Her eyes were wild and her breathing ragged. She seemed to become unhinged before my eyes. Maybe she was on the wrong side of the equation here. Maybe she should have been one of the patients.

That realization hit me in the gut and I forced myself to back down. She held all the power — like she said — and if she was as unstable as she seemed, she really could make my life hell. I had no idea what she was capable of.

And there was the fact that I was afraid of what I might accidentally do to her if I didn’t calm the storm inside me.

I took a few deep breaths and the wind died down.

It took a lot for me to nod my head and pretend she’d won.

She let go of my arms and I resisted the urge to rub them. There would probably be bruises there later.

While I waited and hoped she’d calm down, Mrs C came over and put a soothing arm around my shoulders. “You did good.”

I ignored her and she smiled.

Mr J put a calming hand on the middle of my back. “It’s okay, darlin’. You got this.”

I appreciated their support more than they could ever know.

Janice watched me for a long while and when it looked like she’d gotten herself under control, she scowled. “Now we understand each other. You will tell no one and I won’t taze your ass.”

I glanced at the pocket she kept her taser in. I wasn’t too sure about that. A mental picture of me writhing on the ground and her laughing hysterically flashed through my mind. She wouldn’t hesitate to taze my ass.

She must have seen the fear in my eyes; she laughed loudly and put her hands on her hips.

I clenched my teeth. Just go before I do something I’ll regret.

I put my palms against my legs so I wouldn’t clench my fists. Seeing me do that might have set her off again.

She looked me up and down and opened her mouth, closed it again, then turned on her heel and walked back toward the door to the rec room.

“I’m watching you, freak,” she called over her shoulder as she swung her hips all the way to the door. Who was she hoping to impress? Jim? The trees?

Mr Newbie threw his arms in the air. “Oh, my God! What is her problem?” He started pacing around in a circle. “She shouldn’t be working in a place like this. Maybe she should be a patient instead.”

I tore my eyes away from the door and sat back down in the grass. “She’s getting worse,” I whispered.

Mr J joined Mr Newbie with his pacing, but he walked back and forth near the bushes I was hiding behind. “Something has set her off lately.”

Mrs C lowered herself gracefully on one of the park benches. “Maybe she has problems in her life outside of work. She is so quick to anger these last few months, but especially the last few days.” She tucked a stray lock of curly blonde hair behind her ear. “You’re going to have to be extra-careful around her. She would just love to catch you talking to us for real.”

I sighed. “Yeah.”

What I really needed to do was get out of here, but that was just a pipe dream now.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

“Dr Calthorpe will see you now,” Nurse Holly said with a cheery smile. A genuine smile.

Those were the words I’d been dreading. I didn’t know what he was going to say to me after yesterday’s total stuff-up.

But I’d decided that no matter what, I was going to report Janice.

Mrs C slid her arm from my shoulders. “You’ll be okay, dear.”

I was so grateful for her support and wished I could look at her to let her know how much it meant to me. I took a deep breath and followed Holly.

I had no real plan for what I was going to tell him when he asked me who I was talking to. What could I possibly say that wouldn’t sound like I’d lost it?

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Dr Calthorpe smiled as I entered and gestured for me to have a seat. “How are you today, Maddelyn?”

“Much better, Doc. How are you?”

His smile stayed in place. “Very well, thank you.”

I braced myself for the barrage of questions, but they didn’t come. He waited till we were both seated and smiled again.

Oh, great. He was waiting for me to talk.

Okay. If that’s what he wanted. “Before you say anything, I want to know what the procedures are for reporting a member of your staff.”

The smile dropped as his bushy eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”

“How do I report someone for mistreating patients?”

Those brows rose higher. “May I ask who you are referring to?”

There was no backing down now. “Nurse Janice.”

His expression was unreadable as the silence stretched.

“She is mean to the patients and she threatened me yesterday. Then she told me not to report it to you because you wouldn’t believe me because I’m a loony.”

His face was turning red. “These are very serious allegations, Maddelyn. Are you sure there isn’t just some misunderstanding?”

Great. He wasn’t going to believe me. Maybe because he witnessed me talking to an imaginary person in here yesterday.

“No. There’s no misunderstanding.” I wished the bruises had stuck around so I could show him, but I was a fast healer. “She grabbed me by the arms yesterday and basically said she could do whatever she wanted and I couldn’t do anything about it. She said I was a loony. She calls us all loonies. She is rough with poor Mrs Dawson and is abusive to all of us when no one’s looking.”

The expressions playing out across his face would have been amusing if it wasn’t for the seriousness of the situation.

He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. “Why haven’t you or anyone else said anything before now?”

“She has all the power. She told me if I told you, she would make my life hell in here.”

It was already hell, so bring it on.

It looked like he was trying to pull himself together. I could feel the anger rolling off him. Maybe he did believe me. “I see.”

“So, how do I officially report her?”

“We’ll sort this out. You’ve told me, and that’s the first step in the process.”

He went on about the forms he would get me to fill out, but then swung the conversation back to my big blunder.

I opened my mouth to answer, but I still hadn’t thought of anything that would get me out of trouble, then jumped when an elderly woman appeared beside him. I forced myself to look at him, but his wide eyes told me he’d noticed.

No… Not again.

This could not be happening again. I felt like screaming. I couldn’t talk to her. I had to ignore her. Otherwise, my case against the nurse from Hell will go down the toilet too.

The doctor cleared his throat. “So, can you tell me about yesterday?”

“Umm…” What could I do? “It was all a joke. I didn’t see anyone. I just didn’t want to talk to you.” Which didn’t make an ounce of sense. He knew how badly I wanted to go home.

He frowned. “Miss Johnson, this is no laughing matter.”

“I think maybe they messed up my medication. I couldn’t help it.”

“I assure you that you are on the correct dosage of meds, Maddelyn.”

“I’m not so sure, Doc. I felt kind of out of it.”

The woman reached out a hand toward his face. She looked anxious. Did she know she was dead? Was she going to cause a scene like Mr Newbie?

I quickly diverted my eyes in case she saw me looking. I did not want a repeat of yesterday.

Maybe she was his grandma.

I looked him in the eye. “I was kinda dizzy before I came in here.”

His eyebrows crept down lower. He was getting annoyed with me. Good. Maybe he’d send me out of his office and I wouldn’t have to deal with this. Or the old lady. Maybe he’d give up on me.

Not likely. He actually cared about his patients and tried his best to help them. Unlike a certain person.

His eyes were almost pleading. “Why won’t you give me a straight answer?”

I sighed. “You’re never gonna let me out of here, so why should I come to these sessions anymore? Why should I bother with any of it?”

I got up out of my chair, tempted to just run out again, but opted for pacing the room instead.

“Sit down and let’s talk about this. Why do you think you’ll never leave here?”

I kept pacing. “I’ll be here for the rest of my life, and by then I probably will be crazy for real.”

My face heated and my eyes stung with unshed tears. A pen on the desk rolled onto the floor and I stopped and stared at it. I had to get a grip on my emotions, or I could put myself in a lot more trouble. Trouble I couldn’t even hope to talk my way out of.

Dr Calthorpe picked up the pen and placed it neatly on his desk and seemed to think nothing of it falling randomly to the floor and I let out a breath.

The woman turned her attention from Dr Calthorpe and I could see the moment she realized I was looking directly at her. “You can see me?” She smiled widely. “That’s great! I need your help. This here is my grandson, Ivan.”

I snorted a laugh. “Ivan?”

“Yes. And I need your help because I died this morning and no one knows where I’ve hidden my treasures. It was my heart, I think. I woke up, but my body didn’t.”

My smile faded. His name being Ivan was funny; her being dead wasn’t funny in the least.

I opened my mouth to respond to her, but clamped it shut. Dr Calthorpe — Ivan — was looking at me expectantly, eyebrow raised.

Crap.

“Who are you speaking to, Maddelyn?”