D-77

Chapter 3

A few weeks had passed since Dr. Sanders' accident. Eric was safely transported to his residence the day after entering the medical facility. And now he had to go through a terrible thing - the care of his beloved younger sister, savory seasoned with her religious statements about how wrong he lives his worthless life. And poor Danny had to endure the daily presence of Patrick in her life. It was hard to say which one of them got the worse fate, to be honest.

Danny left the cafe and got into her father's car, which she now owned completely. Ilmars was nice enough to let her go home early sometimes so she could have the time to check on the clinic. He was also kind enough not to cut off her salary. Well, he did it in the papers but added some to her monthly bonus. Ilmars understood that Danny had to take huge responsibility and she was not ready for it yet. So he tried to help her in every way he could. She helped him to find the courage to propose to Larisa and threw a surprise party for the couple. Finally, the cafe owner and chef were engaged and were planning a lavish wedding and a family trip around the world for their honeymoon.

After parking the jeep as close to the entrance to the clinic as possible, Sanders jumped out of the car and ran for the doors as fast as she could. Unfortunately, despite this, she managed to get wet under the sudden onset of heavy rain. She entered the building and was immediately greeted by several worried looks. Aah s**t, that can’t be good.

“You're right on time, princess,” Michael walked away from the front desk and handed her a plastic cup of coffee. “Take a sip and I'll show you the papers.”

“Papers?” she did as she was told and drank a bitter drink. There was a chance that her friend would have added a little cognac in addition to instant coffee.

She placed the cup on the nearby windowsill and looked at the man.

“This pimple has completely lost his fear,” the guard hissed angrily. “He occupied Dr. S.'s office.”

Danny's eyes popped out of their sockets. “Who does Patrick think he is?!”

“That's not all, kiddo,” he extended his hand in demand and one of the nurses put a folder in it. “Take a look at that.”

Sanders took the papers from her friend's hand and skimmed through the lines. Rage seethed through her mind with every letter and every punctuation mark she read.

“Michael, I might need your assistance.”

The man cracked his knuckles.

“I'll be honored.”

Danny moved her soaked brown hair out of her face and went straight to her father's office. She broke in without knocking to find the young doctor behind her father’s very expensive antique desk with his feet on the tabletop and playing with Eric’s priceless fountain pen. The moment Sanders flew into the office, he jumped up from the chair.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” She screamed in his face loudly.

“Danny, love, calm down! We can talk”. He put his hands out in front of him.

She slammed the folder on the tabletop and glared at him with pure anger. Patrick felt a drop of icy sweat run down his spine. It was as if a veil had fallen from his eyes, and he suddenly realized what he had been doing for the last couple of hours.

"What’s the meaning of this?” she pointed at the papers on the table.

The doctor looked at her with fright in his eyes. He knew what he had done. He also knew that no explanation would be good enough to save him from whatever punishment Danny would find fit.

“Danny... I...”

“I’m asking why the f**k did you sign the paperwork for the transfer of one of dad’s patients without even discussing it with me?!” she screamed at him at the top of her lungs.

Patrick’s heart skipped a beat. He heard whispers of the staff from the hallway and realized that even if he was not fired, his reputation was definitely over.

“Danny...”

“It’s Miss Sanders to you!” She took a couple of deep breaths, but that didn't help her calm down. “Did you send them your answer already?”

“Danny, please…”

“Did you?!”

“I did…”

Danny growled at him and it made him flinch. Patrick suddenly remembered how the fax turned off several times, preventing the sending of documents. He thought that it must have been a sign from above, and he should have followed it.

“Bear. Your move” she waved her hand in the doctor's direction.

The guard rolled up his sleeves and moved towards the doctor with thread in his eyes. Patrick had no time to understand what was going on. Michael appeared in front of him and grabbed him by the shirt. He lifted Patrick off the floor as if he had no weight on his body. The next thing he knew, he was slammed into the wall opposite his boss's office, as if he had been thrown there like a ball. But was it possible? The guard took a box with the doctor’s belongings and left the office with it. Danny left the room as well and locked the door behind her. Michael pressed the box hard into Patrick's chest. Danny went towards the elevator without even shooting a glance in the doctor’s direction. Patrick dropped the box and rushed after her in panic. His stuff fell out of the box on the linoleum floor. He was able to catch up with Sanders at the very door of the elevator. He grabbed her by the elbow, in an attempt to stop her.

“Danny, please listen to me...”

“Bear, get him away from me!”

Michael appeared beside them in a split second and lifted Patrick off the floor by the scruff of the neck. His fingers tightened around the doctor’s throat.

“If you dare to touch her ever again, I will break you in two pieces,” the man growled in Patrick’s very face.

The young doctor was terrified as he believed that the guard was able to bring the threat to life. He was lowered to the ground only after he nodded his head. His legs turned weak so he collapsed to the floor. Michael squinted in disgust.

When Danny exited the elevator on the seventh floor, she walked straight to Dragomir's chamber. Other Eric’s patients approached the lattice doors in alarm and exchanged glances. Dragomir himself was sitting on his bunk, staring blankly at the opposite wall. He seemed very relaxed, as he leaned back against the snow-white wall. His right leg was bent at the knee, the elbow of his right arm rested on it, his left leg limply dangled from the mattress. He didn’t move even when Sanders came dangerously close to the bars.

“Patrick agreed to your transfer.”

Dragomir shifted his gaze to her.

“Here are the documents.”

If someone had told her that morning that when she found out about Patrick's flaw, she would first run to Dragomir to tell him about it, she would never have believed it. But standing at that moment in front of his chamber, she understood, she felt that she was doing the right thing and Eric would like her to do just that.

She slipped the folder between the bars and waited. The patient stared at her for a minute or so with no expression on his face before he got out of bed and approached the girl. With one sharp movement, he snatched the folder from her hand and began flipping through it. His face changed with every line he read. He was absolutely calm at first. Then he started to look anxious. Then enraged. By the time he got to the last page, he was horrified. His chest heaved frequently and his fingers began to tremble. Closing the folder, he handed Danny the papers. When her hand overcame the bars of the grate, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to him. She squeaked. Her brown eyes looked into his blue ones with fear.

"Listen carefully, Danny," his voice was hoarse and quiet.

Jesus whistled loudly to draw Dragomir’s attention to himself. “Hey, bud! Let her go…”

“Dragomir, please,” Anna's voice trembled.

“Shut the f**k up!” The grip on Danny’s wrist tightened. “You go home, Danny. Tell your dad that they found me. He will tell you what to do.”

“But who are they? And how do you know that’s not someone else?”

“The people your father hid me from. And I know it сause they were dumb enough to put their real names in the papers. Hurry up, Danny. They're coming for me tonight.”

He let go of her wrist and caressed her skin with his thumb. When she looked into his crystal blue eyes again, she saw that they were filled with fear. For some reason, she thought that nothing could scare a man like Dragomir. She was so startled by this discovery that even when he let go of her wrist, she couldn't move. She reached out her hand to touch his face and was surprised at how cold his skin was. Dragomir flinched at her touch but didn't dare to move away. The fear in his eyes turned into surprise.

“I’ll do as you said,” she whispered so quietly that if there hadn’t been deathly silence on the floor, he would hardly have heard her.

Dragomir nodded. She smiled at him and ran towards the stairs.

He pressed his forehead against the bars, breath hitched, hands clenched into fists. Other patients looked at him worriedly. After hitting the bars a couple of times, he was able to calm down and he turned his gaze forward.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Irena nervously twisted a lock of her hair around her finger.

Dragomir shook his head and began to walk from side to side like a caged beast. He stopped in the middle of the room and looked down the corridor.

“Here's what we'll do...”

 Danny ran down the stairs to the first floor. She practically had to push the staff out of her way to get to the registration desk. Seeing how angry and worried she was, no one dared to speak to her. As she approached the desk, someone grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around. Meeting Patrick's desperate gaze, she seemed to go berserk and pushed the man hard in the chest.

“Danny, please...”

“What the hell are you doing here?” She pushed him again. “Get your stuff and get out!”

“But I…”

“Yeah, you! It was you who completely forgot that you are a nobody here! My father entrusted you with the clinic and what did you do?! You sat your pathetic ass in his office and began to send his patients away! Get out of here, Patrick! Don't you even dare to come back to my father's clinic!”

She turned to leave, but Patrick wasn’t going to give up. When he grabbed her by the hand, Danny snapped. She growled and punched the young doctor in the face with all her might. He staggered and fell on his back. Before Sanders could even take a step towards him, Michael was behind her. He lifted Danny by the waist and dragged her away from the wounded guy.

“Well done, princess,” he said, “That was beautiful.”

"My hand hurts," she whispered.

“You don’t say. Did you hear that crunch? Might sound cruel, but I really hope that you broke his nose and not your pretty little fist.”

Michael put her on the ground and ruffled her hair.

“I need to go home...”

“Then go. I'll make sure he disappears from here. For good.”

Danny nodded and walked out into the rain.

Her fist hurt mercilessly. On the way home, Sanders regretted that she allowed herself to punch Patrick so hard. Not because he didn't deserve it, but because she had to stop by the convenience store and buy frozen peas to put on her aching limb. Just for the record, they didn't have ice, and peas turned out to be the cheapest alternative.

Danny was pissed. That little Philippson brat had already shown his ugly side before, but this time he went too far. This time, she decided to tell her father about everything. When Patrick tried to convince her to give up the clinic so he could have it to himself, taking advantage of her fragile feelings for him, she took it as a personal insult and wanted them to resolve the issue strictly among themselves. If she decides to resolve the issue, that is. But this time... It was an insult to her father! She won't forgive him for that!

As she drove up to the house, she nearly knocked down the mailbox. It was hard to see in the dark because of the rain. Lightning flashed in the distance. The clap of thunder that followed it seemed to sober up Sanders, who was frozen on the threshold of her own house, and she ran inside the house.

“Dad!” she ran across the entire first floor, without taking her shoes off and soiling her aunt's carpets with mud. “Dad!”

Eric was sitting on a leather sofa in his office. His injured leg was carefully laid on a pile of pretty decorative pillows on the coffee table. Hearing his daughter's scream, he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He put aside the book that he was trying to read. Wasn’t that interesting anyway.

“Dad,” Danny ran into the office, almost tripping over the threshold.

“Dear Lord, be careful honey,” Eric looked at his daughter anxiously “Something happened?”

“Dad, we need to have a serious talk.”

Eric nodded and gestured to the chair opposite the sofa.

“It's about Patrick,” she sat down.

“Honey, I already told you not to worry about Aunt Martha's plans...”

“No, dad, she has nothing to do with it.”

She gave him a long and detailed description of the situation that had occurred between her and the young doctor some time ago. He listened patiently, nodding his head occasionally. Before he could get a word in, she told him about how Michael had helped her escort the impudent man out of his office. This information somewhat strained the doctor. Danny saw a crease appear between his eyebrows. His gaze was empty and his teeth bit into the nail on his thumb. She knew that her father didn’t run around with this jerk because he wanted to. It was a favor to an old friend. But she doubted that friendship with the i***t's father could be a good enough reason to forgive such disrespect. Seeing Eric tense up, Sanders gave him some time to digest the information. When he nodded, Danny put a folder on the coffee table and moved it closer to her father. The doctor quickly flipped through the contents and looked at his daughter.

“Dragomir said that these are the people you were hiding him from.”

Eric exhaled sharply as he threw the folder back onto the table.

"They're coming for him tonight..."

“There is nothing we can do…”

"He was scared, Dad. I didn’t even know that Dragomir could get scared!" Danny tapped the papers with the tip of her index finger. “I don’t know what kind of monsters are coming for him...”

Eric smiled grimly when he heard her use the word "monsters."

“We can't let them have him...”

“Danny...”

“Dad, you hid it for a reason, didn’t you? How many transfer requests have you turned down?”

“Honey, it’s very complicated. I don’t want to force you to do such things…”

“You’re not. I want to help him. Just tell me what to do”, she carefully took her father's hand.

“You might get in trouble...”

“Dad,” Danny moved from the chair to the sofa, “I can see that even the thought of letting these people have Dragomir terrifies you.”

“Danielle, you're my daughter...”

“I am. And I will do anything to help you. Even if it means putting up barricades around the clinic. Or send a dragon to protect it from strangers.”

Eric took a deep breath. He did not want his only daughter to take such a risk. But he was aware of the consequences of letting those people have his patient. Dragomir had to be protected at all costs. Eric knew that and that protecting him had to be his responsibility. Not Danny’s.

“Let’s try to manage without the dragon” he sighed heavily and gently stroked his daughter's hand with his thumb, “Danny, this is the last thing I wanted you to do. You're not ready for all of this. And there is no time for me to explain everything to you.”

“You don’t have to do it right now, dad. Just tell me what to do.”

The man sniffled, brushed away unwanted tears, and smiled sadly at his daughter.

“I’m afraid you still have to learn something… Unfortunately, I won’t be the one to teach you. Damn it, Danny… if it wasn’t for my leg, I would…”

“Dad, if not for the leg, the transfer papers would not even have been signed.”

“Danielle, listen to me carefully,” Eric looked her in the eyes. “You have to help Dragomir escape.”

“Come again?”

She forgot how to breathe for a moment. As far as she knew, Dragomir wasn’t mentally well, and/or he might be a criminal. Was it safe for a young woman to kidnap such a patient from the clinic?

"I understand how it sounds, but you need to trust me on this” he frowned. “Honey, we don’t have much time. First, go to the bookcase.”

Danny got up from the couch and walked over to the huge wooden bookcase. She looked over the shelves.

“Look to the left. Do you see a crystal figurine? There’s a secret door behind it. There is a button with a coat of arms on the wood. You need to press on it.”

As soon as Danny followed the instructions, the panel moved back a little and then went to the side.

“A safe? Since when do we own a safe, dad?

“Dial the code, dear. It’s your full date of birth.”

She nodded and did as she was told. After a short beep, the lock clicked. Sanders opened the door and saw that the safe contained papers, CDs, audio cassettes, several plastic cards, and keys. Without waiting for further instructions, she picked up the disks. Each was signed with a letter and two numbers. Guessing that the discs contained information about the inhabitants of the seventh floor, she took a random CD and hid it between the books.

“Take a credit card. The one with your name on it. And a white plastic card marked with a red star.”

Danny followed the instructions.

“There should be a security work schedule on my table. Can you check who’s on duty tonight?”

Sanders found the piece of paper on the table and studied it carefully.

“Mark! He should be in the clinic at midnight!”

“Great, so at about one in the morning, he will leave his post.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You see, Danny,” Eric squinted slyly, “Mark is in love with Nellie, our head nurse. His night shift schedule almost perfectly matches her schedule. Thus, Mark manages to spend time with the woman who owns his heart.”

"And you just let him get away with it?"

“Who am I to stand in the way of true love?”

“I don’t buy it”, Danny chuckled.

“Fine. I have other reasons. But we will talk about them later. Come here,” he waited for his daughter to sit next to him again and continued. “Now listen carefully. First of all, you will go to work and take a vacation at your own expense, for about a month. Explain this to family circumstances, but do not go into details.”

She nodded.

“Drive up to the clinic through the emergency gate. There is a slim chance that no one will see you there. Don't worry about the cameras, I'll have Michael turn them off. At about 01:15, go down to the basement and find locker D-77 there. There is no lock on it, so just open it and take Dragomir's things. Use the stairs to get to the seventh floor and lock the doors to the other floors on your way up, including the one on the first floor. When you get to the seventh floor, call the elevator and put something between its doors so that it cannot be called from other floors. Lock the doors leading to the second staircase, too.”

“Why?”

“We do not know at what time these people will come to pick up Dragomir. This might buy you some time. After that, go straight to Dragomir's chamber, attach the card to the electronic lock, wait until the inscription on the electronic scoreboard changes. Then you unlock the door using the control panel located next to his room. It is very easy to use. There are only nine buttons. Six of them are arranged parallel to each other, in two rows of three buttons. They unlock the first six chambers. Two more unlock my lab and Dragomir's chamber. The button you need is marked with the number 7.”

“And the ninth?”

“You don't need it. The ninth button is large and red. It is to be used in case of an escape attempt. It locks all outer doors and lowers the bars in the hallways. Danny, promise me you'll go straight to Dragomir's room and don't linger in my other patients' rooms.”

Danny nodded, not fully understanding why her father was asking her to do that.

“And the last thing,” Eric sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers, “the people who will come for our friend ... they are quite dangerous.”

“How dangerous?”

"I don't think they'll risk harming you, but it's best not to run into them just in case. Therefore, it is better than no one knowing where you are taking Dragomir.”

“Do I get to know where I’m taking him?”

“To Romania, my dear. Thank God, the borders between European countries are open, so there should be no delays. You need to take him to Romania and return home. He'll be fine on his own after he gets there, trust me.”

“Dad, but you know where we're going.”

“I do. But they can never know about it. We have to act like I didn't know that you wanted to escape with him.”

Danny swallowed.

"You'll have to act on your own once you step outside this house... And bring me my sleeping pills. I will tell your aunt that was feeling odd so I had to take them."

“ Is it necessary? Last time you were sick after those pills.”

“Danny, how would you be able to steal the key and credit card from the safe if I were sitting here without arousing suspicion?”

“You’re injured.”

“I can throw stuff at you. This may sound convincing. I didn't feel well so I asked you to bring me my sleeping pills. When I fell asleep, you snuck into my office, took everything you needed, and ran away.”

“Auntie will be delighted. I dread to imagine how big of a lecture I will get when I get back.”

“I will get one the moment I wake up tonight. We'll have to live through it. Now go to the kitchen and get me my pills and a glass of water.”

Erik smiled when she came back and gave him the medicine. Danny squatted down next to her father. He stroked her cheek.

“Forgive me, dear. I never wanted to ask you for such a thing... But we can't risk it. Dragomir must be protected from these people. And I can't trust anyone with his life but you.”

Danny nodded.

“You can do it, Danny. I believe in you. Now go, if Martha comes back and sees that you're home, it'll be harder for you to get back to the clinic.”

When Danny was sure that her father was not looking in her direction, she took the disk that she had hidden earlier from the shelf and ran out of the house.