Page 23

Suddenly Hannah’s crying, and Jordan doesn’t know whatto do. He wanted to help her by listening, but it seems to have backfired.

“It’s winter now, and everyone’s dying. There’s sickness in the village. I’ve lost two brothers already—”

“But you’re here now, aren’t you?” Jordan interrupts, his voice gentle. “And I’m here with you. You’re not alone. You’re safe.”

She clenches her fists. “Buttheyaren’t safe! My family’s starving, I don’t know what happened to Otto, and a guard stabbed Mary! She’s going to die if I don’t get back to help her!”

Hannah’s volume rises by the second; she looks like she’s about to get hysterical. Jordan fingers the Call button on his lanyard—should he press it?

He doesn’t have to. A passing nurse hears Hannah’s screaming and comes into the room. When the nurse tries to lay a calming hand on Hannah’s arm, Hannah spins away and takes a swing at her.

“I have to get to Mary!”

Jordan backs away. Hannah’s gone again, caught up in whatever hallucination she keeps having.

The nurse tries to talk her down, but that doesn’t work. Another nurse appears with a needle. Hannah cries and slaps at them. She fights them, but she can’t win.

“I’m sorry,” the second nurse says as she plunges the needle into Hannah’s glute. “You poor, poor thing. I don’t know how else to help you.”

DELIA F. BELMAN MEMORIAL PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL PATIENT LOG

Date:1/20/23, 10:25 a.m.

Name:Hannah Doe

BACKGROUND: Pt placed in QR 1/19 and remained there overnight. Pt delusional in the early morning but later was reported to be alert, lucid, and cooperative. Pt briefly conversational with volunteer before beginning to hallucinate suddenly. Speech became loud, rapid, nonsensical. High degree of agitation.

RESPONSE: Attempt to calm pt with verbal de-escalation strategies ineffective. Pt deemed immediate physical threat. Administered Haloperidol 10 mg IM. Pt now sleeping in QR.

CHAPTER 22

“Hannah, please wake up!” Mary’s whisper was urgent.

Groggily I opened my eyes. There was blackness all around, and a cold stone floor against my cheek. When I tried to sit up, my head spun.

What happened? Where am I?

I breathed in the metallic scent of blood and the dark, foul odor of shit. And then I knew—instantly, horribly. We were in a dungeon beneath the baron’s castle. AndIwas the reason we were here.

Nausea overwhelmed me, and I retched. But there was nothing in my stomach except for the tiny bit of bread Otto had fed me. I coughed up bile until my throat burned. When the spasm passed, I wiped my swollen, bloodied lips and put my hand out in the dark.

“Mary, I can’t see you.”

“I’m over here.”

Painfully I dragged myself toward the sound of her voice. “I’m coming, love,” I said. I’d been hit so many times that it was agony to talk. But my eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and I thought I could see a small, forlorn lump in the corner of the cell.Mary.

Just a few more feet.

Every bone and muscle in my body ached as I crawled. Then I was beside her, touching the hard, warm knob of her shoulder. “Are you hurt?” I whispered.

There was a pause. “Just a little,” she said.

But her voice cracked as she spoke. She was lying.

As if of their own accord, my fingers flew over her body, searching for the wound. “Where? Where?” I demanded.

“Oh,” she gasped, “be careful—”