Straightjacket by Meredith Towbin Page B

behind her and ran out.
    No one else had seen what had gone on between them. He wouldn’t have cared if anyone had noticed. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought, except her. He wasn’t thinking about his mission now.
    She hates me. The words kept looping through his head.
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    The voice startled Anna so badly that her whole body jerked, forcing a stifled whine out of the springs in the mattress.
    “It’s time for your appointment,” one of the attendants said.
    She’d been lying on her side in bed with her legs curled up toward her stomach, her cheek resting on her damp pillow. She’d been thinking for a while, interrupted only by a couple of crying fits. Her thoughts had been muddled, skipping from one thing to another. She had no control over where her mind wandered—first to her parents, then to Caleb, then to the hospital, and back and forth again and again. Although she had no desire to go to her therapy session, she was relieved that maybe she’d stop thinking for a little while during the walk over there.
    She pushed herself up and off the bed, surprised by how heavy she felt. The attendant walked out of the room, and Anna followed as she tucked the hair that had escaped from her ponytail back behind her ears. She was led down the hallway to the double doors. She tried to peer through the thin rectangles of glass in each of them, but she couldn’t make out much. The attendant slid his card through the black box on the wall. The locks clicked and the doors swung open. A small gust of air rushed at her, but instead of feeling cold from it, she breathed it in and noticed it didn’t smell like the mingling of Clorox and food she had become so used to.
    “This way,” she was told, and the attendant waited for her to come to his side before he walked through the doors. He stood close to her as they walked, most likely so that he could grab her arm if she tried to bolt. As if she had anywhere to go.
    They walked over to the elevator and the attendant pushed the up button. It hadn’t even occurred to her that Dr. Blackwell’s office might be on a different floor. Instantly, she felt a rush of adrenaline surge through her. Her blood pulsated through her neck and arms and fingers with every beat of her heart as she waited for the elevator doors to open. Then her hands felt wet and cold, and she could have sworn she was two seconds away from passing out. Just then the doors slid open and she froze. The attendant started to walk in, but when Anna didn’t move, he stopped with one foot on the floor of the elevator and one on the floor near her, holding the doors open with his hand.
    “Come on.” He was clearly annoyed.
    “Can’t—can’t we take the stairs?”
    He looked at her like she was planning some great escape. “No, we can’t. Get in.” He took her by the arm and pulled her inside.
    She stumbled in, tripping over herself, but the attendant kept her on her feet with his firm grip on her forearm. He pushed the 3 button and the doors slid closed.
    Each and every vein was flooded with horror.
    She stood petrified, dazed.
    The only part of her that wasn’t frozen was her heart with its violent banging against the bones in her chest. Even her eyes were frozen, fixated on the crack between the doors to see if they were still rising. Were they even moving? They might be stuck. Right now. Trapped, with no way to escape, nowhere to go, just six square feet making up the whole world.
    I’ll make myself move . I’ll get over to those doors and pry them open with my bare hands if it happens .
    But she couldn’t do anything except stare at the crack between the doors.
    She was going to lose her mind. It would happen any second.
    If she couldn’t get out of this steel coffin, if she couldn’t breathe some fresh air—
    Ding! The doors slid open. She tried to rush out, but the attendant gave her a tug backward.
    “Just a minute,” he said. “Take it easy.” He led her out and