Jane stayed still. The person opened the door, stepped in, and let it close. Jane heard squeaky footsteps on the polished floor as the person stepped to Christine's bed. The person moved the rheostat on the wall up so the lights began to glow dimly. It was a woman's voice. "Christina," she said loudly. "Christina, are you asleep?" She waited a few seconds, there was a rustling sound, and then the woman set something on the table by the door and then went out again.
Jane listened while the woman locked the door. When Jane heard the elevator move again, she came out of the bathroom and looked at what the nurse had left on the table. It was a small tray with a pitcher of water, a plastic cup, and a small cup containing four colored pills. Since Christine hadn't been able to take her medicine, maybe the nurse would return soon.
Jane searched the area around the bed for a telephone or intercom, then for a button to summon the nurse. If there had ever been anything like that, it had been removed. Jane went to the window to see what was visible on this side of the building.
"What are you doing?"
Jane spun and looked down. Christine's eyes were open, gleaming with reflected light from the window.
Jane stepped closer. "I'm glad to see you're alive. They told me at first you were dead."
Christine seemed to be trying to sit up, but she was too groggy. She raised her head. "Jane?"
Jane touched Christine's arm. "I'm here. I told you I'd do whatever it took. Talk to me. Try to wake up."
She blinked, tried to raise herself. Jane lifted her to a sitting position. "Sybil shot me." She started to say something else, but she couldn't keep from crying.
"Your baby was born, wasn't it?" Jane said. "Is it here?"
"He's still in San Diego with Richard's family. They took him away." She sobbed. "His name is Robert. He's beautiful."
"Okay. We have to get you out of here. Can you walk?"
"Yes. Not at first, but now I can. They've been keeping me pretty doped up with painkillers and things, but there's nothing wrong with my legs. I just feel so tired all the time."
"Drugs are a good way to keep you from running to the police, but they can't be expecting to keep you in this place forever."
"It's a clinica mujer. A woman's clinic. The doctor who delivered Robert, and saved 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.