Room 303

Chapter 23

                                  Patrick

  The sky was clear blue and the birds were singing, a typical day which Andrew loved. Patrick winced at the idea. He already missed Andrew. He had to stay focused or else he would end up missing Rachel as well. He felt the smooth texture of a fallen leaf. The weather was changing and so were the seasons. Doctor Steven was making a round early in the morning. Patients were quiet at this time of the day. Maria, who always tagged along with doctor Steven, was staring at the sky. Even she might have noticed how beautiful the weather was.

  The site of Rachel sitting on the far end of a bench looking helpless made his heart sink. She must have aged about a decade from the day she arrived to the asylum. She looked tired, and black patches had left a deep mark beneath her eyes. Her figure seemed much smaller than before. Even though she was wearing a hospital gown, she still looked like she'd lost a lot of weight. Doctor Steven and Maria made it towards Rachel in a matter of seconds. Doctor Steven sat down next to her while Maria stood by his side. Patrick could not hear anything they were saying. He was standing on the other end of the garden, just far enough to see them clear, but not hear them. He could see Rachel feeling uneasy. They must be telling her something that was making her uncomfortable.

  Few seconds later, a nurse appeared with two guests. Doctor Steven jumped up on his feet and hurries to greet them leaving an agitated Rachel behind. Patrick was so eager to know what they were talking about. He wanted to help Rachel. He had to know what she had been told, but it wasn't the right time. Patrick had seen those guests before. They were health inspectors, which meant that they were there to inspect the asylum.

Good! Hopefully they might find this shitty place unfit and shut it down in no time.
  Patrick crossed his finger although he knew it deep down that doctor Steven was smart enough not to keep his dirt out in the open. Everything in the asylum looked normal, but sometimes normal things aren't used normally for the right purposes.

  The tour around the asylum was going to take some time, and with Maria always by doctor Steven's side, Patrick had enough time to search doctor Steven's office. He waited for the group to disappear into the ground floor before hurrying upstairs. He paced quickly towards the third floor with blood rushing through his veins. He was nervous. He had never done anything like that before. He knew that it could be the end of him if he got caught, but his urge to rescue Rachel and the other patients from doctor Steven was worth it. Everything he was doing was worth the risk.

  The door to the office was closed. He tried the door knob and the door creaked open slowly. He made sure the path was clear before slipping in and slowly shutting the door. He studied the environment in the office. Nothing was out of order, so it would be very easy to spot any change made to the office. He memorised the position of everything so as not to disturb the peace in the office. The shelves were tidied and the books were neatly aligned.
Did he know that the inspectors were coming?

  Everyone usually knew before an inspection. He had people who informed him before each visit. He would usually warn the staff members to be at their best behaviours, but this time he didn't. But from the looks of it, he must have been aware. Patrick ran his fingers through the books on the shelves. Nothing out of the order, just some medical textbooks. There were files in the bottom shelves. Nothing out of the usual. All were files that had to do with the asylum, and maintenance, etc. He tried the bureau's drawers. The first drawer was locked. He must be keeping something valuable there, but definitely not the files. It is too much of an obvious hiding place for secret files. The second drawer had a couple of irrelevant files and A4 papers. The third drawer was empty. Nothing at all. On one end of the room, there were pictures hung on the wall. On the far end of the room, was a waist high filing cabinet. On top of it hung a picture of the asylum with front view. The cabinet was alphabetised, A-Z. It contained information about the current patients. He looked thoroughly searching for Rachel's folder. It wasn't difficult to find it. The file contained information about Rachel, but nothing out of the usual. All of which they all knew. All the information in the file proved that Rachel was mentally ill. The incident at the hospital from where she was admitted, test results, ECT records, etc. One result caught his attention. The last ECT performed on Rachel. The values indicated were different than the ones were used during the procedure. The results were different. They had been tampered with. He was sure of it. He was in the room when the procedure was performed and witnessed everything. He saw doctor Steven write down the results, but these were different. These results were normal unlike the ones displayed in the ECT room.

  For a professional like doctor Steven, it was very easy to forge results, especially that he had no superior power to stop him. In there, he was free to do as he pleased. He was trusted blindly by who ever had employed him some decades back. He was the leader in there. He had authority over many things.

  Patrick searched one more time through the papers trying to find something of importance, but he failed. There was nothing out of the order. He knew the ECT results were false, but couldn't prove it. He held his phone and took pictures of the file. He needed evidence if he were to detain doctor Steven. Whatever he could find, even if it was of little importance now, could be of vital importance later on.

  "What do you think you're doing?"
  Patrick jumped backwards dropping the file from his hands. The papers scattered on the floor. It was then that it had occurred to him where to look. If he got out this mess, he would definitely find the files he had been searching for.