Page 77 of His Toy

“That doesn’t look like a necklace,” I said.

He kept his eyes on the road. Grant was even less vocal than Zaid.

At the clinic, I tried walking straight back to her department, but we were stopped by the front window attendant. It was a different woman than last time, a blond. I asked for Hazel again and felt stupid when she said they didn’t have anyone by that name.

“Right,” I said. I remembered. “We’re friends of Zaid Vale.”

Were, I thought. We weren’t friends anymore.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” the attendant said. “Do you want me to check for Zaid Vale?”

“I guess,” I said.

She clicked on the keyboard, then glanced up. “I’m sorry ma’am. We don’t have any patients by the name of Zaid Vale. Is there another name you’d like to check?”

How could there be no record of Hazel or Zaid’s name?

“Are you sure you’re spelling it right? I was here a few days ago.”

“Ma’am, I checked the system. There isn’t anyone listed by the names of Hazel, Maben, Zaid, or Vale.”

“What about Heather Maben?”

She typed away on the keyboard. “None. I’m sorry, ma’am.”

Grant leaned forward. “Jane Doe checking in to see Jane Doe,” Grant said. “For discharge.”

The woman typed on the keyboard, then pointed down the hallway. Grant walked to the department.

Show off. He could’ve said that sooner.

Once we were inside of the department with the door shut behind us, a nurse tapped on our shoulders.

“You’re both here for Jane Doe?” We nodded. “They said you were planning on discharging her today. The guardian said there was a risk of drugs in her system?”

The guardian? That must have been Zaid. Hazel had been partying hard before she got mixed up with Eric. If she had given someone from the Afterglow a bad drug, it explained how she had found Eric in the first place.

“She hasn’t tested positive for anything during her stay,” the nurse said. I shifted. That was strange. “But shehastried to convince us that she’s having a psychotic break. But because she doesn’t know what that looks like, it’s more of a sane person very poorly trying to act like a crazy person.”

The staff kept moving around us. The nurse waited for our answer.

“Why?” I finally asked. The nurse tilted her head. “Why fake a psychotic break?”

“We think she’s trying to stay.”

Now that sounded like Hazel. She may have hated the food, but she knew the free bed was worth it. “Has anyone been inside to talk to her?”

“The guardian gave us the okay to speak with her, yes. But it hasn’t been productive.”

The nurse led us to the room, then left us alone. Hazel jumped up when she saw me, but when her eyes met Grant’s, she glared at him.

“Fuck you, meathead,” she said.

“This is Grant,” I said. “He’s here to keep us safe.”

“Safety, my ass,” Hazel said. “That guy drugged me and brought me here.”

“You were attacking me while I drove. It was dangerous.”