Easy as One Two Three (Emma Frost) (20 page)

It was all I had and I was clinging to it like my life depended on it.

54

April 2014

T
HE PARKING LOT IN
front of Naestved Hospital was extraordinarily empty. Usually I had to fight to get a space to park my car, but it was so early in the morning that we could pick and choose.

I parked in front of the main entrance, since I didn't know where Ward Q was and we walked inside to ask a receptionist. She gave us directions and we walked around the main building and found the ward behind it in the farthest corner of the hospital area. It was a small yellow brick building with a black roof.

We walked to the main door and opened it. The doors leading further in were heavily locked. We walked to reception and met a small lady with a very smiling face.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

I looked at Morten. We had decided in the car to use—or misuse—the fact that he was a police officer. He wasn't pleased with it, but I had begged him to do it. Now he showed the woman his badge.

"My name is Officer Bredballe, this here is my partner. We need to speak to whoever is in charge of this ward."

The woman stopped smiling and nodded. "Well, of course, Officer, let me just make a call." She picked up the phone and turned her back to us while speaking into it. "…the police…want to talk to you. Uh huh. A man and a woman. What do I tell them? Okay."

She hung up and looked at us. "The doctor will be able to see you right away. It is early and she hasn't started seeing patients yet, so you're in luck."

"Thank you," Morten said.

The small woman handed us two badges. "This is a secure institution. Our patients here can be dangerous, so you need to sign in and wear these in a visible spot all the time while you're here. You can't walk around unattended. These patients are mentally unstable and you never know what they might do. I'll have a guard show you to the doctor's office. Olav?"

A big guy in a green polo shirt with the hospital's name on it stuck his head out of a door behind her. "Yes?"

"These two need to be shown to the doctor's office."

"Of course. Follow me." Olav stepped out and walked in front of us. He pulled out a keycard from his pocket and slid it through. The heavy door buzzed and he opened it. We entered a hallway that smelled heavily of detergents and hospital. I loathed that smell. I always had. Even more since I had started visiting Mads Schou after the accident. It just always reminded me of bad things. Except for the two times in my life when the smell meant giving birth to my two children. But, somehow, I never associated the smell with that…always only with bad things like when Victor had his first big seizure and they kept him for three days examining him and making sure he wasn't epileptic. So many times I had brought him in, wondering if I would ever see him again after they took him out of my arms.

The big door was closed behind us and Olav started walking down the hallway. I looked at the door and felt slightly claustrophobic. I didn't like the thought of being trapped in here and wondered how it made the patients feel. It was, of course, meant to protect the world from these dangerous patients, but I couldn't escape the feeling of being in a prison.

Olav stopped at a door and knocked.

"Come in," a voice said behind it.

Olav opened it and looked at us. "Go ahead," he said with the voice of a gentle giant.

"Thank you," I said and stepped inside.

Morten followed me closely. The woman greeting us on the other side smiled widely and shook Morten's hand. "Doctor R.V. Devulapallianbbhasskar," she said.

"Officer Bredballe," he said.

She scrutinized him while wearing a crooked smile. "Bredballe you say, huh? That's thirty-four, three plus four…you're a seven. You know if you removed that last ‘e’ in your name, you'd be an eleven. Eleven would suit you much better, Officer. It's a Master number you see. Just a little piece of advice." The doctor winked at him, then turned her head fast to look at me. I had seen her somewhere before, I remembered when looking into her dissecting eyes. Only I had no idea where. She frightened me a little. Especially the way she looked at me.

"And who might you be?" she asked.

I shook her hand. It hurt a little.

"Officer Frost," I lied.

"Frost, huh? Where have I heard that name before? It's a good name for you. Fits you well being a six. You're very caring and nurturing." She pointed at the couch behind me.

"Please, take a seat."

55

April 2014

"
S
O, WHAT CAN
I
do for the two of you today?" The doctor asked. She tilted her head slightly and looked at me with a weird smile. Something about her was just eerie.

"We're looking for this girl," Morten said and put a picture of Maya on the table in front of her.

The doctor looked at it, then picked it up. I watched her closely as she studied the picture. My heart skipped a beat. There was something in her expression that convinced me. She knew Maya. She had seen her before.

The doctor shook her head, then put the picture down. "I've never seen her before. May I ask why you're asking me about it?"

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Try looking at it again." I pushed the picture closer to her. The doctor looked again and shook her head even more.

"I…I…really don't think…I mean we have so many people here, could she have been here to visit someone?"

"Do you allow visitors?" I asked.

"If they're family, then yes. Short supervised visits."

"And you think she might have been in here to visit someone?" Morten asked.

"That's not what I said. I said she might have been, but I really don't remember seeing her. It's hard for me to tell, really. Now, was that all?"

"Do you know Mads Schou?" I asked.

The doctor looked startled. "No," she said. She wasn't very good at lying. I could tell she did. "I mean, I heard about what happened to him through the news and everything, but not personally." The doctor looked at her watch, then back at me forcing a smile.

"I have consultations starting here at eight and I need to prepare…was there anything else you wanted from me, officers? I really need to…"

Morten got up. "We won't take anymore of your time, doctor."

It annoyed me that he gave up that easily. I wasn't prepared to let go yet. This was my only clue to finding Maya and I was certain I saw something in her eyes when she saw the picture of her. I wasn't going to let her go that easily.

"Are you sure you don't know where Maya is?" I asked.

"I'm certain…
Officer
." The doctor paused and looked at me like she knew I wasn't a real officer. That was when I knew I would never get anything out of her.

"Let's go," Morten said, and pulled my elbow.

I rose to my feet and looked at the doctor. I wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her, shake the information out of her. I couldn't bear the fact that she knew something about my daughter's whereabouts and I couldn't force her to tell me. For the first time in my life, I wanted to hurt someone so badly it frightened me. I wanted to scream at her to tell me, to let me know where she had seen Maya, but it was no use.

The doctor reached out her hand. "Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you officers with," she said.

I shook her hand, and as I looked at her, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. What I saw quite startled me.

"I'm afraid you have a rat in your office," I said.

The doctor turned and looked at the big grey rat crawling across her desk. "Ah yes. That's Misty. She's my pet rat."

I felt nauseated. I had always hated rats more than anything. If I had a nightmare, it was always about rats. To me, they were the most disgusting and creepy animals alive. Yet I couldn't stop staring at it. I kept hearing Victor's words in my head.

"
Tell her I like pet rats
."

Victor never liked rats before. He’d liked many strange things, but never rats. And he never said anything like this without it meaning something.

"Let's go," Morten said.

I stared at the doctor, who was looking at us with a strange almost maniacal smile. I had to really restrain myself from punching that smirk off her face.

56

April 2014

I
T WAS A LITTLE
reluctantly that I walked out into the hallway following Morten. I wasn't ready to let go of the doctor yet.

"Olav, please help our guests find their way out," the doctor said.

Olav came towards us.

My heart was beating hard in my chest. I had no idea what to do, but I didn't want to leave. I felt so deeply frustrated, I wanted to scream. I turned my head to see if there was something I had missed, but there was nothing but a long hallway painted white. Suddenly, as I looked, a door was opened and another guard walked out of a room, escorting a patient.

"Let's go," Morten said, but for some reason I hesitated. I couldn't take my eyes off of the person exiting the room far down the hallway. I couldn't see her face, but I knew it was her. Something inside of me just knew it. I would recognize my daughter anywhere…no matter the angle…no matter the short blonde hair and different clothes. I just knew.

"Maya?" I yelled and started walking down the hallway. The girl didn't react. The guard started walking in the opposite direction from us and the girl followed.

"Maya?" I yelled again and walked faster.

"Stop," the doctor yelled behind me. "That is a very dangerous patient. She killed someone just a few days ago. You can't get close to her. She is highly erratic. Olav, you must stop her."

"Emma, stop it. It's not her," Morten said.

But I kept walking…determined steps across the linoleum floor. "Maya?"

I was running. I could hear turmoil behind me and people running after me. I didn't care. I didn't stop. The girl in front of me didn't react. I called again and again, but still she didn't stop. I ran as fast as I could and soon caught up with them. I grabbed her shoulder and turned her to see her face. Then I gasped.

"Maya? Maya, sweetie? It's you. It's really you!"

Tears rolled across my cheeks as I first hugged her, then held her face between my hands while looking into her beautiful eyes. "Oh my God, Maya. I've been so scared."

But Maya didn't react to anything I said. She looked so pale. What was wrong with her?

"Do you know this woman Zelllena?" the guard asked her.

Maya hardly looked at me. She shook her head. "No."

"I'm going to have to ask you to step back," the guard said.

"Zelllena? What is going on here? Maya? Don't you recognize me? I'm your mother."

"I'm sorry Mrs.," the guard said. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave this girl alone."

Olav was behind me now and grabbed my arm. "I'm gonna need you to come with me, Mrs.," he said.

I tried to fight his grip, but he was too strong. "But…but…Maya? But I'm her mother."

"She clearly doesn't know you," the doctor said, approaching us. "I'm sorry, Vivian," she said to the guard. "This woman is very confused. Psychotic after the loss of her daughter. She sees her face everywhere. I'm sorry it had to happen here. Just take Zelllena to her physical therapy. I'll take it from here. Thank you."

"NO!" I screamed while Olav grabbed both my arms and started to drag me out. "That’s my daughter! What have you done to her?!"

"Now stop it," Morten said. "This girl is Maya Frost. I know her just as well and I tell you, it’s her."

"I'm sorry, Officer," the doctor said. "The girl's name is Zelllena Wold. She was admitted here because she is a danger to herself and others. She was admitted by her parents. If you have issues with her or anyone else in here, you have to take it up with the hospital management. Now I have to ask you to leave."

I watched in shock as the guard took my Maya through a door and she disappeared once again out of my life.

"No!" I pleaded. "Please don't do this. Please don't throw us out of here. I will do anything. I just want to talk to my daughter."

"I'm sorry. I can't help you with that, since this is not your daughter," the doctor said and signaled Olav and another guy. "You're just very delusional because of your loss. It's only natural, but you really should consider getting some help. Now get the two of them out of here before I lose my patience. This is a medical institution not a Kindergarten. I have patients to attend to. Good day, Mrs. Frost."

57

April 2014

I
WAS ON THE
verge of panic when Morten helped me get into the car. I kept yelling and kicking everything. I simply refused to believe that my daughter was right in there and I couldn't do anything about it.

"You're a police officer, Morten. Can't you stop them?" I asked angrily when we drove off. "Can't you go in there with your badge and tell them to give me my daughter?"

He sighed deeply. "I can't, Emma. I have no right to. I'm not even on Maya's case. It's not my district, I'm actually on vacation and I have no authority here. She knows it. And she’s right. I need a warrant if I want to force my way in there. Otherwise, I need to go to the hospital management. So I believe that's what we need to do. I'll contact Officer Hansen and try to explain the situation to him. He's the only one who can help us get access to the place."

"And that's going to take what? A week? I can't wait that long, Morten. They'll just move her to some other place. They know we're on to them. What the hell did they do to her? Why couldn't she recognize me?" I burst into tears. Morten put his arm around me. "You should have seen her, Morten. Her eyes…they were completely dead. She stared at me like she had never seen me before. Me! Her mother! I can't believe it."

"I know," Morten said. "It's so surreal. But the important thing right now is to remain calm. At least now we know where she is."