Runner

me, is a surgeon. He owns this place. Sybil and Claudia told me he's got big connections. There's a red-light district, all whorehouses and strip clubs. That's where the head nurse said I'm going.'

'She sounds like a real delight.'

'She is. But I know it's real. The nurse who takes care of me told me the doctor does a lot of work for the prostitutes. They have to get checked for STDs once a month, and there are a lot of breast and butt implants, tummy tucks, abortions.'

'Don't even think about that. Try to wake up.'

'She said that after he's done some surgery to hide the bullet scars and maybe some breast implants I was going to one of the houses. She said if I was good I'd get to stay there.'

'If you were good?'

'She said there were places that I wouldn't like as much. And they're a lot farther from the border and harder to find, and there aren't any rules.'

'We've got to get you out of here. You said you could walk. Do you think you could run if you had to?'

'Some. Not fast.'

'Are the drugs wearing off now?'

'When the nurse came in I was already faking a little bit. I've been trying to get off the painkillers and sleeping pills, cutting down whenever I can. About half the time I palm them and flush them later.'

'Great. Have you checked the possible ways out of the building?'

'They've wheeled me down to the examining rooms a few times, and I've looked. There's always a guard downstairs in the lobby. He has a gun, and there's another guy who kind of wanders. The windows in here don't open, but they seem to everywhere else. I think the only way out of this room is when the nurse comes with my pills.'

'When will that be?'

'I didn't take them yet, so she'll keep coming until I do.'

'All right. I've got a car—a blue Ford SUV—parked just around the block from here. The trick is to get from here to that. I saw the guard downstairs. You said there was a second guard somewhere. Do you know where his post is?'

'I don't think he has one. He seems to go on rounds like a night watchman. I've seen him look in to be sure I was here, or come in to lift something for the nurses. He has a uniform like a cop, and a gun in a holster. The other guy is always at the desk, even late at night. I don't know how often they change shifts or anything like that.'

'Are there other women here who are being held?'

'Not that I know of. Since I've been here I've been the only one on this floor. But there are three or four other rooms, and they all have locks on the doors.'

They both heard the elevator arrive again and the doors open. Jane said, 'I've got to be out of sight. Your job is to not swallow any medicine.' She stepped into the bathroom and behind the shower curtain.

They both heard the key in the lock. Christine pretended to be asleep. The door opened, the same nurse came in.

The nurse turned and looked behind her, but nobody was there. The nurse seemed to have a jumpy late-night sensation that there was movement somewhere beyond the corner of her eye. She shook her head and stepped to Christine's bed. 'Christina,' she said. 'Wake up.' She shook Christine gently, got no response, and then clutched Christine's left shoulder near the bullet wound.

Christine jumped and opened her eyes. 'Ow! Are you trying to hurt me?'

'I'm trying to wake you. Take your medicine.' She went to the table, poured water into the plastic cup and held it out to Christine. Then she held out the cup of pills.

'All right,' said Christine. 'You can go. I can take these by now without you.'

'No you can't. I won't let you. I have to be sure you get everything you're supposed to.' She folded her arms and stared at Christine.

Christine took the pills in her hand, brought her hand to her mouth, and gulped water, then held the cup out to the nurse.

The nurse seemed to reach for the cup, but then changed the direction of her movement and snatched Christine's other hand, twisted it hard, and held it.

Christine said, 'Ow! What are you doing? Are you crazy?'

The nurse pried Christine's fingers open and revealed the pills. She gave a smirk. 'I don't seem to be crazy.'

'I don't need all those pills anymore. I'm not in that much pain.'

The nurse smiled. 'Good. I'll tell the doctor that you're just about ready for your bed in the whorehouse.'

'You're disgusting.'

The nurse slapped her once, then turned away from her, a small smile forming on her lips, until she saw a woman standing behind her. She jerked, then took a step backward. 'You don't belong here. Get out.'

'Nobody belongs here,' said Jane. 'Christine, it's got to be now.'

Christine got out of the bed and stood unsteadily a few feet off.

Jane refilled Christine's cup from the water pitcher and said to the nurse, 'Now take the pills.' Jane opened her jacket to show her the handgrips of the gun protruding from her belt.

The nurse put the pills into her mouth, lifted the cup, then hesitated. Jane glared at her, and she swallowed. Jane grasped both her wrists and made her open her hands. 'Now I need your uniform. Take it off and lie on the bed.'

The nurse said, 'What if I scream?'

'You'll only live to do it once. No second breath.'

The nurse looked into Jane's eyes, then stepped out of the light blue scrubs she was wearing and lay on the bed. Jane opened a drawer of the bedside stand and took out some adhesive tape. She raised the sides of the bed and taped the nurse's wrists to the two sides. Then she took out some cotton pads from the drawer and stuffed them into the nurse's mouth and taped it.

Jane helped Christine put on the scrubs, and then pulled off the nurse's sneakers and gave them to Christine. Jane watched Christine sit in the chair, then put them on and stand up, and it made her worry. She seemed weak and tottering on her feet. 'This might not be easy,' Jane said. 'I'm sorry, but you'll have to do the best you can.'

'Just get me out of here.'

The nurse was not able to speak, but she was watching them intently. Jane took the gun out of her pocket and held it up where she could see it. 'Don't make noise for one hour.'

The nurse nodded and turned her face away.

Jane stepped to the rheostat and turned off the light, covered the nurse with the sheet, and took Christine to the door. She looked out the small window into the corridor to be sure it was clear, then pulled Christine out, closed the door and locked it. She thought about hanging the key on the nail so things would look exactly as they had. Instead, she broke the key off in the lock, then took the house key from the ring for her SUV, put it on the ring for the room key, and hung it on the nail.

She led Christine along the hall. Then she heard the elevator move again. Someone must have pushed the button on a lower floor, and now the elevator was going down to them. Jane pulled Christine into the stairwell and closed the door. She helped her down the stairs to the third floor, but she heard the sound of the elevator doors again. Someone had arrived on the third floor. Jane opened the door just a crack so she could see the elevator.

The doors opened and another nurse came out, this one younger. The rooms were all arranged around the outer walls, with a nursing station in the center of the floor. The nurse walked down the corridor to the nursing station and sat down behind the counter with another young nurse who seemed to be doing some kind of paperwork.

Jane closed the door the rest of the way and leaned close to Christine. She whispered, 'There's a patient's room on this floor that's right next to the roof of the pharmacy next door. That's the way out, but now there are nurses. They weren't here before.'

Christine whispered, 'It was after two-thirty when we left my room. I don't know why they'd show up now.