The Memory Painter

No one sat at the nurses’ station. A chilling silence pervaded the entire floor. Barbara hurried to room 450 and pressed the view button on the monitor. Whatever she saw made her cry out, but she quickly recovered.

Barbara took a second to fully compose herself and walked back to the nurses’ station. On her way, she locked eyes with Linz and nodded yes—Bryan was here. She reached the station and hurried behind the desk. She began rifling through the patient files and managed to find the one marked “John Doe: 450” just as the nurse on shift rounded the corner with a medicine tray.

“What are you doing?” the nurse demanded.

Barbara turned around, flashing her badge. “I’m here to check out my patient in 450.” Flipping open the file, she scribbled something in the comments section and signed.

The nurse took the file from her and looked at it in confusion. “But he’s scheduled for a procedure in the morning. I need authorization.”

“A procedure?” Barbara said. “On whose goddamn authority?”

“Conrad Jacobs’.” The nurse put her hands on her hips.

Linz could see the situation spiraling out of control. Barbara was about to blow it. She hurried over, pulling out another badge, and said, “Dr. Pierce is coming late to the table. We’ve decided to postpone the procedure. My father asked me to handle this for him personally.” She handed the nurse her Medicor ID.

Barbara looked at Linz’s card with as much surprise as the nurse.

Linz added, “Please call an orderly to assist us with transport.”

But the nurse continued to hold Linz’s card in her hand. She didn’t pick up the phone.

Linz snatched her card back and tried to infuse her voice with icy displeasure. “If you have a problem, you’re welcome to contact my father, but I can guarantee he will not be happy to hear from you.”

The nurse looked angry, but she was too intimidated to argue.

Barbara held out her hand. “I need the keycard to the room. Have the orderly bring a gurney.”

The nurse handed over the keycard and watched them walk down the hallway. Once they were out of earshot, Barbara hissed, “Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”

Linz settled for the truth. “Because I knew it was my father who was holding him and I needed you to trust me.”

“He’s going to have hell to pay.”

“Believe me, I want nothing more. Let’s just get Bryan out of here first.”

They reached the door and unlocked it. Bryan was asleep on the cot, using the straitjacket as a blanket. Linz rushed to his side.

“Bryan? Can you hear me?”

“Dreaming,” Bryan mumbled.

Linz gave him a gentle shake. “Wake up! This isn’t a dream.”

He smiled. “Yes it is.”

Barbara crouched down too, her voice loud and firm. “Bryan, honey, this isn’t a dream.” She picked up the straitjacket with a repulsed look on her face and threw it in the corner. “We’re here to get you the hell out of here.”

Bryan’s eyes flew open. He was beyond stunned to see them both. Then he looked at Linz and saw a new light in her eyes, and he realized what she had done. She kissed his hand and nodded. His questions would have to wait.

“I need you to act unconscious,” Barbara instructed him. “An orderly’s on his way.”

A minute later a big hulk of a man arrived. His skull and bones tattoos were hardly reassuring. Barbara squeezed Bryan’s leg in warning and he closed his eyes, letting his body go limp.

The orderly’s face was a stamp of indifference. “Transport?” he asked.

“We’re parked at the service entrance,” Barbara snapped. “What’s he been given?”

“Midazolam. You don’t need the jacket? He gave us problems earlier.”

Midazolam was a potent sedative normally used on patients who were going into surgery. Barbara looked ready to wrap the straitjacket around his throat. “No. Let’s go.” She marched to the elevators and gave the nurse a curt nod. Linz followed the orderly and tried not to look over her shoulder.

The nurse watched them leave. As the elevator doors closed, Linz saw the woman looking for something in Bryan’s file—most likely the phone number that she should call if anything unexpected arose.

*