Key Lime Pie (27 page)

Sadie mentally kicked herself. For a moment she considered laying it all out to Megan, telling her who she really was, that Eric was worried sick over her and doing everything he could to find her. But Joe had said Megan didn’t want to be found. And Megan was facing serious complications. Adding to her stress wouldn’t be good for the babies.

In addition, the fact was Megan had come to this hospital because she had to, not because she wanted to. Joe, therefore, was taking advantage of her situation to help her be found. But why exactly?

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Sadie said, stepping away from the bed but hesitant to leave. She picked up the lotion from the bedside table and turned it in her hands. She wished she could think of something to say that would take them back to the vulnerable girl who seemed to like having someone to talk to, even if she didn’t say very much.

“You didn’t upset me,” Megan said, trying to sound causal, but failing. “It’s been a difficult couple of days, and I’m really tired. I need to rest up for tomorrow. But thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Sadie said, accepting that she’d been dismissed. She headed for the door and took one final look at Eric’s daughter, who had closed her eyes as though to demonstrate just how tired she was. Turning away, Sadie moved toward the door and had almost reached it when it was pushed open from the hallway. Sadie startled more than the circumstance warranted, but quickly tried to cover up her reaction.

“Oh,” the thickly built woman with spiky, unnaturally red hair said as she came up short. She wore bright purple scrubs and had a stethoscope around her neck. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize Mrs. Montez had visitors.”

Sadie nearly accepted that title, but realized Megan was only a few feet away, listening. “I’m a volunteer,” she said quickly. “I was just brushing out Mrs. Montez’s hair—to relax her, you know.”

The woman held her eyes. “A volunteer?”

Sadie nodded and smiled as she moved past the other woman, intent on reaching the hallway. She could feel the nurse pivoting to keep her eyes on Sadie, and when Sadie stepped out into the hall, the woman came with her, shutting the door to Megan’s room behind her. Sadie pretended she didn’t think it at all strange and kept walking.

The woman caught up with her after taking a few heavy steps. “Wait a minute,” she said, her tone sharp.

Sadie turned to her with an innocent expression and raised her eyebrows expectantly.
Please let her ask to borrow the lotion,
Sadie asked silently. She’d even hand over the hairbrush if it would erase the skeptical look on this woman’s face.

“We don’t have volunteers in Labor and Delivery.”

“Oh?” Sadie said, feeling her heart rate increase.

“We’re a transitional unit,” the woman said, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Sadie suddenly had a vague memory of someone once explaining that Labor and Delivery was where a woman was before the baby was born, and Maternity was for recovery. She snapped her fingers. “Duh,” she said as though realizing her mistake, which, in fact she just had. “They said to go to Maternity, and I just didn’t differentiate—it’s my first day. I’m so sorry for the mix-up. They’re probably wondering what happened to me, I better get over to the Maternity ward . . . uh, wing . . . uh, unit. Again, I’m really sorry.”

She made it one step before the woman reached out and grabbed her arm. Sadie immediately pulled away. “I said I’m sorry. I won’t make the mistake again.”

“If it’s your first day, why aren’t you shadowing someone?”

Sadie scrambled for an answer. “They didn’t have enough volunteers,” she said. She took another step away.

“What floor is Maternity on?” the other woman asked.

Sadie felt she had no choice but to stop again. Surely there was something she could say that would get this woman off her back. “Look, I’m sorry that I—”

“What floor?” the nurse asked. “You said you were new, surely they told you which floor to go to. It makes me wonder how you ended up here.”

“I don’t remember,” Sadie said, scrambling to remember what floor she was on. Third! That’s right. “I thought they said the third floor, but they must have said something else. I’m afraid I’m not very familiar with this hospital, so I’m not sure what floor—”

“The fifth,” the woman said. “Did they say it was on the fifth floor?”

Sadie paused as though trying to remember, but in truth she was simply trying to calm herself down. She didn’t understand why having a volunteer on the wrong floor would be such a big deal, but it obviously was, and she was feeling frantic. She wanted to get out of there. “That’s right,” she said. “Fifth. I remember now. I don’t know why I chose the third, I’m so sorry. I better get back there before they fire me . . . Can they even fire volunteers? I’ve never done this before, and here I am making a mess of it. I better go.”

She forced a smile and began walking again. The other woman didn’t follow her this time.

“Fourth,” she said from behind Sadie. “Maternity is on the fourth floor. You’d better come with me. I’ll get my supervisor.”

Sadie’s shoulders slumped in defeat, and she turned around. The woman looked relieved and turned around herself before heading back the way they had come, expecting Sadie to follow her. It was all the opportunity Sadie needed. The nurse had no sooner turned her back than Sadie turned again and began moving as quick as she could down the hallway, trying to make as little noise as possible, but moving quickly enough to create some distance. She was around the corner before she heard the woman yell, “Hey!”

Sadie said a little prayer in her mind, and then took off in a full run.

She couldn’t hear any footsteps over her own as she reached the elevator, but she knew they were there. A man stepped out and Sadie slid through the opening instead of heading for the stairs she’d been planning to use. The door caught her bad shoulder, and she winced as the contact triggered the doors to open again, but she didn’t let it slow her down. She turned and pushed the “Close Doors” button fifteen times before they finally obeyed. The man whom she’d pushed out of the way was staring at her from the outside; she offered him a smile as the doors closed. At the last possible moment, she saw the man turn to look in the direction she’d come, and she heard the voice of the nurse say, “Stop that elevator!”

It was too late for the nurse. Sadie took a breath as the door sealed shut. She lifted her hand to push the button with the glowing number one on it to take her to the first level, then hesitated and pushed the button for the second floor instead. There had been security at the front doors when she walked in, not to mention the Doberman of a receptionist who would likely take great pleasure in seeing Sadie thrown to the ground.

When the elevator door opened a moment later, she half-expected to find a security guard posted in front of it, but there wasn’t anyone there so she turned right, passed the stairwell, and headed down the hall to the elevators by the cafeteria, making an extra effort to walk normally and hold her head up while she attempted to catch her breath. There was a red fleece vest on the back of a chair in one of the waiting areas. She nonchalantly traded her brush and lotion for it, leaving both items on the chair. She tucked the vest under her arm, wrinkling her nose at the smell of stale cigarettes.

She passed a nurse who smiled at her, and she smiled back, then a doctor, who didn’t even look at her, which was just as well. The hallway was circular, but she kept following it, sure there had to be another set of stairs by the original elevators she’d taken up to the third floor. Her anxiety increased with every second. The longer it took her to get out of the building, the better her chances of getting caught.

There was a cart on one side of the hallway, and she barely glanced at it, then stopped and walked backward two steps until she reached it again. She grabbed a trial-sized bottle of talcum powder and kept walking, looking side to side to see if anyone had noticed. People passed her now and again, but no one seemed to be looking for her here. Not yet, anyway.

Finally she saw the elevators she’d used on her way up, as well as a sign for stairs, and she gratefully hurried toward them. Once secure within the stairwell, she draped the vest over the handrail. She put some talcum powder in her hands and rubbed it through her hair, leaning forward so she wouldn’t get too much on her clothes. She knew the powder wouldn’t turn her hair white, but it might gray it enough to let her get out of the building. With the way the humidity had left her hair products sticky, the talcum powder ought to adhere pretty well; hopefully it wouldn’t look like she’d just rubbed a bottle of talc through it.

She pulled the scrub top over her head and used it to wipe the powder from her face and neck before putting on the red vest, scowling again at the offensive smell. She hurried down the single flight of stairs, both hoping for and dreading the prospect of passing a mirror. When she reached the door marked “First Floor,” she took a breath and pushed through it, keeping her chin up and trying not to be too furtive as she looked around to see if a security guard was barreling toward her.

A sign on the wall outside the stairwell said the main entrance was to her left. She turned right, but avoided the cafeteria for fear it was centralized and wouldn’t have an exit. The Emergency Room would have a way out, though. Her heart was racing as she pulled her phone from her pocket and texted Monty.

Emgncy Rm Exit

She turned a corner and held her breath as she moved out of the way, allowing a heavy man in a wheelchair to pass, and then continued following the signs. A few people looked up at her as she walked through the waiting room, but no one stopped her, not even the security guard who was flirting with the receptionist at the checkin desk. Thank goodness for cute, giggly girls.

She was almost to the door, unable to breathe, when she heard something crackle on the guard’s walkie-talkie behind her. She didn’t even slow down. Once outside, she cut across the ambulance bay and hurried through the parking lot. She heard the swish of the automatic doors open behind her and looked back to see the security guard step outside. She didn’t pause long enough to see if he spotted her, but kept going, scanning for Monty’s taxi. The parking lot was huge. She couldn’t wait at the entrance for him so she simply headed for the street, hoping he would recognize her.

The red vest!

She texted him quickly that she had a red vest on, and then kept moving toward the street. Finally, she caught sight of the black-and-white taxi making its way through the rows of cars on its way to the emergency entrance. She course-corrected and headed toward it, walking as fast as she could without breaking into a run.

Monty saw her as she emerged from behind two cars a few yards in front of him. He slowed down, and she unzipped the vest as she headed to intercept the car. She laid the vest on the trunk of the nearest car, hoping someone would return it to its original owner.

She was dying to turn and see if the guard was still behind her, but didn’t dare. Without slowing down, she pulled open the front door and slid into the passenger seat of the taxi, smiling thankfully at Monty. She craned her neck around to see the security guard running through the parking lot after her. Her heart jumped into her throat.

“Go!” she shouted, ducking down in the seat. The guard would have seen her take off the vest. He knew it was her.

Monty didn’t need to be told twice. He took off like a rocket, glancing in the rearview mirror to see what it was Sadie had seen.

“Maybe he wasn’t close enough to see your license plate,” Sadie said, peeking over the seat to watch the security guard head back to the hospital with long, quick steps. “I’m so sorry,” she said, turning to face front again. “I’m getting you in so much trouble.”

“Don’ worry ’bout me,” Monty said, shaking his head for emphasis. “I’m worryin’ ’bout ’ow much trouble you be in.”

Sadie let out a breath. “Honestly? I’m not sure.” She couldn’t help but peek out the back window again. The hospital was a full block away, and there were no flashing red lights coming up behind them. A phone rang; she reached into her pocket before realizing it wasn’t her phone.

Monty fished his phone out of his own pocket and put it to his ear. “Yeah,” he said, then paused before saying it again.

Sadie tuned out Monty’s voice and took a deep breath, trying to force herself to relax.
You didn’t do anything wrong,
she told herself. But if that was true, why did she feel so awful right now?

“Okay, I be dere,” Monty said into his phone before shutting it off and putting it back in his pocket. “Sorry ’bout dat.”

“Don’t be sorry on my account,” Sadie said, meaning every word. She reached over the seat to pull her purse out from under the backseat where she’d stashed it.

When she sat back down in the front seat and put on her seat belt, Monty reached out and touched Sadie’s hair. He gave her an inquiring look, and Sadie raised her hands to touch her hair. Between the hair care products that never quite dried in this climate and the talcum powder she’d rubbed all over her head, her hair felt cakey and gross. Did she dare look?