Read Online Family Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 2) by Debra Trueman - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Debra Trueman
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roaming the
house. “Go back to bed!” I called out. I heard laughing and little footsteps
padding back to the kids’ wing.
Maddie continued. “We decided since we were already inside, we
should snoop around and see if we could find Jackson Whitaker, Fee’s brother. Each
patient’s name is on the wall outside their room, so we started looking for Jackson’s name. We sneaked down a couple of different hallways but never found him, but we
ended up in a big recreation room. It was just like you see in the movies.
Some patients were playing cards or checkers; some were watching TV; some were
totally out of it and were conked in a wheelchair. It was creepy. So we’re
checking out all these people, thinking one of the wheelchair guys could be
Fee’s brother, when an orderly comes in pushing a cart. We didn’t want to get
caught so we hid in a closet. It’s where they keep a bunch of board games and
stuff. Remember that game called Sorry ?”
I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to answer, so I just nodded.
“They had that one. I’d forgotten all about that game. We
should get it for Oliver.”
For being so smart, sometimes Maddie was a ditz. She took a
breath before she got back on track.
“Whale, we were peeking out the door and – this is where it
gets really weird – the orderly starts giving out meds to some of the
patients. And there’s this one guy who’s slumped in a wheelchair looking
totally out of it, and he opens his mouth and the guy puts a pill in it. So
after the orderly leaves, the guy looks around and when he sees that the
orderly’s gone, he sits up straight in his chair and spits the pill into his
hand.”
“No way.”
“Seriously. Fee saw it too. He was faking it, pretending to
be out of it.”
“That’s weird.”
“So we came out of the closet and Fee started at one end of the
room and went around asking everyone if they knew her brother. So I started at
the opposite end doing the same, but no one knew him. And then the Faker calls
out to Fee across the room, “You’re looking for Jackson Whitaker?”
“So Fee and I run over there all excited, but kind of scared
because of what we saw – you know, the pill and all – and he asks what we want
with Jackson. Fee tells him that Jackson is her brother. And the Faker says,
‘I’ll tell you about your brother, but only if you help me get out of here.’
And I’m thinking that this guy is really nuts, when all of a sudden I feel this
vice grip on my shoulder and the orderly yanks me away from the Faker. He’s
got one hand on my shoulder and the other around Felicia’s wrist and the guy
literally drags us out of the room, while the Faker is yelling at us and
pleading for us to help him and not to leave him there. Oh my God, it was
awful, Samuel! There was something in the guy’s voice that was so desperate.”
I didn’t give a shit about the Faker, but I was furious that
someone would manhandle my wife. I wanted to beat the crap out of the guy.
“Did you get the bastard’s name?”
“No. He didn’t tell us. But I think we need to help him,
Samuel.”
“Not the Faker! The orderly. Did you get his name?”
“Forget the orderly,” she said with a wave of dismissal.
“We’re worried about the patient. And he has information on my cousin.”
“You don’t need to be questioning psycho patients about your
cousin, Maddie. I told you we’d go back with a court order. You can question
your cousin personally. Finish your story. Did the orderly call the cops?”
“He was going to, but Felicia threatened him.”
“Threatened him with what?”
“She told him that if he didn’t let us go, she’d call some
Federal Judge named Hawthorne Graves and get him to shut the place down. Did
you know Fee was friends with a Federal judge?”
I groaned. The dull headache I’d had for the last three hours
suddenly became a non-stop pounding
house. “Go back to bed!” I called out. I heard laughing and little footsteps
padding back to the kids’ wing.
Maddie continued. “We decided since we were already inside, we
should snoop around and see if we could find Jackson Whitaker, Fee’s brother. Each
patient’s name is on the wall outside their room, so we started looking for Jackson’s name. We sneaked down a couple of different hallways but never found him, but we
ended up in a big recreation room. It was just like you see in the movies.
Some patients were playing cards or checkers; some were watching TV; some were
totally out of it and were conked in a wheelchair. It was creepy. So we’re
checking out all these people, thinking one of the wheelchair guys could be
Fee’s brother, when an orderly comes in pushing a cart. We didn’t want to get
caught so we hid in a closet. It’s where they keep a bunch of board games and
stuff. Remember that game called Sorry ?”
I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to answer, so I just nodded.
“They had that one. I’d forgotten all about that game. We
should get it for Oliver.”
For being so smart, sometimes Maddie was a ditz. She took a
breath before she got back on track.
“Whale, we were peeking out the door and – this is where it
gets really weird – the orderly starts giving out meds to some of the
patients. And there’s this one guy who’s slumped in a wheelchair looking
totally out of it, and he opens his mouth and the guy puts a pill in it. So
after the orderly leaves, the guy looks around and when he sees that the
orderly’s gone, he sits up straight in his chair and spits the pill into his
hand.”
“No way.”
“Seriously. Fee saw it too. He was faking it, pretending to
be out of it.”
“That’s weird.”
“So we came out of the closet and Fee started at one end of the
room and went around asking everyone if they knew her brother. So I started at
the opposite end doing the same, but no one knew him. And then the Faker calls
out to Fee across the room, “You’re looking for Jackson Whitaker?”
“So Fee and I run over there all excited, but kind of scared
because of what we saw – you know, the pill and all – and he asks what we want
with Jackson. Fee tells him that Jackson is her brother. And the Faker says,
‘I’ll tell you about your brother, but only if you help me get out of here.’
And I’m thinking that this guy is really nuts, when all of a sudden I feel this
vice grip on my shoulder and the orderly yanks me away from the Faker. He’s
got one hand on my shoulder and the other around Felicia’s wrist and the guy
literally drags us out of the room, while the Faker is yelling at us and
pleading for us to help him and not to leave him there. Oh my God, it was
awful, Samuel! There was something in the guy’s voice that was so desperate.”
I didn’t give a shit about the Faker, but I was furious that
someone would manhandle my wife. I wanted to beat the crap out of the guy.
“Did you get the bastard’s name?”
“No. He didn’t tell us. But I think we need to help him,
Samuel.”
“Not the Faker! The orderly. Did you get his name?”
“Forget the orderly,” she said with a wave of dismissal.
“We’re worried about the patient. And he has information on my cousin.”
“You don’t need to be questioning psycho patients about your
cousin, Maddie. I told you we’d go back with a court order. You can question
your cousin personally. Finish your story. Did the orderly call the cops?”
“He was going to, but Felicia threatened him.”
“Threatened him with what?”
“She told him that if he didn’t let us go, she’d call some
Federal Judge named Hawthorne Graves and get him to shut the place down. Did
you know Fee was friends with a Federal judge?”
I groaned. The dull headache I’d had for the last three hours
suddenly became a non-stop pounding
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