“Who would have guessed they would have locked up already”
Marissa said.
“I’m freezing,” said Wendy.
“Let’s get back to the car and regroup.”
They turned and hurried back down the steps. Crossing the
A courtyard, bent over against the swirling debris, they approached a man coming into the clinic.
“The door’s locked,” Wendy told him as they passed. But the man just kept walking. Then, at the mouth of the courtyard another man appeared, also heading for the clinic entrance.
“Door’s locked,” Wendy said again.
The women turned right and hurried toward the parking lot.
Suddenly Marissa stopped and faced back toward the courtyard opening.
“Come on,” Wendy urged.
One man, then the other, appeared. Catching sight of the women watching them, they quickly walked off in separate directions.
“What’s the matter?” Wendy demanded.
“Did you see that first man?” Marissa asked.
“Sort of,” Wendy said.
Marissa shivered, but this time not from the cold.
“He gave me the creeps,” she offered, starting to walk again.
“He reminded me of a bad trip I once had with ketamine, Weird!”
In the parking lot, Wendy fumbled with her keys. Her fingers were numb; she had trouble manipulating them. Once in the car, she reached over and opened the passenger side for Marissa. She then started the car, turning on the heater full blast.
“That was the strangest sensation I got from seeing that man,” Marissa said.
“It was almost like deji vu. How can you have deji vu from a hallucination?”
“I had a bad experience with pot once,” Wendy admitted.
“It was in California. Anytime I tried it after, it was the same. That was the end of pot for me.”
“I had a sort of flashback recently. Robert and I were at a Chinese restaurant. It was the oddest thing.”
“Well, maybe that was it,” Wendy said.
“I think the first guy was Chinese. At least he was Asian.”
“Now you are going to make me sound like some kind of subconscious bigot,” Marissa said with a nervous laugh. Any mental phenomena outside of her control made her feel uneasy.
“What should we do now?” Wendy asked.
“I suppose we don’t have a lot of choice if the doors are locked,” Marissa said.
“What about going in the overnight ward on the other side of the street and crossing in the connecting walkway?” Wendy suggested.
“Great idea!” Marissa said.
“I guess it takes a genius to see the obvious. Let’s do it!”
Wendy smiled, proud she had come up with a possible solution.
Marissa and Wendy again alighted from the car and ran to the overnight and emergency entrance opposite the main clinic building.
Above them loomed the darkened walkway spanning the street.
The door was not locked; Marissa and Wendy entered with ease. Once inside they made their way down a short corridor which opened to a waiting area. A few men were looking at magazines. On the right wall was a glass-fronted security office.
Directly ahead was a receptionist’s desk where a nurse sat reading a paperback book.
“Uh oh!” Wendy whispered.
“Don’t panic,” Marissa whispered back.
“Just keep walking as if we belong here.”
The two women approached the desk and started to turn right into the main corridor when the woman lowered her book.
“Can I help…” she began, but then she stopped herself, saying only, “Sorry, doctors.”
Marissa and Wendy didn’t answer. They merely smiled at the woman and continued down the corridor to the stairwell. After the door to the stairwell closed behind them, they nervously giggled.
“Maybe this is going to be easy after all,” Wendy said.
“Let’s not get cocky,” Marissa warned.
“This ruse won’t work if we run into anybody who recognizes us, like our own doctors.”
“Thanks,” Wendy said.
“As if I didn’t have enough to worry about.”
They started up the stairs.
“Hell!” Paul Abrums muttered as he watched the Asian enter the overnight ward of the Women’s Clinic. What had started out as a simple job was rapidly becoming complicated. His first orders had been merely to tail Marissa, find out what she was up to, and, if she happened to go into the Women’s Clinic, keep her from doing anything illegal. But that was before the mysterious Asian appeared. Now Robert had told him to find out who this guy was. What was more important? Paul didn’t know. And now his indecision had forced his hand. Having let the women go into the clinic by themselves, he was forced to follow the Chinese fellow.” Stubbing out his cigarette, Paul jogged across the street and yanked open the clinic door just in time to see the Asian make a right down a corridor.