by HMC
‘Yeah. I could get them out, too. I’ve mastered most of the doors.’
‘That’s it for now. Listen, maybe you should come back later. Anne is probably going to start looking for you. I’ll tell you more tomorrow. I promise.’
She believed him.
Sam left and didn’t look back.
Damon sighed. A soft wind kissed his cheek and he turned to gaze out the open window. The thin bars became less predominant and Damon’s eyes drank in the beauty of the sun painting the landscape. He took the time to watch a tiny spider spin a golden web at the topmost edge of the sill. The little thing dashed back and forth, taking no notice of distractions, he was so focused on the task at hand.
Damon mentally thanked the spider for reminding him that the reason he felt stifled was because he was so used to going out and chasing his prey. This case was different. This time, like a spider, he must become an ambush creature. From now on, Damon would have to be more patient. His prey would be coming to him.
Most of Rowan’s Home was asleep. Morty sauntered around the home switching off fans as Fairholmes cooled down for the evening. His uniform shirt, beautifully pressed and ironed, hid Black Watch pyjama pants – knowing the chances of his bottom half being seen were slim to none. Well, apart from Jade, who seemed to have taken over his ‘never leaving work’ behaviour pattern. If Green showed up, he’d just pull his chair farther under the desk. He’d never see them.
Why shouldn’t I be comfortable, at least?
Morty pulled on his fluffy Ugg boots and put his feet up on the desk. He sighed, his hand wrapped around a Spice Girls mug (and who the hell knows where that came from) filled with hot chocolate and a handful of mini marshmallows, which he faithfully consumed, no matter what the temperature.
He didn’t want winter to be over. It had gone too fast, again. It made him smile – reminding him of fur hats, blankets, and open fires – unlike the Australian bushland inferno he usually inhabited. Not to mention how women looked in a pair of jeans and a woollen jumper: natural, beautiful, free.
Morty felt a little better. Talking to Jade a few times had helped. She was a pretty good shrink. He usually hated talking to them about his personal life, especially Dr. Green; but Jade actually seemed to care about whether or not he felt better and that made all the difference. Her patients were even responding well to her after all that ruckus.
Freddy seemed to be happier than ever and he was becoming more independent, which considerably lessened the staff workload. It was also a sign that he was making progress in his therapy. He was even washing his own clothes now.
Damon and Sam were interacting more with others, especially each other. Morty grinned to himself. Even George was chatting more frequently, albeit in an odd, reserved way.
As Morty turned to grab and begin his new self-help book, he was sure he noticed movement on one of the cameras. Green had put in more monitors at the front desk to reassure everyone. He watched for a while, and the movement didn’t repeat, but his intuition said something was up. Jade wouldn’t have been doing rounds at this time of night without him.
Morty left the main desk to double check the mens’ wing. He searched the hallways, finding nothing. Jumping at shadows? That’s not like me at all.
As he returned to his front desk, the door creaked open behind him and Jade poked her head in. ‘You know, I think I’ll stay tonight.’
Morty nodded on the outside and danced a jig within. ‘Great! I’ll have someone to talk to. That’ll be nice.’ He smiled like a weatherman.
‘That would be nice, but I’m just so swamped. I don’t know how Dr. Hanson did it on his own, with Green at Maine half the time and only a few nurses on staff.’
Morty tried to cover his disappointment. ‘He seemed pretty stressed out most of the time. Anne thinks that’s why he went AWOL.’
‘Great, something to look forward to.’
He laughed with her and pretended not to care as she waved goodbye to him and closed the door. ‘I’ll be right here!’ Morty cringed. Oh … good one … way to charm the ladies.
Morty heaved a sigh about the best laid plans of mice and men, when Jade returned. ‘You know what?’
‘What?’
‘We should get a cup of coffee, one day.’
Jigging again, Morty nodded. ‘Sounds good.’ Her cheeks went red as she shut the door. Jade had just asked him out. Morty winked at Sporty Spice on his mug. It was already shaping up to be a good shift.
Freddy Parks had spent the day surreptitiously unlocking and relocking doors around the entire institution without causing the slightest suspicion. There were only two miniature keys left, which he wasn’t sure of. He once had a similar set for his bike lock.
Freddy had meticulously planned the next day, while loading some washing for Anne, to sneak out through the back door and into the town. He knew of a shop and he had $4 to spend. He’d duck out at exactly one PM, straight after lunch while people were cleaning, and he was doing the laundry for Anne. The shop was only seven minutes away but he would need to factor in time to eat. And that was just the beginning. He had plenty more plans, too, now that he was able to come and go as he pleased.
Suddenly, it seemed like this wasn’t going to be a good day for plans, after all.
Freddy could hear all sorts of sounds in and around the building. He knew straight away that the terrorists had begun terrorising. He’d seen the handbag-lady again at the home today and knew that tonight would probably be the night of the big attack. The Trackers had been watching him for some time now and more so than usual. It would be dangerous to leave the home.
Dr. Jade had asked him about the Trackers and he never told her too much. They were probably listening. Besides, whenever he told someone about what he really saw they always looked at him like he was crazy, and shoved more medicine down his throat – medicine that made him itchy and dizzy. It wasn’t worth the risk.
Freddy hid his keys in his pocket – understanding now that God had given them to him for a very different purpose. He took a small yellow and maroon Brisbane Broncos knapsack and filled it with a water bottle, a banana he’d stolen from the kitchen and a favourite picture of his sister, Christy. He took a few steadying breaths and smoothed his hair back on top of his head. Soft sprinkles of rain were falling on the roof and the sound soothed him. He had a terrible feeling he was being watched through the window. Turning subtly to catch the onlooker, Freddy instead caught his own reflection and gave himself a fright. Booey!
Now wasn’t time to be scared. It was time to be brave. The adventure that he’d been waiting for, however treacherous it may be, was upon him.
Under the covers, Freddy wore his backpack in bed, at the ready. Sounds came from the kitchen and it was time to go. Morty would be out front and too far away, so it was Freddy’s job to wake the others.
Ready or not. Here I come.
‘George?’ The snoring lump didn’t move. ‘George!’ This time he did.
‘Jesus Christ almighty, Freddy! What is it?’
Freddy forgot that he shouldn’t shine his torch in people’s eyes. George threw off his covers and Freddy grabbed his hand. ‘We have to go. They’re here to get us.’
‘Calm down, mate.’
The smoke alarms screeched.
‘It’s a fire.’ Freddy held his keys close to his chest. George jumped up.
‘Go!’ He pushed Freddy out.
Freddy would have to go and get Damon straight away. Damon was on lock-down, in the special room with the toilet. Dr. Green wanted him there because he had killed someone. But Freddy knew that he wasn’t the baddie.
‘Damon’s room is next to the fire.’ Freddy felt awful. He should’ve used his keys to get Damon first.
Jade sat at her desk when an unearthly shriek rang out. She jumped.
The fire alarms.
Surely Green was just
running a drill at an unexpected time to see how well she could cope in an emergency situation. Hell of a time to do it, though. She entered the hall to the womens’ wing and gathered her patients who were already lining up and getting ready.
Morty would be on the other side of the Home doing the same with the men and the procedure was to evacuate to the car park.
Sam had her arm around an older patient, Carmen, who was new to the home. She hadn’t been at Rowan’s for long, but long enough to experience the shootings, and now this.
Great start on the road to recovery.
‘Probably just a drill. Keep calm and follow me.’ They marched towards the door to the waiting room. Sam raced up and whispered in her ear. ‘Don’t look back, but there’s smoke behind us.’
‘Let’s pick up the pace, ladies,’ Jade called. Sam was right – looking back would only create hysteria as the others would follow suit.
But Jade could smell it now.
A popping and crackling sound came from behind them. The doctor looked up and hurled obscenities at the sleeping sprinkler system on the roof. They moved out to the waiting room. Morty and the others weren’t there yet. She hoped they were okay. Jade pushed on the entry doors to the home.
They were stuck.
She fished for her keys. When she slid them in and turned, it still wouldn’t budge. Jade saw a slither of light through the glass doors. It glinted off a metal chain. The chain was wrapped around the handles outside. And padlocked.
They were locked in.
Sam pushed Jade aside and slammed up against them. ‘Let us out, you mongrel-bastards!’
Jade shook her head. ‘This can’t be happening.’
Some of the women howled. Jade remained level-headed. The only other exit was through the back, where the fire was. ‘Get down on the ground. All of you.’ Her patients complied. ‘Move over to a corner, lie down and breathe into the place where the floor and wall meet.’
Jade could hear the men shouting now and the patients burst through the doors. Morty, Damon and Freddy weren’t with them. George saw her searching.
‘They’re getting Roger.’ Roger, their wheelchair patient.
Jade held her breath and saw the smoke billowing above them. She had to break the glass. But how?
Morty crashed through from the mens’ wing.
Freddy pushed Roger and Damon was holding up another man, who was keeled over coughing. Smoke followed behind them.
They’d die inhaling it, before the fire touched them. A thunderous boom came from behind.
Morty rushed to Jade and pushed the doors.
‘We’ve been locked in.’
‘What!’
‘Stand back.’ Damon pulled out a gun and aimed at the door. ‘The glass can redirect the bullet. Stand back!’ Morty pulled Jade farther backwards and Damon shot the glass. It made a hole, but didn’t shatter.
He shot again and obliterated the bottom half of the door.
Jade coughed as smoke filled her lungs.
They would have to crawl under the metal centre, over the glass. She looked at the wheelchair.
They weren’t going to make it.
Freddy Parks pelted towards the padlock and started shoving keys into it. He paused, took a moment to look closely at the set, picked one up, and opened the padlock.
Jade pushed the patients towards the front. The last thing she saw was the floor, and Freddy’s fluffy, red socks.
Damon lifted Jade over his shoulder and struggled toward the entry. It was difficult to see. Damon had no idea where Freddy had got those keys from, but he’d just saved their lives. Rowan’s Home was going up in flames. He took a moment to collect himself. Where was surveillance?
Freddy rushed Roger down the side wheelchair ramp and Morty ushered the patients out onto the tarmac, furiously counting heads.
Damon put Jade down. ‘Jade, can you hear me? Squeeze my hand.’ Morty rushed over and put his head on her stomach, watching her chest.
‘She’s breathing. I need to watch her – you call the fire brigade,’ he said, passing Damon his phone. Morty rolled Jade into the recovery position. ‘Freddy! Run to Maine, just there, tell the lady at the desk there is an emergency at Rowan’s Home. Got that?’ Freddy nodded and ran. ‘Lucky we’re right next to the hospital.’
Damon’s stomach dropped. ‘No!’ He screamed to Freddy.
A metal canister rolled by. Then another. Gas poured from it. And before he could grab it and hurl it away, Damon’s eyes watered. He tried to hold his breath but he went down.
He wanted to rub his skin – needed to – but he knew that it would only make it burn. Damon closed his eyes tight and the splinter-like crystals of the tear gas stuck to him.
Rolling along the ground, knowing that the oxygen would dissipate the pain, he thrust himself along. The further he got, the more the air cleared. Damon bumped into a car tyre. He breathed the air and, though it still burned, he was out of the gas. The others weren’t so lucky.
A brutal kick to the skull knocked him unconscious.
PART TWO
The patient
A RUDE AWAKENING
Jade opened her eyes to darkness. She could barely discern objects in the room, but the smell of rubbing alcohol and bleach told her she was in a hospital bed. She tried to sit upright, but her aching head forbade it.
I survived.
But who else had?
Her memory was hazy. She’d been sedated – her body felt sluggish and heavy. She checked her arms and fingers ... still there. She reached down to grab her legs and feet to make sure they were intact. Face, check. Body, check. Everything moved as it was supposed to. It seemed she hadn’t been burned and counted herself lucky. There was just a small bump on her head, and that was it. It had been the most traumatic experience that Jade Thatcher had ever had. What had taken only minutes in reality, had felt like hours. The home had gone up in flames so quickly! She had no idea how she’d gotten out.
Was she out? She pinched her arm until she felt pain. Pain always made things bona fide.
Her stomach turned over then, in a queasy forward roll. She wished she could just go back to sleep until morning.
The worst of it was that she swore to herself that she would protect her patients and she was doing a pretty shitty job of it so far.
They could all be dead.
Jade rolled over and looked for a button to call a nurse. There was nothing. It was so dark. There should have been more noise and light.
Her head throbbed as she fought back tears. Everything would unfold when she woke up again in the morning. In order to get through the night she was just going to have to pretend that they were all okay.
She slept.
Moaning echoed up the hall. Jade tried to get out of bed but moving was difficult. Each foot felt tied to an anvil and shifting was painful. The white painted door with golden handles opened before her, revealing hallways that looked painted with blood.
A horrible colour. The crimson glow reflected off the walls from the overheads and the floor under her throbbing, heavy feet was icy cold. Jade felt an awful emptiness.
She drifted down the hallway and watched as faces loomed behind the glass doors. Their twisted arms reached out for her. The faces were blurry, but she could tell these people were suffering. She shook her head at them in apology and softly told them to go back to bed. None of them listened. Their moaning turned to screaming. Distraught, they all pointed in the same direction.
Before her was a large man who blocked her path to the exit. Jade watched in terror as he grew larger and larger, looming over her. He touched the ceiling and both arms brushed opposite walls. His skin was melting. It moved down his body in a fleshy lather, frothing onto the floor in a red and yellow mix. Jade turned and tried to run but the corridor was elongating as she watched, and her feet
wouldn’t budge, anyway. Her lungs were burning and she couldn’t breathe. Flames licked the walls as she suffocated.
With a mighty gasp for air, Jade woke in a cold sick sweat. It took several moments for her to calm down enough to get her breath back.
Lying still in her hospital bed, she heard the hum of the overhead fluorescent lights. There was a faint sound of machines droning, too, and she wondered if they’d been going all night. If they had, they certainly hadn’t bothered her before. Now, the sound was like torture. She smiled slightly, remembering the way George would always talk about irrelevant sounds overpowering him. Now she understood.
Her hands were trembling and her throat burned.
Dark red and brown brickwork replaced two of the walls where Jade thought the windows should’ve been. There was only the one bed in the room, a chest of drawers with a remote control on top for the television, which was connected to a drop-down fixture on the ceiling. There was a plastic white chair to her left. She assumed she was in Maine Hospital. There weren’t any other hospitals for kilometres around and there were no real shortage of beds. The place was even sadder and lonelier than Rowan’s Home had been, and that was saying something.
The room had nothing but artificial light, which had switched itself on. Apparently, it was on a timer. It was now 6:32, according to the schoolroom clock on the wall. Jade listened for some sounds of life and heard none. This hospital was cold, dreary and dead. No wonder patients complained about Maine.
Jade wondered if Rowan’s had been completely lost. Maybe the fire brigade had got to it in time.
She was sure she’d woken up in the middle of the night in a panic and had been afflicted with nightmares on and off, until waking this morning. A few times it had taken a while to fall back to sleep. But now, far from feeling rested, Jade was groggy and it was hard to think straight. Perhaps they’d given her Acetylcysteine and Heparin for smoke inhalation.
She closed her eyes for a moment. ‘Good morning, Jade.’
Startled, she opened them.
