Obscurity

Chapter 55: Two Strikes

Alma

"How did you get it in here?"

"I didn't get anything in here!" Spencer adamantly denies having a phone.

"I heard it, Spencer!"

"You didn't hear anything. I'm starting to think you're going crazy in here."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"I'm not crazy, and I know I heard a phone vibrating. I know it." I say through clenched teeth.

"You're imagining things." He says dismissively waving a hand in the air.

"Bullshit, Spencer."

"Believe what you want. There's no phone." He says, arms crossed. "You can get out of my room now."

My nostrils flare and I glare at him.

"Now." He says with a low growl, his eyes narrowed at me.

"You were never this evasive and cold, Spencer." I try reasoning with him.

"You were never this paranoid giving into assumptions and crazy theories." He scoffs.

I shake my head. How dare he accuse me of being any other than of sound mind?

"I can't believe—"

"Alma Weaver! Get your ass out of this room now." Chris bellows from behind me. He's in the hallway, and I'm standing a couple of paces inside Spencer and Nick's room. I turn to leave the room and Chris grabs my upper arm with a vice-like grip.

"Let me go." I demand.

"You will accompany me to my office." He snarls.

"Let me go."

"My office, NOW!" He shouts. His booming voice startles me into moving my feet and heading for his office.

He's following close behind me, and I stop at the door to his office when I reach it. I'm unsure of whether or not to enter or wait for him to open the door.

"Go inside." He calls after me as he catches up.

I enter the small room, and my anger at Spencer dissipates. It's replaced with dread, and I feel like I shrink down a couple of inches when I let out a breath and deflate. This isn't going to be good.

He follows me into the office and takes his usual seat behind the desk. He glares at me, not too unlike how I was glaring at Spencer just a few moments ago. I avert my eyes because I know I'm in the wrong, being in Spencer's room. I have no explanation for being in there. I'm certainly not going to tell him the real reason, anyway.

"May I ask what you were doing in Mr. Diaz's room, Alma?" His voice is level and he's not shouting.

"I was asking him a question." It's not a complete lie. It's a half-truth.

"What about?"

My mind races to come up with an explanation that isn't going to get anyone in trouble. Something he won't get too interested in or ask too many follow-up questions about. After a few quick moments, I think I've come up with a plausible answer.

"I wanted to know what was going on between him and Sierra."

"Huh?" Surprise washes over his face.

"Yeah. They've been quite close recently, and I know it's stupid, but I was feeling jealous and wanted to know what the dynamic of their relationship is." I feign embarrassment to reinforce my lie. I stare down at the floor and will my cheeks to flush.

"Ah. I see." He says, a grin playing across his lips. He's shuffling papers randomly on his desk. He seems just as eager to leave this topic alone as I'd anticipated.

"I know it's stupid. I don't know what came over me." I admit. I figure if I tell him what I think he'd want to hear, I'll be better off.

"Is that why he was insisting you leave his room?"

I nod.

"Okay. Well," he clears his throat, "Patients are not allowed to have romantic relationships on this unit, Alma." He explains.

I simply nod, not taking my eyes off the floor.

"Even if he and Sierra aren't interested in one another, you have to keep your feelings in check and remind yourself that it's against policy in this unit to engage in any romantic activity."

I fidget with my fingers and stare at my hands while explains the rules to me.

"It sounds like his feelings aren't quite the same as yours regarding this issue and so I'd advise you to keep your distance. I will have a talk with him when I'm done here with you. The two of you should work on avoiding each other. It seems like the best course of action as of right now." He struggles to find appropriate words to make his point but eventually he does.

I solemnly nod my head and keep staring at my hands. Maybe it would be best for him to do the talking. I don't want to say the wrong thing and make him mad. He seems satisfied with my excuse for being in Spencer's room. I think he's even getting a little kick out of my mock embarrassment.

"I'm writing you up for being in a male's bedroom." He finally says.

My eyes go wide. "Seriously?"

"Yes. Rules are rules." He offers as if that little stupid phrase would ease the tension building up in my chest.

"So, then what?" I ask apprehensively.

"Another write up, and you're going to be placed in Solitary." He explains nonchalantly as he fills out a paper.

My heart is beating inside my chest faster than a piston in a running engine. "You can't be serious." I say to him. I search his face for any hint of amusement. My brain is automatically assuming he's lying. Maybe he's trying to get a rise out of me. After two write-ups, you get thrown in Solitary? That can't be right. Two chances before you get punished for behavior issues? It doesn't sound right.

When he finishes scribbling on the paper, he looks up at me. Evidently the confusion clouding my mind is showing on my face as well because takes the opportunity to further enlighten me to the situation I am finding myself in.

"You have two strikes against you as we speak. One from the day you screamed at me and saw your first taste of Secondary. And now, this one from being in a room you're prohibited from entering. One more write-up and you're going to have to face consequences, Alma. I cannot afford for the other patients to get the idea that you're being treated differently from them. That you are not expected to follow the same rules that are set for everyone." He raises an eyebrow when I do not immediately respond.

"You have to control your actions a little better. You cannot get in any more trouble here. You're at two strikes. Three and you're out."

My mouth hands open in disbelief. I'm at a loss for words. I'm grateful I'm not currently on my way to Solitary for this infraction but I'm simultaneously pissed off because I cannot believe he wrote me up the day he dragged me to Secondary. If anything, HE should have been written-up for that extravaganza.

"Do you have any questions?"

"No."

"You're free to go." He says nodding toward the door.

I stand up and as I reach for the doorknob, he speaks up from behind me.

"Best behavior, Alma. I'll be watching. And keep your ass out of the male client's rooms." He grins as I leave the office.

Thanks for the warning, jackass. I stand in the hallway for a moment and decide I've had enough of this place. I don't want to be in the day room. I just want to sleep this terrible day away.

I walk to my room and when I reach it, I climb into my bed and slither down under the blanket and cover my head with my pillow.