Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
When I take it from her, I’m confused. In its entirety, it appears to be some sort of shrine with my picture in the center. There are candles around it, and when I look closer, I can make out some of the other photos. The more I look, the more my stomach cramps. There’s one of me in my dorm room wearing only my bra and panties.
“What’s that?” I'm not sure I want to know, but I point to the pile of stuff in front of the shrine.
“We believe those are your underwear,” Sybil says.
“Gross.” I hand her the picture back, completely creeped out. Andrew was disgusting, and this is a whole other level.
My thoughts go to what Rourk would say about this, and then I imagine him dedicating a shrine to me. For some reason, that sounds hot, and I’d be okay with it. Perhaps them locking me up here wasn’t the worst idea.
“Yeah, that’s why I wanted to give you a heads up. I don’t know if he’ll come looking for you or if he’s headed out of state. He’s got a couple of places he could hide, so he could be on the run. Either way, I thought it was best to inform you.”
“Thank you,” I say, and my shoulders sag.
“Here is my card.” Sybil stands and then holds it out to me. "I want you to call me if you notice anything unusual. Or even if you want an update on what’s going on.”
“Okay,” I say, then I put the card in my pocket and watch her leave.
“Are you ready to get checked out of here?” Olivia holds up a bag for me, and she’s smiling like it’s a ticket to Disneyland.
“Right now?” It’s all happening so fast that I can’t process leaving.
“You’re no longer a patient here, Karmen,” she says gently as I take the bag.
When I open it and look at what’s inside, I see that it’s everything I came here with. It’s not much. The clothes I had on, my cell phone, and my wallet.
“Unfortunately I can’t let you go back to your room. It's a security measure since you're no longer a patient," she says and nods to the bag. “But you can change in here, and I’ll meet you in the hallway.” I nod, and Olivia closes the door so I can get undressed.
It’s strange putting on my school uniform, but it’s all I have. When I try to turn my phone on, it's dead, so I toss it back in the bag. What the hell am I going to do?
When I’m finished getting dressed, Olivia is standing outside of her office waiting for me. “Now what?”
She walks to the exit door and taps her badge against it. When it beeps, she opens it for me. “You’ll take these stairs down to the first floor. Don’t worry, you can’t access the other floors without clearance.”
“What about Dr. Rourk? He’s been helping me.”
“You’re no longer court-ordered to see a psychiatrist.” She’s not being mean; she's just stating the facts.
“But what if I want to?” The thought of leaving without talking to Rourk is making me panic.
“He works for Bellevue Asylum, Karmen. He can’t see patients outside of this facility.” She’s looking at me with sympathy, but then she checks her watch like she’s got other things to do.
“All right,” I say, feeling defeated. If I push too hard to speak to him, it might raise a red flag. The last thing I want is to get him into trouble. He’s been my saving grace while I was here, and I thought there was more between us. Was I wrong?
I have no choice but to do what she says and take the stairs. As I exit Bellevue Asylum, my heart grows heavy with sadness and loss. To make matters worse, by the time I get outside, the sun is setting. Dark gray clouds are rapidly rolling in, and I feel a drop of rain hit me on my cheek.
The only thing I can do is walk away, so I put one foot in front of the other. As I leave the asylum, I feel more alone now than ever before.
Chapter Ten
ROURK
I’m running late by the time I get to Bellevue, but what I had to do was important. The lawyer I hired for Karmen needed me to see the evidence they found after the search warrant was issued. It was a shock to my system to say the least, but when he told me that they didn’t apprehend Andrew, I lost it. The police don’t know where he is, but there’s a warrant out for his arrest.
I run up the stairs, and when I scan my pass to the floor, I go straight to Karmen’s room. It’s empty, and the sheets have been stripped off the bed. I don’t think much of it because they could be cleaning, so I go to the group room. When I don’t see her there, worry starts to set in, and I go to the nurses’ station.