Obscurity

Chapter 72: Shock

Sierra

"I have Sierra Roberts here." Dr. Forester says as we reach the nurses station. The typical staff is not in the nurses station. It's currently occupied by several law enforcement officers and others who look like doctors. There are also agents in all black standing around perusing patient files.

One woman, a taller lady with striking blue eyes and pulled-back blond hair, acknowledges Dr. Forester and hands her a file. Dr. Forester looks to me and smiles.

"Right this way." She says as she leads me down the hallway to the counseling room. Two of the black-clad people follow behind, including the tall blond woman.

We enter the counseling room, and I take a seat in my normal position opposite the doctor's desk. The two black-clad individuals stand like sentries near the closed door as Dr. Forester takes a seat behind the desk. The blond woman sits next to me and offers her hand.

"I'm Agent Owens." She smiles and I shake her hand.

"Agent?" I ask quizzically.

"Yes, with the F.B.I." she says.

"Wow, the F.B.I.?" I say astonished.

She nods, and we direct our attention to Dr. Forester.

"I'm sure this is all very confusing for you Miss Roberts." She begins.

"It's just Sierra." I correct her.

"Sierra." She says as confirmation she understands I don't want all the formality.

"Yeah, it is confusing. What is going on here?" I ask.

"Let me start from the beginning. I'll explain what's going on and then I would like to get some information from you." She says.

"Information?"

"Yes. We have been investigating and building a case against this institution for quite some time now, and judging by your files that we've reviewed, it appears that you should have been released months ago, Sierra." She explains.

My eyes go wide, and I look at agent Owens and then back over to the doctor. "What?" I say more out of shock than out of not understanding what she's said.

"Why would they keep me here when I didn't need to be here?" I ask.

"We're still working out the motives of the staff and administration. Right now, we'd like to collect information about the goings on in this place firsthand from all of the patients to see if we can glean any answers to that question." Dr. Forester says.

I nod. This is all so incredibly nuts. I cannot wrap my head around the fact that just hours ago I was strapped to that electro-therapy table and now I'm sitting here talking with these women about the misdeeds and issues going on in this facility.

"We know it's a lot to take in Sierra. But if we could go over a few questions with you, it would be a great help." Agent Owens chimes in from beside me.

"Sure."

"Are there any doctors on this floor you're afraid of?" Dr. Forester asks, jumping right into the information gathering.

"Dr. Summers is a piece of work, but Dr. Kavanangh is not any better. I like Dr. Fry. She's my doctor." I say.

"What do you mean when you say Summers is a piece of work?"

"He over prescribes medications and it's almost like he tries to make us all comatose." I add. "I mean, a lot of the doctors here are like that."

She writes some of my comments down and I look over to agent Owens.

"Where's Michelle?"

"Um, I..." Owens stammers.

"Can we focus on the questions at hand first, Sierra?" Dr. Forester interrupts.

"No. We can't." I say defiantly."I've been trying to find her for days. That's what landed me in Secondary. I want to know where she is. Did she get released? Sent home?" I ask.

The doctor and the agent exchange a worried glance, and I can't help but wonder what they know.

"Well?" I say a little louder than I probably need to.

"Sierra, Michelle isn't with us any longer." Agent Owens says sadly.

"Oh, good. I was really hoping she got released. What a relief." I say.

"I don't think you're understanding this correctly, Sierra. Michelle has passed away." Dr. Forester says.

"What? NO!" I shout. I jump up from my chair, and it falls backward hitting the wall. I pace in the small space in front of my seat and the desk.

"How?" I ask through tears.

The two women exchange another glance and I smack my hand on the desk.

"Stop it! Just tell me." I say, my voice commanding the space.

Dr. Forester speaks up first.

"It appears, from the reports, that Abigail had something to do with it. That's all I can really say, Sierra. I'm sorry." She says.

I stand there in shock. I look at the women.

"There's no way." I say.

"We'll look into it." Agent Owens tries to reassure me.

"You better look into Chris. If anyone got hurt on this unit, he would be responsible." I say trying to bite back tears.

"Can I see Alma?" I ask.

"As soon as we finish here, I'm sure we can arrange that." Dr. Forester says.

I sit back down in my chair, and she begins to ask questions.

"Can you tell me how many times approximately you've been put in Secondary?" Dr. Forester asks.

"I can't remember." I say.

"How about Solitary?"

"A few. You can probably check the files. I'm sure all the instances are listed in my file." I offer.

"We have checked. The problem is that we found you today in Secondary. Your file did not list you as being in Secondary." She says.

"So he probably forgot to write in my transfer." I say.

"Or he wasn't planning on listing your being off the unit." Agent Owens chimes in.

I shrug. This is all getting irritating.

"Listen, Dr. I realize you're trying to piece everything together and make sense of everything going on in here. I get it. But to be honest, I don't know what it is that you want me to say. Yes, things have been done improperly here. Yes, there are staff that abuse and overstep on this unit. I don't know what you want me to say. I want to get out of this room and see if my friend is okay." My impatience evident in my tone.

Dr. Forester nods. "I understand, Sierra." She looks over to agent Owens. "Could you please find out where Alma is so we can reunite Sierra with her friend?"

Agent Owens stands up and nods. She turns and leaves the room with the two black-clad agents in tow.

Dr. Forester looks back to me, "Sierra, I believe you are going to be getting released today when we conclude your debriefing." She says.

My jaw falls open. "What?"

"You heard me correctly. Your release is long overdue."

It seems today that the shocks just keep coming.

"Do you have anyone you'd like me to call for you?" She asks.