Room 14's Secret novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: The Open Door

Nobody moved on the landing.

Zachary stood below me with his sister in his arms, and I stood in front of a door that would not open.

Giselle came down one more step.

"Hello, Leanne," she said. "Out of bed. Aren't you brave?"

Leanne's arms tightened around her brother's neck.

"Put her down," Zachary said, though Giselle had not touched her. "Back away from the stairs."

"Or what?" Giselle asked, almost curious. "You'll hit a woman in a camel coat? In a stairwell with a camera over the door?"

She tilted her phone so I could see the screen.

It was already ringing.

"I have the front desk on the line," she said. "Say the word and security is here in under a minute."

"Say it," I said. "Say it to the nurses. Say it to the police."

My voice shook, and I hated that.

"I will, if I have to."

She looked at me, and the kindness was still on her face.

It was the last thing I wanted to see.

"But I'd rather not, Melinda. Think about it. What's the better story?" She lowered the phone. "A sick woman is stopped by her friends and taken somewhere safe? Or a sick woman runs away from the hospital and takes another patient with her, with the help of an employee, and nobody knows where she went?"

My mouth went dry.

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