“Why doesn’t this man say or do something?” Danni asked.
“He can’t,” Grandpa said. “This doctor’s done something to him. The poor feller can’t do anything but lay there in his bed. Can’t talk, can’t move, nothing. It’s like he’s in some kinda trance or something.”
“But he’s conscious and knows what’s going on around him?” Danni asked.
“Yes,” Eli said.
“So, what do you need from us?” I asked.
“I’d like Danni to he’p me get him outta there, legal-like. Once I can get him out, I’ll take him to my place, get some meat on his bones and keep him outta harm’s way while I deal with the snake that done this to him,” Eli said. “You still have ties to Judge Stone, right?” he asked Danni.
“Yes, I do,” she said.
“I’ll get you the evidence you need to show him what’s going on,” Eli said.
“Alright,” Danni said. “Give me all the information you can on this man, the hospital he’s in and the doctor. I’ll take it from there.”
“Thank you,” Grandpa said. Grandpa spent the next half hour giving Danni all the information he had. Danni took copious notes as he talked and recorded the conversation on her phone to ensure she got everything right.
“This will take me a day or two to sort out,” she said. “I’ll need to do a bit of research and get the paperwork ready.”
“Do what ya gotta do, Danni, but don’t take too much time,” Grandpa said. “I don’t think Mr. Eastland
has much time left. And do me another favor, if you would please.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“When you go see Judge Stone, I’d like ta join ye,” Grandpa said, his accent returning.
“That’s fine with me,” Danni said with a slight smile.
“What do you need from me, Grandpa?” I asked.
“Make sure yer Winchester’s in good shape, son. Ah have a feelin’ this might jes’ get a bit messy,” Grandpa said with a solemn wink.
…
“Take us to see Mr. Eastland, please. Immediately,” the man wearing a fedora and long trench coat said to the young woman behind the counter. The woman, whose name tag read, “Lisa,” looked at the man and the two others with him, a petite blonde woman and another man, younger than the one who just spoke.
She usually checked with the administration office of the private facility before allowing anyone beyond the front office. Still, she felt… compelled… to do as the man ordered. She already knew what room James was in, so she motioned for them to follow her.
Lisa escorted them past the nurse’s station and into James’ room. When they got inside, the petite blonde turned to Lisa.
“I’d like a cup of hot water please,” Adrestia said.
“Do as the lady asked, then close this door and do not let anyone know we are here,” Max said firmly. Lisa nodded her head and left. She returned less than a minute later with Adrestia’s hot water.
“Thank you,” Adrestia said.
“Now, please leave and say nothing to no one about our presence. No one. Understand?” Max asked.
“Uh, yes, sir,” Lisa said. She left the room, and Max locked the door as soon as it closed. They all turned to the emaciated man lying in bed. His skin was stretched over his bones, and he reminded Max of pictures he had seen of Holocaust victims. He fought the urge to kill someone and turned to Cameron.
“Why don’t you see what you can get from him,” Max said.
“Yeah, right,” Cameron said, shocked at James’ appearance. He took James’ hand in his own and felt the tell-tale spark that indicated a brain feed download. “It’s going to be alright, Mr. Eastland. We’re here to help,” he told James as Adrestia mixed two tea bags in the cup of hot water.
Cameron stepped away after the download was complete. Adrestia went to James’ side and helped him take a few tentative sips of the hot liquid. James looked at her as she fed him like a baby. She saw the fear in his eyes and put one hand on his head.
“It’s going to be alright, Mr. Eastland,” she said quietly. Adrestia looked at Max.
“Sweetheart, could you please help him drink the rest of this while I take a look at his chart?” she asked.
“Sure,” Max said, walking to the side of the bed. He took the cup from her and helped James drink. “We’re friends, Mr. Eastland,” he said. As he looked into James’ eyes, he saw a tear fall down the man’s cheek. Cameron, meanwhile, had pulled out his laptop and headset and was busy downloading the brain feed into his computer.
It took about 15 minutes for James to finish the tea. By then, Adrestia had seen enough in James’ chart to know what Dr. Skitz was doing to him. She made notes, then adjusted the IV drip in James’ arm.
“That should start counteracting what Skitz has done,” she said. “But his status is worse than I originally thought. We need to get him out of here, immediately.”
“Wh… wha…” James stuttered. They all looked at him.
“Mr. Eastland, please remain calm,” Adrestia said. “Don’t try to move or speak just yet. We’re going to try to get you out of here.”
“Better do it quick,” Cameron said. “I just looked at his last few memories, and it appears Skitz is about to pull the plug on him. You wanna see?”
“Sure,” Adrestia said. Cameron queued up a video from two days earlier. They saw Skitz and a woman in the video window, but the video itself was somewhat blurry.
“Why does it look like that?” Max asked.
“This is from James’ perspective,” Cameron said. “It plays back as he saw it. Probably due to the cocktail of drugs Skitz has him on.” Cameron hit the play button, and the video began with Skitz sneering at James while the woman sneered at him from behind Skitz.
“I just heard that your insurance company is questioning my chosen treatment,” Skitz said in the video. “Of course, I responded, but how dare they question me — a doctor. Not only are they challenging my treatment, but they’re also threatening to not pay. This is unacceptable. But I’m not entirely unreasonable.
“I’ll be taking your wife on a little trip for the next couple of days. Of course, I’m going to fuck her brains out, and I may have her fuck a few others. Just for fun. If the insurance company refuses to relent by the time we return, which will be about noon two days from now, then I see no real reason to keep you alive. In fact, you may be worth more dead,” he said, laughing. “Come dear, let’s go.”
“I’d like to say I love you, James, but the fact is, I’ve fallen for Jack here. So, no, I don’t love you anymore. Besides, your little wiener can’t even compare to his nine-inch cock. So bye, James. Nice knowing you,” Tina said with a smirk. “And don’t worry, I’ll take good care of your insurance money,” she added, causing Skitz to laugh out loud.
“Noon. That’s about 25 minutes from now, assuming he’s punctual,” Cameron said as he looked at his watch.
“Alright, change of plan,” Adrestia said.
“Should I call for an ambulance?” Cameron asked.
“No,” Adrestia said, shaking her head. “That would cause unwanted attention. And Skitz could already be on the premises. I’ll take James with me back to the gallery.”
“But you heard Eli. James may not survive the transport,” Max said.
“Eli is correct. James would never survive the transition to Eli’s safe place. But I’m not taking him out of this plane of existence,” Adrestia said. “I’ll let Eli know of the change. You take Cameron back to his place so he can get working on James’ brain feed. I’ll meet you back at the gallery.”
“Alright,” Max said. “We’d better get going before one of the nurses try to get in here.”
“You’re right,” Adrestia said. “We’ve already been here too long.” She turned to James. “Hold on, James. I’m taking you out of here right now. As Cameron and Max watched, Adrestia and James disappeared from sight, leaving an empty bed with tubes and sensors limply hanging from the post next to the bed.
“Hurry and pack up before those nurses realize he’s not connected up,” Max said.
“Already on it,” Cameron said. They heard someone try opening the door, only to find it locked.
“Let’s go. Now,” Max commanded. Cameron grabbed his things and stood by Max. Max pressed the button on a ring, and they found themselves at Cameron’s house.
“That was close,” Cameron said.
“Yeah,” Max said. “We don’t have much time. I need you to get on his brain feed and give us whatever you can by tomorrow morning.”
“No problem,” Cameron said. “I’ll get Bill and Ginger on it as well.” Bill was an old childhood friend of Cameron’s who now worked with him, and Ginger was Cameron’s wife and the mother of their twin children.
“That would be great,” Max said. “Call me in the morning.”
“Will do,” Cameron said before Max touched the ring on his finger. In an instant, he was gone.
…
“Why is this door locked?” the nurse asked as she tried to open the door to James’ room. “Get me the master key.” Another nurse handed her a keyring from behind the nurse’s station. The nurse at the door, whose name tag read, “Allison,” opened the door and got the shock of her life. No wonder Mr. Eastland’s monitors indicated no signal — he was gone. But where did he go?
Shocked, she went into the room and looked around. The windows were still sealed, and nothing looked out of place. Of course, James’ bed had no one in it. His IV lay on the bed, and the expensive liquid medication it dispensed oozed out by the machine it was attached to. There was no way James could’ve gotten up and walked out. So, where did he go?
Frantic, she went to the panel on the wall and punched a code. Blue lights instantly began flashing throughout the facility. A minute later, Allison heard a man’s voice come through the panel, and she recognized the voice as belonging to Dr. Skitz.
“What’s going on? Who is missing?” he asked.
“James Eastland, Dr. Skitz,” Allison said.
“WHAT? How is he missing? What the hell happened?” he asked.
“I don’t know, Doctor,” Allison replied. “The door to his room was locked from the inside. I opened it with a master key and found him missing.”
“I’ll be right there,” the doctor said, ending the call. He entered the room a couple minutes later, with Tina on his heels. He looked around, wondering where James had gone.
“There’s no way he could’ve gotten out of here by himself,” the doctor said. “Did anyone come to see him?”
“Well, Lisa from the front desk escorted three people here earlier,” Allison said.