voice.

She’d always hated that her face was so easy to read.

“It’s nothing.” She tried to answer calmly. “Just, that guy over there is staring at me.”

Anna watched his face as he checked it out. Caleb’s expression changed instantly to match the hatred staring back at him. In seconds Anna’s mouth dried up and a wave of nausea passed through her. She couldn’t tell if it was from the medication she had started the day before or from fear.

“Just ignore him,” Caleb said. He started to tell her more about heaven, about Venus from some painting, but she couldn’t help but look over at the man every few seconds, checking to see what he was doing. Her horror mounted each time. After a few minutes, he began to walk toward her. She reflexively grabbed Caleb’s arm. Her urgent touch made him stop midsentence. He joined her in watching the man as he continued to approach them. Caleb stood up, then Anna, and he moved in front of her, trying to use his hand to guide her behind his body. She obeyed, but only because the unwelcome familiarity of a sickness in her stomach began to stir.

The man finally reached them and stopped only inches from Caleb. They were about the same height, which was almost half a foot taller than Anna. Their noses were almost touching. She could see him more clearly now. He was completely bald. The tattoo on his arm turned out to be a sleeve of black flames that disappeared up into his T-shirt.

The man twisted his head around Caleb. “I wanna talk to you,” he said to Anna. His voice was deep and cruel.

She was about to answer something, she didn’t know what, but before she could, she heard Caleb.

“There’s nothing you need to say to her,” he said flatly.

“I wasn’t talking to you.”

“Well, I’m talking to you. Like I said, there’s nothing you need to say to her.”

The man clenched his fists even tighter. He refused to look away from Caleb or even blink. And then he took a step back and raised his fist.

“Wait!” Anna pushed her way out from behind Caleb. “Just wait. What do you want?”

“I wanna know what you’re doing with him.”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you think you’re
doing
with him?”

“We were talking—sitting and talking,” she said quickly. Her hands began to shake. Caleb tried to move her back behind him with one hand on her hip, but she resisted and stayed glued to his side.

“Do you think I’m stupid? I know what’s going on here.” He paused and spit out two more words. “You whore.” Caleb took a step forward, raising his own fist this time, but Anna stepped in between them in an instant.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Now her voice was shaking as much as her hands, but she stood stuck to the spot in front of Caleb.

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out about it? I knew you’d do me like this.” The features of his face twisted. She desperately searched for a way to diffuse him.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t even know you. I think you’re confusing me with someone else.”

“What?” Everyone in the courtyard looked over. His jugular was popping out of his neck, and he was bright red. “Shut up! You bitch!”

Anna heard skin slapping skin and lost her balance. The side of her face burned like she’d just been branded, and it was only when she felt the pain that she realized he had slapped her. Within seconds, Caleb grabbed the man’s T-shirt, scrunching it up into his fist and pulling him toward him. He pounded his other fist into the side of the man’s face. He stumbled backward, screamed with rage, and charged at Caleb, punching him first in the face and then in his gut.

“No! Stop!” Anna yelled, and jumped between them. The man’s next blow, which was intended for Caleb, hit her in the shoulder and knocked her to the ground two feet away. She screamed in pain and grabbed her arm as she lay on the brick. She tried to get up, but the searing pain seemed to take over her entire body. She rolled onto her side and watched, horrified, as Caleb and the man took turns beating each other. She screamed for help but all she could see were a dozen terrified eyes looking on. It was silent except for the sound of grunting.

“Caleb! Somebody help him!” Four huge attendants were running toward them. One of them pinned Caleb’s arms behind him. Another tried to do the same to the man, but he broke free and started punching whoever was nearby. The other two attendants ran over and jumped on him, and the man fell crashing to the ground. It took three of them to hold him there, his cheek and stomach pressed hard to the ground while he screamed and struggled. Then Carlene came out, shuffling her feet along the ground as she tried to run. She stuck a syringe in the man’s arm and then jumped back, staring fiercely at him with her chubby hands raised and ready to pound him. In a few moments, he stopped struggling altogether. His screaming died to a mumble, and the three men dragged him into the building.

“Let go of me!” Caleb yelled, struggling to get free. “I need to see if she’s all right!”

“Take it easy,” the attendant yelled, pulling Caleb toward the building. “I’ll have Carlene shoot you full too, if you don’t calm down.”

“Please, go see if she’s all right!” he screamed at Carlene as he was led, struggling, back into the hospital.

Anna was too dazed to stand up. She tried to yell for Caleb, but nothing came out. The sliding doors opened to receive him.

Then everything went black.

Chapter Nine

Caleb didn’t know how long he’d been locked in the isolation room. He had no connection to time. There were no clocks or windows. When they threw him in and left him there, he’d yelled, begging them to tell him if Anna was all right. But no matter how loud he screamed, his voice sank into the white padded walls, leaving a dead silence.

There was a door, too, with a small rectangular window in it. He couldn’t jiggle the door handle since there wasn’t one. He tried banging, but his fists made only a dull thumping noise. He started to think that no one else in the universe knew he existed. He’d been left in a white void, and for all he knew, they’d forgotten about him forever. But then he saw a nurse peek through the tiny window. She looked at him for only a few seconds, and then she was gone. Every once in a while her head would fill the window, but she stayed there only long enough to see what he was doing. So he wasn’t quite alone. They were watching and he was blind.

The soreness had snuck up on him. He’d taken some strong punches to the stomach and face. His right side hurt badly, and he gently poked each of his ribs, trying to locate the exact injury. A pain radiated inward when he touched them. There was no mirror to see the extent of the damage to his face, so he used his fingers. He felt around his right eye and found that the skin was already brutally swollen. He moved his sore jaw from side to side as he cupped his hand around it, searching for broken bone. Dry, crusty blood stuck to the skin underneath his nose and he attempted to wipe it away with the bottom of his T-shirt.

The only thing to do in the room was to stare at the walls and terrorize himself with images of Anna’s limp body lying on the ground. He was desperate to see her. He’d meant to get her to talk—for the sake of the mission—but now he couldn’t care less about what he was supposed to do. He was going out of his mind, not knowing what happened to her. He wished that maniac who’d hurt her was in the room with him so he could pick up where they’d left off. Instead he was probably dozing in a peaceful medicated stupor. He could only hope he’d wake up to find himself strapped down in a room like this.

At one point, the door opened and Dr. Blackwell stepped in. Caleb stood up and faced him squarely. The panic he’d tried to beat down rose up again.

“Anna—how’s Anna?” Caleb asked with no attempt to hide his desperation.

“Caleb, calm down.”

“Just tell me if she’s okay!” He took an aggressive step forward.

“Caleb, I’m warning you. Stop yelling and try to control yourself, or I’ll have to leave.” He wanted to punch Dr. Blackwell, beat it out of him how Anna was. His fingers rolled into his hands to form fists, but he backed away slowly. He decided to obey until the moment that Dr. Blackwell wasn’t cooperative. Then he’d fight his way out if he had to and find Anna.

“Thank you. Now please tell me what happened.”

“Please,” Caleb said softly and with great control, “please tell me if Anna is okay.”

“Yes, she’s fine. She’s currently in a room in the main hospital.”

“Why? What did he do to her?” He took a quick step forward.

“Back up.”

Caleb glared cruelly at the doctor but took a step backward.

“She has a broken collarbone, but she’s going to be fine.”

“A broken collarbone? No, no,” Caleb muttered to himself. “That bastard. The next time I see him, I’m gonna kill him.”

“No, you won’t,” he said. “We’re dealing with him. You need to worry about yourself, Caleb.”

“What kind of place is this? You let some psychotic maniac roam around, beating up innocent girls, and I’m the one who’s in trouble?”

“We have zero tolerance for violence here,” Dr. Blackwell said. “No matter the circumstances, you engaged in a fight with another patient. We can’t overlook that.”

Caleb dropped his head in his hands, with his fingers resting on his temples. “Well you’ve already put me in isolation for…I don’t even know how long. What else are you going to do to me?”

“This is your first offense, so you’ll be released back to your room shortly after a doctor examines your injuries. But you need to stay calm. Are we clear?” Caleb glared at him and didn’t answer. “Are we clear?”

“Yes,” Caleb whispered, lowering his head. The doctor turned around and headed toward the door.

“One more thing,” he said, turning back around. “We’ll have to notify your father about this.”

Caleb didn’t look up from the floor. “Is that really necessary?”

“It is. That’s what you agreed to.”

Caleb knew Dr. Blackwell had walked out because the room was quiet again, but moments later he heard a different voice.