Chapter 7

When Davina returned to her room a few hours later, she was shocked to find Louella standing in the center of complete disarray. “What have you done?”

“Where is it?” Louella huffed.

“What are you talking about?” Davina moaned as she raced to salvage journals that were tossed in a way as to damage the binding.  “You’ve destroyed my room.  Damn, even the bed’s been pulled apart.  What’s wrong with you?”

“I know Tillie brought it to you.  Hand it over,” Louella practically growled.

“You need to leave,” Davina said in a tone that caused Louella’s brows to raise in surprise.

“For someone who’s locked up in the looney bin by my authority, do you really want to threaten me?”

“What difference does it make?  You’ll never let me out, anyway,” Davina said vehemently.

“True,” Louella said as she plopped her body onto the unmade bed.

“You know I hate street clothes touching my sheets,” Davina hissed.

“I think I might have stepped in dog shit coming over here,” Louella chuckled as she slid her shoed feet between the sheets. 

Davina did her best to control her breathing since, by doing that, it helped keep her tempter manageable.  Louella knew all the right buttons to push to make her blow her top so that she could justify her claim that her sister was seriously imbalanced.  She wasn’t about to give her any ammunition this time. 

She knew that Louella was after the journal she’d hidden, and she wasn’t going to let her have it. Not yet, anyway.  It was far too important to her.  She still had some reading to do to help unravel the mystery of her memory loss. If there was a clue in there about how to contact T.J., she needed to have it or she might as well resign herself to growing old and dying in that room.

“If you don’t get out of here, I’m going to call the orderly and have you removed.  I may be a prisoner here, but I still have rights.”

Louella pulled her feet from beneath the

sheets.  Davina struggled to see if there was truly dog shit on her soles before she planted her feet on the floor.  She sighed with relief when she saw that the bottoms of her sister’s shoes were clean.

“Give me that journal and I’ll be on my way,” Louella said.

Davina held her abused journals to her chest.  “Why do you want my journals?”

“I want a specific journal, not all of them,” Louella said, impatiently. “Stop playing games and give it to me.”

Davina locked eyes with her sister for an excruciating length of time before she broke the hold and walked to her door.  Opening it wide, she called for the orderly.

“Are you serious?” Louella gasped. “You’re just asking for more trouble.  You know better than to mess with me.  Just give me the journal and I’ll go.”

A tall, handsome orderly with brown hair and dark eyes who’d shown compassion and interest in Davina from a distance since she’d arrived stood in the doorway. It was the first she’d been up close to him since her arrival. Had she not been so absorbed in the drama between herself and her sister, she’d have noticed something familiar about him; or, at least, felt the connection between them that the look in his eyes hinted was there.  His face showed his surprise at the state of her room.

Davina crossed her arms over her chest and glowered at Louella.  “My sister seems to think that she can come in here and trash my room while I’m at group and it’s okay. I’ve asked her to leave and she’s refusing.”

“I’ve never seen someone do this to a patient’s room before.  I don’t even know what to do about it,” the orderly said with concern.

“How about escorting her out of the building?” Davina said with a tone that hinted on outrage.

“Do you know who I am?” Louella asked as she looked the orderly in the eye, seductively.   When he shook his head and swallowed hard, she continued with, “What’s your name?”   She leaned forward and read the name tag he wore. “Well, Theodore, not only am I a rather important benefactor to this establishment, I’m also my sister’s ward.”

“It’s Theo,” he said softly.

“What?” Louella asked, impatiently.

“My nametag says, Theodore, but I prefer Theo.”

She waved her hand as if to dismiss him.  “Whatever.”

Davina sucked in air at the sight of her sister’s smug confidence as she positioned her body in a way that was guaranteed to make a man drool with desire.  “That doesn’t give you the right to trash my room or refuse to leave when I ask. I still have rights.”

The orderly looked from Davina to Louella.  They were twins, but Davina had a softer way about her. Louella was beautiful, but it was clear she used that beauty to get what she wanted.  He guessed it worked for her ninety percent of the time and that she’d be a formidable person to cross.  Even so, Davina was right.  Louella was out of line by trashing her room like that and needed to leave if Davina wished it so. His eyes settled on Louella.  “I appreciate all that you do for the institute, but she’s right.  You shouldn’t have done this to her room and she has the right to ask you to leave.  I’m going to have to escort you out of the building.”

“Bullshit!” Louella bellowed.  “She has something of mine and I want it back. I’m not leaving until I get it.”

Theo looked at Davina with raised brow.

Davina shrugged. “I have no idea what she’s talking about.  She’s ransacked my room and found nothing because there is nothing.  You might want to consider the fact that the wrong sister is locked in here.”

Louella’s eyes narrowed as she walked toward Davina.  “Is that how we’re going to play this?”

“I’m not playing anything,” Davina said, defensively, as she stood her ground.  “I’m just trying to understand why you came in while I was at therapy and violated the prison you forced me into.  Perhaps I should see if Mrs. Gould has time for a therapy session for you.”

Louella threw her hands in the air.  Things were turning in a direction that she didn’t care for; nor was she emotionally prepared to deal with it.  She still had Tillie’s blood on her conscience, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that she was justified in her actions.  If she didn’t get that journal away from Davina and Maria saw it, she’d have to kill her too.  That was something she didn’t want to do. 

It was clear that the orderly wasn’t going to budge.  She assumed that the vibes she was sending weren’t seductive enough due to her preoccupation with recent events and her desperate need to get her hands on that journal.  She decided to leave before she suffered the shame of being escorted out.

Pushing her face only inches from Davina’s, Louella whispered in a vicious and threatening tone, “I’m leaving, but I’ll be back… and, trust me, you’ll pay.”

With his face clearly displaying his displeasure, Theo moved his body aside to allow Louella room to exit through the doorway. She made a special effort to brush against the front of him in a way that was impossible for his manhood not to react to and then sashayed down the hall.  His eyes never left her until she’d disappeared around the corner. 

When his attention returned to Davina, he shook his head. “She’s something else, isn’t she?”

“All men love her,” Davina said resentfully as she straightened up her room.

Theo rushed into the room and set the club chair that Louella had tipped over upright before quickly remaking the bed.  “Let me help you.”

“You already did by getting rid of her,” Davina said as she looked out the window to make sure her sister was leaving the premises.  When she saw Louella storm over to her car and get behind the steering wheel, she sighed.  “I can’t thank you enough.”

“You may look alike, but that’s where it ends.”

“I know.  She’s the hot one.”

He scowled. “You really believe that, don’t you?”

“I’ve lived with it all my life.  Guy’s melt

like butter as soon as she flutters her eyelashes at them.”

“That doesn’t mean she’s more beautiful than you are.  Or even hotter.  It just means that they know she puts out and they want a bit of it.”  When Davina stopped cleaning and looked at him curiously, he blushed. “I’m sorry.  I sometimes lack a filter for my words.  I shouldn’t have said that.”

She cocked her head to the side and studied him.  “Are you saying that you don’t want a piece of it?”

“Can I speak frankly without getting into trouble?”

“I’m supposed to be crazy, remember?  Who’s going to listen to me?  You can say whatever.”

“I don’t like to step where a thousand other men have tread.”

Davina threw her head back in laughter.  “I’ve never heard that.  It’s good.”

“I don’t mean to offend your sister.  It’s just how I feel.  She’s beautiful and all.”

“Yes, she is.”

“But, her beauty is only skin deep. Yours goes down to your heart.”

She could feel the heat rise up her neck and settle in her cheeks.   “I don’t recall anyone noticing that before.  You’re very astute.”

Theo shrugged.  “I see a lot in here. I guess it makes me look closer than most.”

“I guess so,” she replied.  After a moment of awkward silence, she added, “I have a bit of a headache. I think I’ll rest now.  Thanks again for your help.”

It took a moment for the hint to register, but it eventually did.  He told her to ask for him if she needed help again and left the room.

Once alone, she pulled the journal from its hiding place and settled into the club chair to continue reading.  Now, more than ever, she needed answers.