FicWad

As Kay Beddoe approached Gerard’s cell with a small tray of food, she noticed that he had his face pressed up against the small window in the door. When he saw her, he stood back; a deep frown set on his face. Checking that he was far enough from the door, she turned the key in the lock and stepped inside. Gerard eyed her with uncertainty edged with deep mistrust.

“How many patients do you have here?” he asked without turning his gaze.
“Excuse me?”
“How many patients?” he repeated. “How many doctors or nurses for that matter? I haven’t seen any, I haven’t heard any. Not one!”
Kay placed the tray on the table and turned to face him, positioning herself between Gerard and the door.
“Of course you haven’t seen another nurse, I’m your nurse.”
Gerard shook his head. “Not a single person has walked along this corridor. No, this isn’t right.”
“This wing isn’t used so much,” Kay tried to say something plausible, “the drink or drugs cases are handled on another floor. Your case is different.”
“How?” he asked unconvinced by the explanation.
Kay tilted her head. “Psychiatric problems aren’t all that common here.”
“I don’t have any psychiatric problems,” Gerard insisted.
“Is that why you beat your brother to a pulp?”
“No!” Gerard shouted in return. “I didn’t do that!”
“You don’t even remember!”
“I would remember if it happened! I… I remember… a fight, but not… it was…”
Gerard put his hand to his head as flashes of memory returned to him. More than anything the disjointed pictures told him, he remembered the intense fear he felt as his arms were seized the night of what he now realised was his kidnapping.
“I was…” he began as he looked up once more.

Kay’s eyes widened as she realised that he had started to recall the events from the previous night and she stepped back suddenly towards the door. Alarm bells sounded in Gerard’s head and it was the final trigger needed for all the all the memories to come flooding back. He ran toward the door determined to escape. Kay grabbed his arms as he tried to push past and used all her strength to swing him back towards the bed. Skidding to the floor, Gerard scrambled to his feet again and ran for the door once more as Kay, pressed an alert on her pager. Noticing, Gerard doubled his efforts; he had to get out before the man arrived. On her own, he figured that Kay didn’t present much of a problem to his escape, but the two together could prove difficult. Shoving her aside as he bolted for the door, Gerard glanced left and right trying to work out his best route for escape. Deciding to head to the left, he ran at a furious pace, finding a staircase and launching himself down, missing several steps along the way. Glancing quickly around, Gerard realised that this was an old dilapidated hospital and his room and corridor had been given a fresh coat of paint to give the impression of a working rehab centre. For a while, until his memory returned, it had been very convincing. But now, he stood at the foot of the stairs wishing for an obvious route out of the building. There were three corridors to choose from, but the time to decide was snatched away as he heard footsteps behind him. Heading for the centre corridor, Gerard ran as hard as he could. He could feel the sweat running down his back as he was beset by panic – lost in an obviously dangerously rundown building, he searched desperately for the exit.

“Gerard!” a man’s voice yelled.

Gerard snapped his head to the left; only yards away, Marty stood, his eyes narrowed, his gun fixed firmly on the young singer. Gerard’s shoulders sagged; there was nowhere to run.