Chapter 3 - The Locked Ward
The transport van slammed over a series of deep potholes before finally coming to a screeching halt.
The heavy metal doors swung open to reveal the towering, gothic architecture of the Oakridge Psychiatric Institute.
Thick iron bars covered every single window of the decaying brick building.
The orderlies unbuckled the gurney and wheeled Olivia through a set of heavily fortified security doors.
She was dumped unceremoniously onto a hard, narrow mattress inside a tiny, windowless concrete cell.
The heavy steel door slammed shut behind her, plunging the room into absolute darkness.
Olivia waited until she was completely alone before pulling the hidden burner phone from her waistband.
She turned the screen brightness down to the lowest setting to avoid drawing attention from the security cameras.
She opened the phone's contacts, hoping to find a lifeline left by the brave doctor.
There was only one phone number saved in the entire device under the name Sarah.
Before Olivia could press the call button, the heavy deadbolt on her cell door clicked loudly.
She quickly shoved the phone back into her clothing and pretended to be fast asleep.
A young nurse wearing pale blue scrubs stepped into the cell holding a plastic cup of pills.
"I know you are awake, Olivia," the nurse whispered in a surprisingly gentle voice.
Olivia slowly opened her eyes and stared at the woman's nametag.
The name printed on the shiny plastic badge was Sarah.
"Doctor Patel sent me to help you get out of this place," Sarah explained while setting the pills on the floor.
"Why should I trust you?" Olivia asked with heavy suspicion.
Sarah reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled, faded photograph.
"Because Aunt Caroline has been secretly investigating your fake parents for a year, and she recruited me," Sarah replied.
The photograph showed Aunt Caroline standing next to a beautiful woman who looked exactly like an older version of Olivia.
"That was your real mother, Victoria," Sarah said sadly.
Olivia felt a surge of hope realizing that at least one person in her fake family actually cared about her.
Sarah instructed Olivia to flush the sedatives down the toilet and pretend to swallow them during the morning rounds.
"I will unlock the maintenance door at the end of the hall exactly at midnight," Sarah promised.
The nurse turned around and walked out of the cell, locking the heavy steel door behind her.
Olivia pulled the burner phone back out to memorize the map of the facility Sarah had downloaded onto it.
She accidentally swiped across the phone's photo gallery app.
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The screen suddenly displayed the locked wallpaper image of the device.
It was a romantic, intimate selfie of Nurse Sarah passionately kissing Tyler.
