“Right. You could have thought of that before you got annihilated. Now, the best thing you could do for anyone is to get sober and stay out of the way.” If I could throw a punch with the hope of it landing I would. Stay out of the way? I don’t need him to start doing something on my own. I’ll be there when Keir wakes up. He’ll have the information we need. Plus, he could use the support of a friend type person. I could put forth the effort anyway.
“Just so you know… I don’t answer to you. If I want to find Ed and you’re not going to help that’s on you. Don’t tell me to ‘stay out of the way’. Fuck off.” I flip him off as I walk away from his car towards the hospital. I might be over the legal limit to drive, but I’m not getting in a vehicle with that bastard.
2. LUKE/MATT
I could insist he gets in my rental SUV, but I’m tired of the struggle with him. He’s fucking stubborn. Instead, I follow at a distance to make sure he gets to the hospital in one piece. I had no idea how severe his addictions were. In the face of losing Eden, his answer was to get high and shitfaced. That would devastate her. It pisses me the fuck off. Not enough to give up on him… yet.
Once I see Blaine enter the hospital doors, I hightail it back to the Center. It’s been chaos for the last day and a half. Someone tipped off the media about the documentary, the disappearances (the lawncare worker, and now a resident and a graduate student), and a possible survivor of the Camp Carroll massacre being housed at the Center. We’ve been holding off national news outlets. Although we can keep them off the Center property, they’ve now staked out across the street on property that belongs to the county. It’s been a fiasco. The director has shifted his opinion on the attention, now relishing getting the Center noticed. In a weird turnabout Dr. Hart is apprehensive in continuing the documentary. I’m not sure if he’s worried about Belmont College axing him or if he gives a shit about his reputation.
“Sir, could you give us a statement?” one of the pushier journalists shouts my way when I climb out of my vehicle in the overflowing parking lot of the Center. “I’m with Dateline… would you be able to answer a couple of questions?” That catches the attention of a half dozen other film crews who start yelling my way. I shut them all out and continue towards the building.
I find everyone waiting on me in the Director’s office. Dr. Hart’s face is bright red and I catch the end of an argument with the director that seems to be a continuation of the previous one. “You deem it ethical to push on, when you were trying to put injunctions in place before to keep some of the survivors from the documentary? What’s the bottom line here?” Dr. Hart asks the director. I want to hear the answer to this.
Dr. Wallen leans forward to speak, but the director waves him off. “The documentary isn’t the cause of the problems as we see it. It’s the presence of the FBI and a possible murderer.” Dr. Wallen gives a startled look at me and my supervisor.
“What’s he referring to?” Dr. Wallen asks visibly paling.
This is where the bullshit artist that calls himself my boss excels. “He doesn’t know what he’s referring to because it’s merely gossip. Mr. Hutton has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the massacre. He’s a victim, not a suspect.” Gary puffs his chest out and gestures with his chin towards the director. “It seems like we’ve found the person who leaked the stories to the press.”
Sputtering the director speaks up, “Absolutely not. I resent the allegation that I’d do such a thing. In fact, I wouldn’t put it past HBO. It gives their documentary more visibility.” Gary snickers at him. Dr. Wallen shakes his head no.
“We’re not getting anywhere by pointing fingers here,” I say trying to get us back on track. I’m not a fan of the director, but I respect the other doctors I’ve met that work at the Center. Wallen genuinely appears to have the best interest of the survivors at heart. “I suggest that the Center restricts visitors, we go back over the staff backgrounds, and you house the graduate students elsewhere for the remainder of the study.”
The grumbling in the room intensifies as everyone argues about how to proceed.
“Belmont will never go for that,” Dr. Hart weighs in.
“We had you do a criminal history check on the staff already,” the pompous director says.
“Yes, no visitors for now,” Dr. Wallen agrees at least in part.
“What’s being done about Ms. Davis and the missing survivor?” Dr. Hart turns to my boss and implores, “I’m responsible for the safety of my students. I want to know what the FBI is doing.”
“I can reassure you that we’ve got a team of people investigating this. Local authorities have their resources looking into it, also. Mr. Marcus could be extremely instrumental in all of this. We have agents stationed at the hospital to speak to him as soon as he’s able.” Gary goes over the ways the FBI is working on the situation, but I know the truth. We are at a loss. Rick was quick in saying that he felt Caleb was responsible for all of it. I couldn’t disagree more. Socially awkward, and somewhat naïve, but he’s not a danger to anyone.
Dr. Wallen, Dr. Hart, and my boss leave. Alone with the director, I decide to ask him about his hiring practices. “You didn’t hire anyone after we combed through your employees last May, right?” So help me God, if he overlooked the protocols the FBI handed down to him, I’m going to lose my temper.
“Of course not. That’s made things even more tough on the Center. We’ve lost half a dozen employees over the things being whispered about around here. People going missing, rumored druggings, and then the pressure of filming a documentary.” He sighs and removes his glasses to rub at his beady little eyes. “It’s even scared off a few residents in the last couple of weeks.”
“I can appreciate the inconveniences to the Center, but it was all outlined with you prior to taking in Hutton. You were supposed to educate your staff about safe practices while he’s here. What about the residents? Anyone that wasn’t investigated by the FBI, that joined the Wellness Center after we checked on them?”
The director shuffled through some files in his desk and pulled a couple of sheets out. “We had a few last-minute survivors that came in the week before Hutton arrived. Their names were sent to the FBI to check into. He shoves a sheet of paper my way with the names Clarence Reilly, Ilyana Vait, Tempest Michaels, and Shawn Bailess.
“Did you get confirmation that they received these names to look into?” I’m trying to reign my anger in. One of these people could be the source of all our problems.
“Yes, I did,” he says arrogantly. “Don’t try to make this a Center issue. This lies squarely on you. All of you.” He gestures wildly with his arms. “The FBI didn’t take the proper precautions, but of course none of you will take that accountability.”
Channeling my professional side, when I feel utter contempt towards this man who wants to deflect any blame, I lean back and nod at him. “You’re right. We weren’t prepared for the things that have happened. We won’t be making that mistake again.”
All the pent up frustration, worry, and devastation over Eden missing has me feeling wired. I’m almost shaking when I make my way to Hutton’s room to speak to Rick. Twice staff members go to smile my way, but turn away in fear instead. My hand brushes the sheet with the names the director gave me that sits in my pocket. It doesn’t matter if he says they were looked into. I’ll be meeting with each one.
“That was quick,” Rick remarks pocketing his phone as I key into Hutton’s room. “Did you get anywhere with them?”
Hutton is doing pull ups on the top of the bathroom doorway and I know he’s listening in. He always is. “We’ll see.” I toss the keycard onto the dresser by the television. “Since Hutton is clear of his charges, you’re on your own with his detail again.”
Hutton’s head whips my way, while he eases himself to the floor. Rick scratches at his cheek and reddens. “You’re quitting? I thought we had an understanding.”
“We did.” I lean against the wall and do my best to ignore the extra set of ears in the room. “I’m not quitting. I talked to Gary, and he’s reassigned me to another case.”
