"We're here to see Sabrina Vanderwerth," she told the receptionist.
"You'll need to sign in and fill out this form."
While Carlos signed them in, Toni quickly filled out the form, including Sabrina's name and ID number.
The receptionist checked the form against her records, the same records Toni had snuck a peek at the night before. "I'll need your IDs." She examined their driver's licenses, then filled out name tags for them.
"I'll hold your licenses here until you return and sign out." She handed them the clip-on name tags. "Wear these at all times. You cannot bring any personal items or food or drinks into the wards. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Toni was directed toward the guard, who went through her handbag, then patted her and Carlos down.
He unlocked the door. "Follow the sidewalk across the courtyard, then turn right to Ward Three."
As they crossed the courtyard, Toni looked around. Inside each building, another guard was posted. She shivered. The place was like a prison.
Carlos opened the door to Ward Three and followed her into a small foyer. The guard checked their name tags and took their request form, which he placed in a sliding metal box. It slid into a nurses' station, all enclosed in glass.
"Put your coats and personal items in these bins." The guard motioned to some plastic bins on a table.
While they filled the bins, a brawny male nurse entered the nursing station and examined their request form. "Come to the door," he spoke through an intercom.
There was a buzzing sound, then the metal door opened.
The male nurse motioned for them to enter. Toni noted his name tag said Bradley. And the hall smelled of disinfectant and despair.
"Are there visitors for me?" a young man asked as he shuffled toward them in corduroy house shoes. His Spider-Man pajamas were crumpled, and the red color had faded to pink.
"They're not here for you, Teddy," Bradley growled. "Go back to the men's room."
"Okay." Teddy ran a hand through his dark hair that had a streak dyed white down the middle, making him resemble a skunk. He shuffled back down the hall.
"This way." Bradley led them to the right. "Sabrina will be in the women's rec room. We keep the men and women separated except at mealtime. It's better that way since we get the occasional sex addict."
Toni winced.
"Here you are." Bradley motioned to an open area, then strode back down the hallway.
A female nurse sat behind a counter, watching everyone. In the middle of the plain white room, there were two tables, surrounded by orange plastic chairs. More plastic chairs lined the three walls. A television, mounted high in a corner, played an animated movie with the volume turned down low. The air was stuffy and warm. Stifling.
Two middle-aged women sat along the wall, across from the television, staring dumbly at it. One's hand kept twitching, and the other one's mouth drooped open. Their eyes looked dead. Toni's heart squeezed in her chest.
In the corner, a young female patient sat beside a male visitor, her husband perhaps? They were both quiet, as if they no longer knew what to say to each other.
Toni's heart was already breaking when she spotted Sabrina. She was wearing flannel pajama bottoms and a blue T-shirt. Her hair, usually a bouncy and shiny blonde, was dull and frizzy. She sat at a table, swinging her feet back and forth as she studied a magazine. Her sneakers flopped loosely on her feet. The shoelaces had been removed.
As Toni moved closer, she realized it wasn't a magazine Sabrina was looking at, but a coloring book. She flipped through the pages, then stopped at a page that hadn't been colored yet. She removed a broken pink crayon from a plastic bin and started to color.
This was the ace student at NYU who had made the dean's list for the past six semesters? Toni squeezed her eyes shut. I will not cry in front of her. I'll be strong.
"I could kill her uncle," Carlos whispered.
Toni took a deep breath and pasted a smile on her face. "Hi, Sabrina!"
Bri turned toward them, her face blank, then she blinked. "Toni! Carlos!" She stood. "You came to see me."
"Of course we did." Toni gave her a hug. "We've been worried about you."
"You're looking good, menina." Carlos hugged her, then sat across from her at the table.
Toni sat next to her. "How have you been?"
"I'm okay." Bri held up her arm to show them the blue plastic ID band around her wrist. "I got promoted to blue today. I'm so glad not to be yellow anymore."
"What's wrong with yellow?" Toni asked.
"It's for suicidal patients." Bri selected a green crayon from the bin. "Not that I was suicidal."
Toni swallowed hard. "That's good," she whispered.
"They just put everyone on suicide watch when they first get here," Bri explained.
"I wonder why," Carlos muttered as he glanced around the bleak room.
"I was so lonely," Bri continued. "I had to eat all my meals alone, and I had to sit here by myself when the others went to the gym."
"Hi, Sabrina."
They turned to see Teddy shuffling into the room.
He cricked his head to the side. "You have visitors?"
"Teddy!" Bradley marched toward him. "How many times do I have to tell you to stay in the men's rec room?"
"Okay." Teddy wandered back down the hall.
"Crazy moron," Bradley muttered as he followed.
"I'm not crazy," Teddy protested.
Sabrina went back to coloring as if everything was normal. "I met Teddy at lunch today. I think he's lonesome. No one ever comes to visit him." She smiled at Toni. "I'm glad you came."
I will not cry. Toni smiled back. "I'm glad, too."
"Teddy's not crazy," Bri whispered. "He's just very sad. He was in a car accident with his girlfriend, and she died. He was driving, so he feels guilty."
Toni nodded. "It's terrible to feel like you've failed someone you love." And God help her, she was going to fail Sabrina if she didn't get her out of this place. "We want to get you back home."
"I'm trying to get better. I'm having delusions."
"You're not delusional," Toni insisted.
"I have to admit it if I'm going to get better. That's what my therapist says. Anyway, lots of people here are delusional." Bri smiled. "Even some of the guards. Last night, they said there was a giant black cat running around the courtyard."
Toni glanced at Carlos, but his face remained blank.
Bri took a purple crayon from the bin. "I have to color Jasmine's hair purple. They took all the black crayons away 'cause they were too depressing."
Toni stifled an urge to scream. How could anyone stay at this place and not get depressed? "Bri, I did what you asked. I went to Central Park to see if any vampires would come and attack me."
Bri shook her head while she colored. "Vampires aren't real."
"You're right," Carlos said quickly, then gave Toni a pointed look when she started to interrupt. "You should tell your uncle that you made a mistake. You were simply traumatized by the attack. But you're all better now, and he should let you out of here."
Toni knew that strategy wouldn't work. Bri would need her uncle's okay in order to be released, and he would never give it.
Bri dropped the purple crayon back into the bin. "Uncle Joe wants me to stay here until they get the right combination of meds for me. It might take a few weeks."
Or forever, Toni thought wryly. As long as Uncle Joe was in charge of Bri's future, she would have none.
Toni had wanted to help Bri by proving the existence of vampires, but so far, she'd failed to come up with any proof. And now she doubted Uncle Joe would acknowledge any proof. It simply wasn't in his best interest to ever let Bri out of this hospital.