Room 303

Chapter 25

                                    Stella

  "What the hell are you doing here?!" She asked Patrick who was standing around a bunch of scattered papers on the floor.
  "You scared me, didn't they teach you not to sneak up on people?" Said Patrick as he bent down to rummage the papers he dropped.
  "Don't stand up there looking at me, come and help me before anyone gets here!"
  Stella moved hastily and bent down next to him to gather the papers. "What are these papers?"

  "I was searching for something that could help us. I knew doctor
  Steven was on tour with the inspectors, so I decided to come and look around while he's away."
  "That is a terrible idea! I think he is on his way here now. They cut the tour short."
  "Why would they do that?"
  "I don't know. They must have gotten satisfied, or something must have come up. Either way we need to hurry and get the hell out of here."
  "I found something."
  "What is it?"

  "The results from Rachel's ECT session aren't the same as the ones he got when he performed it."
  "How does this help us?"
  "He tampered with it. He wants to show that he's following standard procedures when someone comes to inspect the results.

Everything will appear normal and his dirty work will be hidden with no official track to it. He shouldn't have performed the intense ECT on Rachel. This is forbidden, but either way he did. I thought that the results will sell him out once somebody reads and connects them to previous ones, but I was wrong. According to this, everything is going smoothly and Rachel is progressing slowly. This buys him more time to get what he wants."

  "How are we going to prove this now?"
  "That is exactly the problem. We need to find the original documents."
  "And where will we find them?"
  "I know exactly where to look. You just need to cover up for me."
  "I will if I know what you are up to."
  "We have to leave now. I'll tell you everything later I promise."
  "Fine, let me clear the way."
  Patrick puts back the papers in the cabinet and shuts it slowly.
  Stella opens the door and inspects.
  "It is clear. We can leave now."
  They both snuck out into the corridor.
  "Why did you come to the office?" Asked Patrick.

  "I was passing by and saw the door ajar. I heard a noise, and knowing that doctor Steven and Maria are on the other side of the asylum, I wondered who could be inside, and then I saw you."
  "That was a close call."
  "Yeah it was."

  Stella passed by Rachel's room. She looked through the glass and found Rachel lying down on her left side. Her body was shaking.
She couldn't get inside even if she wanted to because Maria has the key to the room. Stella and Patrick had access to all the rooms on the third floor except for Rachel's. When she asked Maria about the matter, she dismissed the subject immediately saying that Rachel was a special case. Stella might have failed her mother and Andrew, but she wasn't going to fail Rachel. Time was running out, and she had to work fast if she needed to save her.

  Doctor Steven had wrapped up the tour with the inspectors. Stella was caught in her track as she was about to leave the floor.
  "Stella?"
  "Yes?"
  "Can you please get me some headache pills and a cup of coffee? I don't know where Maria had gone." said doctor Steven.
  "Sure thing."

  Stella rushed to the kitchen to prepare the coffee for him. Her patience was running as the water was boiling. She felt the blood rush and boil in her veins. That was it. This was her chance. She crushed some sleeping pills and mixed the powder with the coffee. She had to make a detour to her room on the way to the kitchen. The sleeping pills helped her sleep at times when she was insomniac. She poured the coffee in a cup. She was sweating and scared. If she got caught, then it will be the end of everything. What if he suspected that there was something in his drink? What if it tasted different? It was a risk she had to take. She held the tray in her shaky hands and placed it back on the table, took a deep breath, shut her eyes to focus, and forced herself to channel her anxiety away. She had to keep her composure if she needed to nail this. She lifted the tray. Good, the trembling had gone away.

  Doctor Steven was lying down on the sofa with both his hands massaging his temples, and his legs stretched out on the other end.
  "There you go."
  "Thank you Stella."
  He sat up straight and held the cup with his left hand, and used the spoon to stir the content with his right.
  "Did you put me some sugar?"
  "No I didn't. Do you want some?" She asked. She wanted out of this room as soon as possible. She couldn't bare the idea of getting caught. If she leaves now, she would be able to make a long run before she gets caught, or at least that was what she thought.

  "No, I don't drink my coffee with sugar."
She swallowed hard, her mouth dry and her hands trembling. She hid them behind her back to avoid suspicion.
  "If you'll excuse me, I have some work to do."
  She turned around and made it to the door trying to contain her poise as he lifted the cup to his mouth and took a sip.
  "Stella?"
  She stood her ground unsure what to do next. Tears suddenly fill her eyes. "Yes doctor?" She replied while still facing the door.
  "Thank you for the coffee."
  A tear ran down each side of her cheeks as she shut her eyes in relief.
  "No problem."

  Few minutes later, doctor Steven was in a deep asleep. Stella went back into the room. She moved closer to him and inspected his breathing. He's breathing heavily. Good.
  "Doctor Steven? Are you awake? Doctor Steven?" She called but he was sound asleep. She slowly reached out to his right pocket. Her face sweating and her hands shaking. She slipped her hand into his right pocket. He nudged a bit. She froze and was about to panic when she remembered what her foster mother used to tell her when she taught her something new that scared her off, "Just close your eyes, take a deep breath, and everything will work fine." Those were her exact words. Stella closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and pushed her hand deeper into the pocket. Her cold fingers brushed the edges of the keys. She felt their cold texture even though her finger tips were freezing.

  Mission accomplished.
  She rushed down the corridor swiping left and right the runny tears from her cheeks. She had no idea if they were tears of relief or fear. She could have gotten caught, but she got away with it.

  Knock, knock, knock
  "Patrick are you in there? Open the door."
  Knock, knock, knock.
  "Are you alright?" Asked a frantic Patrick as he opened the door to his bedroom.
  "I did it, I drugged him and got you the keys. You need to act fast, you need to act now before he wakes up and comes after me."
  "Slow down. Where is he now?"
  "It was the only way to get the keys from his pocket. He is in his office. Maria might be on her way now. You need to hurry!"
  "Stay out of sight for now, let me handle the rest okay?"

  "What are you going to do?"
  "I am going to his room. I need to search for the files. They have to be in there. Doctor Steven never lets anyone into his room, and if he does, it only has to be Maria. Besides, he never leaves his room open, so they must be in there."

  "What if he woke up and came after me?"
  "Just try to stay out of sight. There is no going back now. We have to face him. We have to finish what we started."