But he stopped laughing—even if he didn’t get the drugs after all, he was damned lucky he got off so easily. Only he did need some cash, and if it wasn’t for his goddamned gums hurting him all the time, he’d just take off. The social worker had told him that the clinic would fix him up, but all the stupid dentist said was, “Too bad.” A lot of good that did, Gregory thought, getting angry as he remembered; he’d still rip the bastard off if he knew where the hell he lived. Both men must have the same name. At least the nutty dentist put cloves on his gums, which helped some.

Gregory started walking, rather dejectedly, toward downtown, on his way to the health complex beyond. He had no other place to go, he mused; so what the hell? He wasn’t even sure of his status there; he wasn’t an outpatient but he wasn’t an … inmate either. He’d sneak back in, he decided, and after breakfast, maybe take off for good. So he was out on bail. Caught stealing from a supermarket. What was that? All the judge said was that he had to stay under observation for a few days … Observation?

He grinned. Nobody paid any attention to him. He wasn’t in any security area, though they had one. And in the day the place was mobbed with outpatients. All he had to do was just walk out again, if he wanted to.

He passed the backs of the downtown buildings, looking up at the rickety fire escapes that rose from the riverbank, thinking that those places would be easy to rip off—but would hardly be worth the bother. Nobody who lived there had anything worth stealing.

Two more blocks, and the grounds of the mental health complex were visible: low buildings, some with outside patios, trees in front planted in geometric patterns, a playground, a huge hospital-like structure with decorated bars at the upper windows. It all looked like some ideal neat modern village, Gregory thought, suddenly catching his breath because the whole place was bathed in the soft light from downtown that diffused through the clouds.

“Dirty bastards,” Gregory muttered not knowing exactly who he was thinking of, but the peaceful uncluttered area with its trees and shaded small pathways sure as hell seemed to offer something that wasn’t being delivered.

In his mind’s eye, Gregory already saw himself walking across the back expanse of lawn, right up to the building he’d left so secretly, and right through the bottom window to the small room and cot they’d given him. Maybe they hoped that he would run off, to another town—one less problem for the town officials.