"Someone who hates seeing this happen," Sarah whispered. She stepped forward and swiped a keycard against the electronic pad. The light blinked green, and the heavy doors clicked unlocked.
"The stairs will only take you down to the third floor before you hit another locked gate," Sarah said quickly. "Security is sweeping from the bottom up. If you go down, they'll catch you on the landing."
"Then where do we go?" Maya asked.
"Through here," Sarah said, pulling the door open and gesturing to a small maintenance hallway off the stairwell. "There's an old records room. There are no cameras inside. Get in there before Evans circles back."
Maya hesitated for a fraction of a second, but the sound of heavy boots echoing from the far end of the main corridor made the choice for her. She grabbed Chloe’s hand and darted through the door.
Chapter 2: The Digital Trail
The records room was cramped, smelling of stale paper and antiseptic. Row after row of metal filing cabinets lined the walls, and a single flickering fluorescent bulb cast long, unsettling shadows across the floor.
Sarah closed the heavy door behind them, locking it from the inside with a heavy metallic clunk.
Maya immediately pulled Chloe into the darkest corner, putting a tall filing cabinet between them and the door. She still didn't trust this nurse. Eleanor had deep pockets; she could have paid anyone in this building.
"Why are you helping me?" Maya demanded, keeping her voice low.
Sarah sighed, leaning against the door and crossing her arms. "Because Dr. Evans is a greedy, corrupt liability. And because this isn't the first time I've seen him fast-track an involuntary commitment for a wealthy family."
Maya’s eyes widened. "He's done this before?"
"Twice since I started working here," Sarah said in disgust. "Usually it's squabbling siblings trying to take control of an elderly parent's estate. They pay Evans under the table, he fudges the psych evaluation, and suddenly the targeted family member is heavily medicated and stripped of their legal rights. But he's never done it to a mother with a young child. That's where I draw the line."
Maya felt a fresh wave of nausea. Eleanor wasn't just being malicious; she had hired a professional hitman in a white coat. If they had successfully medicated Maya, she would have woken up in a locked psychiatric facility, legally deemed incompetent. Eleanor would have taken Chloe and vanished.
"I need my clothes," Maya said fiercely. "And my phone. We have to call the police."
"Your clothes are locked in the administration office," Sarah said. "And calling the police right now won't help you."
"Why not? He's kidnapping me!"
"Because you have no proof," Sarah said, stepping further into the room. "If the police walk in here right now, what do they see? They see a highly respected Chief of Psychiatry, and they see a frantic woman in a hospital gown making wild accusations. Dr. Evans will just hand them the chart. He'll say your paranoia proves his diagnosis. The police will defer to the medical professional. They always do."
Maya’s heart hammered against her ribs. Sarah was right. Eleanor had designed this perfectly. The more Maya fought, the crazier she would look.
"Then what do I do?" Maya asked, her voice trembling for the first time.
"We get proof," Sarah said. She walked over to a small desk in the corner of the room, which held an older, bulky computer terminal. She typed in her credentials, and the screen glowed blue, illuminating the dark room.
"Evans is arrogant," Sarah explained, her fingers flying across the keyboard. "He thinks because he runs this ward, no one checks his digital footprint. But every keystroke in the hospital network leaves a trail."
Maya crept closer, keeping Chloe tucked safely behind her. "What are you looking for?"
"The lab results," Sarah said. "To justify a 72-hour hold on someone with no history of mental illness, Evans has to provide a physical catalyst. Usually, they claim the patient had illicit drugs in their system, or highly abnormal chemistry indicating a breakdown."
Sarah clicked through a series of menus, pulling up Maya’s patient file.