The Heart of Wonderland

Chapter 12

Alison threw off her blankets and rushed to take a shower and get dressed. For the first time in days, it mattered what she looked like. She had to see Dr. Gupta right away—if she avoided any mention of Wonderland, maybe she could convince the doctor that she was well. Which meant she could get out of the hospital and go back home, where she hoped her father had left other clues for her to find.

In the hallway outside her room, Alison glanced toward the nurse's station. She wondered if one of the hospital staff would buzz her through the locked doors that separated the psych ward from the rest of the hospital if she explained that she was on her way to see the doctor. But it was a moot point—there was no one there.

She bit her lip and wondered what to do next. She was anxious to try to talk her way out of the hospital sooner rather than later, and she didn't want to waste time tracking down a sympathetic nurse. As Alison shifted her weight from foot to foot, a middle-aged woman in street clothes came out of another room down the hall and made her way toward the exit.

"Are you waiting for someone, dear?" the woman asked.

"Um, yes." Alison thought quickly. "My mom is still visiting with my sister, but I wanted to leave. She said I could wait out here."

"I'm sorry to hear that your sister is having a hard time. I was just visiting my own daughter." She swiped a visitor's pass against the card reader next to the door and it unlocked with a click. She glanced back at Alison. "Best of luck to your family."

"Wait!" Alison grabbed the door before it could close behind the woman. "I'll just wait out here. It gets kind of depressing in there, you know?"

The woman gave Alison a sad nod of understanding and walked away. Alison waited until the woman was out of sight, then made her way through the maze of corridors to the elevators that would take her up to Dr. Gupta's office. She reached out to press the call button, then paused to glance over her shoulder, distracted by voices approaching from behind her. When she realized who was speaking, her hand dropped and she took a surprised step back.

Alison hadn't expected to see a familiar face, but it was the woman who'd commented on her earrings at the funeral. She was deep in conversation with a middle-aged man who bore a striking resemblance to her. In fact, they seemed to be arguing about something.

When the adults stopped a few steps away from her, Alison pressed her back against the wall beside the elevator and bit her lip uncertainly. She didn't want them to think she was eavesdropping, but she was hesitant to interrupt.

"Mother, you need to give up this ridiculous obsession with Wonderland," the man said. "Mal-Chin has always been rebellious, and his behavior only got worse after his mother disappeared. He's in a coma, not trapped in some other world."

"Perhaps you are right about his behavior," Mrs. Kim replied, "but how can you ignore the possibility of a connection to Wonderland?"

Alison's heart pounded as she listened. They knew something about Wonderland! She stood as still as possible, hardly daring to breathe. She was desperate for them to keep talking and reveal more.

"Wonderland is part of our family history," Mrs. Kim continued. "If you had only encouraged Maddox's interest—"

"Encouraged it? His interest in Wonderland is what put him in the hospital!" The man's voice rose, and Alison instinctively shrank away, trying to make herself smaller. The man glanced at her and, realizing he had an audience, lowered his voice. "What Maddox needs now is the best medical treatment money can buy, not fairy tales and outdated family traditions."