“But you don’t understand,” Sage said. “I just found out my sister was here. I thought she was dead and I came all this way and—”
Before she could finish, the door at the back of the waiting room opened and the brush-cut attendant returned with a thin man in a tweed sports coat. The attendant pointed at Sage and they started toward her, walking fast, the attendant with his hands in fists, the man’s face grave. Her first instinct was to turn and run. They thought she was sick; they were going to lock her up. Maybe Alan had told them she was coming because he wanted to get rid of her. Maybe everything he said about Rosemary had been a lie to get her here. After all, she and every kid on Staten Island had grown up being told they’d be sent to Willowbrook if they didn’t behave. Now the nightmare was coming true.
But that was impossible. Alan had no idea she was here. She pushed the idea away. Then, in the next instant, she wilted inside. The attendant and the man in the sports coat were going to tell her Rosemary was dead. She could see it in their eyes and the way they held their mouths. No. Rosemary couldn’t be dead—not again! The men looked tense because of this place, because of the difficult decisions associated with their jobs. Maybe they thought she was here to berate them for losing Rosemary.
On watery legs, she went to meet them, her hand out and her chin up, trying to look friendly and confident. Inside, she felt nauseated.
Before she could speak, the man in the sports coat said, “Where have you been, Miss Winters? We’ve been worried about you.”
CHAPTER 3
Sage’s mouth fell open in surprise. Then a fiery jolt shot through her, a hot shock of confusion and embarrassment. She frowned at the man in the tweed sports coat and lowered her hand, fighting the urge to turn around and leave. She couldn’t do that; she had to find her sister. Instead, she laughed, a nervous laugh full of desperation and misery that seemed to fill the entire waiting room. The man in the sports coat had to be joking. He didn’t honestly think she was Rosemary, did he? It was ridiculous. She started to tell him he’d made a mistake when he gestured with one hand, like a king telling a guard to take away a prisoner. Before she knew what was happening, the attendant grabbed her by the arm.
“What are you doing?” she said, trying to pull away. “Let go of me!”
Ignoring her protests, the attendant tightened his grip and steered her toward the door at the back of the room, pulling her so close his sour breath washed over her face. The man in the sports coat followed. She dug in her heels and tried to wrench free, but the attendant seized her with both hands and half pushed, half dragged her across the floor.
“Stop it!” she yelled. “You’re hurting me!”
“Everything is going to be all right, Miss Winters,” said the man in the sports coat. “You’re back now and you’re safe here. This is your home, remember?”
Panic plowed through her, stealing the air from her lungs. “No!” she cried, struggling against the attendant. “I’m not Rosemary! I’m her twin sister! Let me go!” Her heart felt like it was about to explode in her chest. “What are you doing?”
In the other room, Mr. Chan looked up to see what the commotion was, but his wife put a hand on his arm to keep him from interfering.
“Don’t worry,” the man in the sports coat said. “We’re not going to punish you. We just need to get you back to your ward.”
“But you’re making a mistake!” she cried. “My name is Sage! I’m here to look for my sister because I found out she’s missing!” She twisted her body and tried to get free. The attendant dug his fingers into her skin. “Get your fucking hands off me!”
The receptionist stood, concerned. “Do you need me to call for help, Doctor?” she said, picking up the phone.
“Yes,” said the man in the sports coat. “Have Nurse Moore meet me in room five right away.”
Sage dropped to her knees, yanked herself free from the attendant’s grasp, and started to scramble away. But he was too quick. He caught her, grabbed her around her waist, and carried her across the room. Her clogs fell from her feet, clattering across the tiled floor. She screamed and kicked and pounded her fists on his chest and face, but he held on.
“Someone, please!” she shrieked. “Help me! I don’t belong here! I’m not who they think I am!”
She clawed at the attendant’s face, catching the skin beneath his eye. He grunted and turned his head away, then hauled her through the door into a corridor lined with more doors.
At the end of the corridor, he took her into an examination room filled with white cabinets and the sharp tang of rubbing alcohol. He yanked off her jacket and threw it on the floor, then forced her onto on a gurney and held her down, his sweaty hands crushing her arms. She thrashed on the mattress, screaming and crying and gulping for air. The doctor waited near the wall in silence while a nurse rushed in and strapped Sage’s ankles and wrists to the gurney railings.
“Let me go!” she screamed. “Someone help me, please!”
When the nurse finished fastening the leather straps, the attendant tightened them, then stepped back and wiped his sweat-covered brow, his shoulders heaving.
“This is for your own good,” the doctor said. “So please stop fighting us.”
Sage wrenched on the straps, pulling with all her might, but couldn’t get free. “Why are you doing this to me?” she cried. “I’m not Rosemary. I’m her twin sister, Sage. You should be out looking for her, not in here tying me down. Please, you have to listen to me!” She stopped struggling for a moment and tried to catch her breath. The more she fought, the less they would listen. She had to act rational and sound calm, despite the fact that inside she was screaming hysterically. “I came here because someone called my stepfather to tell him my sister was missing. You can call him and ask him. He’ll tell you who I am.”
“Now, now,” the doctor said. “You and Dr. Baldwin have talked about this numerous times. Your name is Rosemary, not Sage. Sage is just part of your psychosis and a result of your confused thinking, remember?”
“No, I don’t remember because it’s not true!” she said. “I’m not my sister, I don’t have any type of psychosis, and I’m not confused. We’re identical twins. That’s why you think I’m her. Just call my stepfather, please!”
At a gesture from the doctor, the nurse opened a cabinet drawer and took out a glass vial and a glistening syringe.
“No!” Sage cried. “Please. Don’t do this. Let me up. I won’t try to get away, I promise!” Straining against the leather straps, she stared at the needle, horror filling her throat. “Please, I’ll behave, I swear! You don’t have to do this!”
Pursing her lips with determination, the nurse slid between the doctor and the gurney, yanked up Sage’s sleeve, and plunged the needle into her arm.
“No!” Sage screamed. “Pleeeease!”
After administering the shot, the nurse took the bottle and syringe, then left the room without a word, slamming the steel door behind her. The attendant and doctor looked down at Sage.
“You gave us quite a scare again, young lady,” the doctor said. “Where were you hiding this time?”