Chapter 10

Theo made his way down the hall to the wing where Davina’s room was located with the medications she was expected to take.  He’d managed to convince, Nancy, the floor nurse that, although he was an orderly and not a nurse, he was capable of taking the meds that they’d portioned out for her to her room and waiting to make sure that she took them.  Since they were overstaffed, Nancy gave him little resistance.

Turning his head in all directions as nonchalantly as he could, he checked to make sure that no-one was watching as he slipped into the wing’s supply room.

After dumping her meds down the drain of the utility sink, he pulled a packet of pills from the inside pocket of his lab coat and placed them in the small, paper cups he’d just emptied.  Then, after peeking out to make sure the coast was clear.  He stepped back out into

the corridor and continued to her room.

He found her sitting in the chair by her bed hugging what looked to be a journal.  He could see traces of tears on her cheeks, as if she’d been crying. 

With a light knock on the opened door, he entered wearing a broad smile. “How are you doing today?”

Davina couldn’t resist smiling back.  Not only was he pleasant to look at. There was something warm and familiar about this orderly that she couldn’t put her finger on.  The more she was around him, the stronger the sensation.  She wondered if they’d met during the year of her memory loss, but she kept that question to herself.  The last thing she wanted was to remind people of the reason she was in here when she was working so hard to get out.

Now that she knew that her heart was crushed by a man who used her and then abandoned her in the night to be left waiting like some naïve idiot who believed his words of love, she knew the direction for her therapy to take.  She doubted it would be long before her memories came flooding back. With the help of her therapist, she’d be able to handle the pain

that was sure to accompany them.

He set the tray with her medication onto a small table near the window and offered the cups to her, along with a glass of water. “Time for your medicine.  Bottoms up.”

As she looked into his brown eyes that were lined with thick black lashes that any woman would sell their soul to have, the words she’d written in her journal came to mind.

“Eyes like pools of melted chocolate.”

His startled expression made her realize that she’d said it aloud instead of in her head. Her face went scarlet as she quickly downed her meds and then went to the window to look out.  With her back to him so that he couldn’t see her embarrassment, she waited for him to leave the room.

“You have a beautiful way with words,” he said softly.  “Then, everything about you is beautiful.”

She shuddered with pleasure as the words he spoke in such a soothing manner caressed away her humiliation.  What was it about this man that drew her to him in such a way?  He was one of the orderlies who acted as her jailer.  She should feel nothing but disdain for him, no matter how handsome he was. She’d met oodles of handsome men in her lifetime and no one had come close to catching her attention like this orderly had; except perhaps T.J., but she was still trying to remember that.   

She hadn’t allowed herself to look at men who looked like Theo because of Louella. Perhaps seeing the way that he rejected her sister triggered something in her.  She wasn’t sure if she should allow herself to get close to him. Never mind the fact that he was technically her jailor.  She was more concerned about the pain T. J. had caused to the point she blocked out an entire year of memories.  Would it be healthy or harmful to get close to another man before she and her therapist had a chance to work things out?

Seeing how uncomfortable she was by his words, Theo picked up the tray and walked to the door.  He stopped just before leaving and said in a quiet voice, “I wasn’t trying to make you uncomfortable.  I just want you to know that I think you’re a beautiful person.” As he opened the door to leave, he added, “I know you didn’t kill anyone.  Your sister made that up to get your family to support her putting you in here.  I just wish you could remember. If you could remember, we could get you out of here easier.  But, if you don’t, I’ll figure out a way to free you. 

Trust me.”

She gasped at his words and whirled around to face him, but all she saw was the closed door.  Racing to it, her trembling hands clumsily wrestled with the doorknob.  When she was finally able to yank it open, she quickly popped her head out into the corridor with the intention of calling him back, but he was nowhere to be seen.  He hadn’t had time to turn the corner that was beyond the nurse’s station. He hadn’t even had time enough to slip into someone else’s room.  It was as if he’d disappeared.

 She raced to the nurse’s station and beat the flat of her hand on the counter impatiently while she looked around for a nurse. 

“Hello?  Nurse?  Hello?” she impatiently bellowed.

When no one appeared, she cussed beneath her breath and tried the doors that took her to the main section of the asylum.  They were locked.  She knew they would be, but she couldn’t resist trying them anyway.

“What’s the matter, Davina?” came a stern female’s voice from behind her.  “What’s all this raucous about?”

“Theo.  The orderly, Theo.  I need to see him,” she frantically declared.

“Did he give you your medicine?”

“Yes, yes, he did. Where is he?”

“I’m assuming he’s in another wing passing out medicine to the other patients. We’re shorthanded, so he helps.” She eyed her suspiciously.  “He hasn’t been behaving inappropriately, has he?”

She looked at her with true bewilderment. “In what way?”

“You know,” Nancy said, hesitantly. “He hasn’t been making advances or anything like that, has he.”

“What? No!” she bellowed with irritation. For some reason, it upset her

that Nancy would even insinuate that Theo was capable of behaving in that way with a patient.  “What an unfair thing to say about him.”

Unaccustomed be being put in her place by a patient, Nancy’s defense system went into play.  With narrowed eyes she ordered Davina back to her room.  When she realized the harshness of her tone, she made a point of softening it while reminding her that her medicine would make her drowsy soon and it was best if she was in her bed when that happened.

As she watched Davina reluctantly return to her room, she made a mental note to pay closer attention to the way Theo interacted with the patients.  Having one ask for him with such urgency was a red flag.  She just didn’t know what kind of red flag.

Theo was a new staff member. In fact, now that she thought about it, he was hired

just a day after Davina came to the asylum. Then, there were quite a few new hires of late. They’d lost a good number of staff recently due to a scandal over a family who’d had their daughter unfairly committed and she’d somehow managed to prove it.  The staff who’d participated in keeping her subdued and away from those who could help her set things aright were let go.  Nancy secretly thought that the executor of the asylum, Dr. Covington, played a pivotal role in that scheme, but the sly dog managed to slip out of the limelight unscathed.

The light at the nurse’s station indicating that a patient needed assistance flashed.  She tucked her suspicions about Theo and Davina into the back of her mind, to be accessed at another time, and scurried off to the patient’s room.