Read Identity (Eyes Wide Open) for Free Online

to my rounds,” the nurse said.
    “Thank you, Linda.” The administrator dismissed her with a nod and folded his hands under his chin.
    “Christy Snow. You’re new here?”
    “No, I’m not here at all!”
    “You’re not?”
    “I mean I’m not supposed to be here.”
    “And where are you supposed to be?”
    “At home, where I was this morning, on Blanard Drive. I came in this morning, trying to find my locket and I got stuck…”
    The look in his eyes said he’d heard a thousand similar stories from patients looking for a way out. She had to tell him everything. He would check the basement, find that she was telling the truth, and that would be that.
    “Look,” he said before she could speak. “This isn’t rocket science. If you are Christy Snow and we have no record of your admission, then you can be home within the hour. But we have to know, I’m sure you can appreciate that. Many of our patients have very deep imaginations.”
    “There’s no record of a Christy Snow in admissions. They already checked. Please, this is a bit ridiculous.”
    “Yes, of course. Still, you have no identification, I take it?”
    “Not on me, no. But you’ll find my cell phone in the basement.”
    “All right. Do you mind telling me how you came to be in the basement?”
    She swallowed, nodding. So here it went.
    “I lost my locket last night.”
    “Your locket?” he made a note of it on a scratch pad. “Where?”
    “In the storage room. Off the alley.”
    Lawson peered at her. He set his pen down and sat back, crossing his legs.
    “Go on.”
    She told him everything, from the time she woke up until the time she entered the main corridor, sparing no detail.
    “So, yes, I probably broke the law by breaking into the storage room, but I can assure you that I’m not a patient here. I just want my cell phone and locket, and if you want to report my crime to the police, that’s fine. Either way, I don’t belong here.”
    He nodded, jotting down more notes. “Don’t worry, I have no interest in your breaking in. I wasn’t aware there was a trapdoor under those caskets. We’ll have to take care of it.”
    She exhaled, letting her anxiousness fall away. “Someone could get hurt. I could probably sue the hospital.” She thought better of it. “Course, I won’t. I just want my locket back. That’s all.”
    “I understand. I’ll have to check this out, naturally. You can see how this could look differently.”
    “Not really, no. How?”
    He shrugged. “For all I know, you’re a recent admission whose name is Jane Doe and you found a clever way to attempt an escape. Failing, you returned with a clever story—it’s not unheard of. This is, after all, the psychiatric ward. All kinds come to us and many are quite intelligent.”
    She thought about it and saw his point.
    “Then check it out. You’ll find the entrance I told you about, and inside, my phone. Christy Snow, home number 435-7897. I live at 456 Blanard Drive. Trust me, that’s me.”
    “I’m sure it is. Procedure requires that I account for all patients to make sure no one is missing. When that comes up whole and we check out the basement, you’ll be free to go. Shouldn’t take too long. Fair enough?”
    She thought about it and again saw the reason in his being thorough.
    “I suppose. Can you please have them bring me my locket as well?”
    “Sure. Can you describe it?”
    “A silver heart.”
    “Photograph inside?”
    “Yes.”
    “Of? Boyfriend? Parents? Maybe they could help us out here.”
    “No. Nothing like that.”
    “Then what?” he asked. “It would help us identify the locket as yours.”
    She hesitated. The standard picture had the small words Sample Only printed on the side of the image.
    “It’s just the picture the locket came with. I don’t have any parents.”
    Dr. Lawson looked at her with kind eyes for a few seconds.
    “I see. Not knowing who your parents are can mess with your identity. An all too common