I yank out the tube that’s snaking into the vein in my arm. When I stand, I wobble a bit, but then I’m out of bed. The girl wraps her arm over her belly as if some wild animal has just been unleashed. I ignore her and turn for the door.

Three men rush in. Two guards in matching white uniforms spread out, arms outstretched to block my exit. A short, pudgy teen in long white coat peers at me behind the wall of guards.

“I told you,” the girl says from behind me. “I told her, Dr. Rayburn.”

My eyes flick to the teen in the lab coat. He’s the doctor? He doesn’t look older than fifteen. His pimpled cheeks and soft chin quiver as he gives me that wild-cat-out-of-its-cage look. His nasal voice warbles when he speaks. “Miss, uh, please get back in bed. You will re-injure yourself,” He waves the guards toward me.

I dive under the guards as they reach for me. My hands scramble on the hard tile as I make it under the first guard, but the second grabs my legs. He pins me beneath him.

“Stop!” I scream. There’s a sharp pinch as the guard jabs a needle into my butt.

“I told her,” the girl says.

It all goes dark.

* * *

Light. I slide my eyes open and see the same hospital room. I try to sit up, but straps tie my arms to the bed rails. When I tug against the bonds, the same plump girl turns her attention from the flickering TV to me.

“You’d better knock that off,” she says with a yawn. “They’ve got cameras. If they see you trying to bust out again, they’ll just slip the tranquilizers in your I.V.” She scratches under her round belly and then blinks at me.

“I have to get out of here!” I turn and yell at the camera. “Let me out!” I pull back and forth on the bonds.

The girl shakes her head at me and glances towards the door. “Geez, will you cut that out? You’re gonna get me in trouble.”

“Get me out of here! Undo my wrists!”

The girl looks at my wrists and then shrugs. “Sorry, Charlie. Doctor’s orders. You stay tied up until you stop acting like a loon.”

“What does that mean?” I say through my teeth. Instead of thrashing, I work my wrists back and forth testing these straps. They’re solid. It’s going to take a miracle to get free.