Chapter 10 - The Gates of Pine Ridge
The blue and red lights from Sheriff Vance’s cruiser cast jagged, silent streaks over a pair of twelve-foot wrought-iron security gates set deep in the Virginia pines. Pine Ridge Recovery Center sat at the end of a cracked asphalt road three miles past the state forestry line.
"You got the signature you needed, Marcus?" Vance asked.
"Judge Miller signed it at six this morning," I said, pulling the folded, stamped document from my overcoat pocket. "Emergency writ of habeas corpus. Mandated access to patient records and physical inspection of the premises."
Vance didn't bother using the intercom box. He reached out and shook the heavy iron bars until the automatic magnetic lock clicked.
We walked up the winding brick path toward double mahogany doors. Vance shoved the heavy door open with his palm.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" the young woman at reception asked.
Vance laid the folded court document flat on the polished wood. "Sheriff’s Department, County of Albemarle. We have a judicial writ for immediate physical inspection and custody transfer of patient Elena Sterling. Room four-twelve on the secure wing. Where is the attending physician?"
Within two minutes, a tall man in a tailored white lab coat stepped out. "Sheriff, this is highly irregular. Pine Ridge is a private psychiatric hospital."
"It's a court order, Doctor," I stepped forward. "And you’re about to commit a felony if you don't turn around and lead us to that room."
Hayes stopped in front of a heavy door marked 412. "She’s heavily sedated," Hayes said. "Patient compliance has been... difficult. We’ve had to administer regular doses of thorazine to manage her episodes of acute distress."
"Acute distress," I repeated. "You mean she was trying to get out."
He pushed the door open. On top of the thin mattress lay a woman who looked half the size I remembered, her dark hair tangled across a white pillow, her skin translucent under the sickly yellow light.
"Elena," I whispered, stepping past the doctor.
"Get the county EMTs up here with a stretcher," Vance told the deputy. "We’re moving her to the general hospital in Charlottesville right now."
May you like
I reached down and carefully wrapped my hand around Elena’s cold, limp fingers. "We got you," I murmured. "Lily is safe. We’re taking you home."
