Page 46 of Wish I Were Here
I look back and forth between Dr. Dawson’s and Janitor Osman’s photos. “Who are these people anyway?”
“They’re former hospital employees. Both left their jobs recently, and human resources collected their ID badges. The protocol at the hospital is that when someone leaves their job, they give their badges to my associate in IT to shut off their security access. My associate generously agreed to leave the badges’ access on for another twenty-four hours.”
I wonder if his associate still has all his limbs. “But if anyone even glances at my badge, they’re going to know immediately that I’m not Dr. Dawson. Do I need this to get through security? Show this to a guard?” I clutch the ID in shaking hands, remembering how I handed my driver’s license over to Bill at the Social Security office. That ID actually had my own picture, and I still almost got arrested. They’ll lock me up and throw away the key if I get caught breaking and entering with Dr. Dawson’s badge. And then I’ll never get my job back.
“Nobody should be checking badges. All of that is done electronically.” Fabrizio gives me a reassuring smile. “The badges just give you access to the parts of the building that aren’t open to the public. Like the hospital basement.”
Okay, that doesn’t sound so bad.
“All you have to do is swipe your badge to ride the elevator down to the basement,” Fabrizio continues. “Onceyou’re in the basement, you’ll need to locate the file room. There should be a sign. But it will be locked.” He thrusts a small piece of paper into my hand. “Your badges won’t work for the file room. Access is only granted to certain hospital administrators.”
I turn the paper over in my hand.Donnie, it reads. And then a phone number. “Who is Donnie?”
“Donnie is my associate, and that’s his number. He works in IT and can remotely open the file room door once you’re standing outside of it.”
“And then what?”
“Then you go inside and find the file from your birth. It should be in there somewhere.”
My gaze drifts from the badge in my hand to Luca’s face. Can we really pull this off? As if he can read my mind, Luca gives me a nod and a reassuring smile. I guess if we get caught, I can always hope the judge is a Morelli. The odds seem in my favor.
Luca turns to Fabrizio, and they do a hand-slap shoulder-bump handshake. “Thanks again for your help, man.”
“Let me know if you need anything else.”
Fabrizio gets into his car, and with a wave, he drives off. I clutch the scrubs to my chest and look around for somewhere to change. We’re in the farthest row of a dark parking lot with no other vehicles around us. Are there security cameras back here? I guess my only option is to go behind the car and hope for the best.
I turn around to find that Luca doesn’t share my concern with public displays of nudity because he’s kicked off his shoes and pants and is standing in his black T-shirt anda pair of boxer briefs that hug his muscular legs. Mystery solved about whether his tattoos extend beyond his arms. I clear my throat and look away from the blue jay gliding across his thigh. “You didn’t want to go behind the car or something?” I ask, dragging my eyes to his face.
Luca looks down and shrugs. “I wear less than this at the beach.” He takes his time stepping into the janitor coveralls and zipping them up. A name tag on the chest readsBob. I guess Fabrizio didn’t pilfer Malik’s uniform when he stole the badge.
And then I realize I’m still standing there watching Luca, so I quickly spin around and move behind the car to change into my scrubs. I slide out of my jeans, taking another quick glance around for security cameras. When I’ve pulled on the scrubs and tucked my jeans into Luca’s car, I use the side mirror to twist my hair into a tight bun and arrange the surgical cap over it. If anyone actually catches a glimpse of my ID badge in person, I’m done for. But maybe if I keep my hair covered, they won’t be able to identify me in a lineup later.
And then I wonder if there’s time to grab my to-do list from my bag and addfind a good lawyerbefore we head inside. I’m not this person who impersonates strangers and breaks and enters. I eat all my vegetables and go to bed by ten. If I do this, I reallycouldbe arrested and lose my job.
But if I don’t do it, I could lose everything.
“You ready?” Luca asks when I meet him on the other side of the car.
“Not really,” I mumble, shaking a little as I pull the security badge over my head.
“You’ll be great,” Luca says. “Everything will be fine.” He reaches out to squeeze my hand, and a warm glow drifts up my arm and settles in my chest. I squeeze his hand back, grateful for his presence. I am deeply skeptical that everything will be fine, but it’s nice to know I’ll have a companion in the back of the cop car.
I take a shaky breath. “So, what’s the plan now?”
“When we get near the hospital entrance, we’ll split up. I’ll go in the left door, and you go in the right. Just act like you’re an ordinary doctor coming back from your break. We’ll meet up at the elevator and take it down to the basement together.”
“Okay,” I say, slightly breathless.
“Whatever you do, just pretend you belong.”
He says that like I know what it means.
We head across the parking lot and, like Luca laid out for me, we veer off and go our separate ways, entering the hospital through different doors. I hesitate briefly in the lobby, eyeing the security guard at the desk by the entrance, half expecting him to jump up and arrest me right then and there. But his gaze drifts past me as he casually scans the room, so I keep walking and stop at the elevator.
I sense someone approach from my right, and out of the corner of my eye, I see a flash of blue coveralls. It’s Luca, coming from his entrance on the other side of the lobby, but I focus on pressing the elevator button, and I don’t meet his eyes. The doors open, and Luca and I step on, still not making eye contact. Instead, I look at the buttons. In addition to floors two through ten, our options are G—the floor where we got on—and B, for basement. The elevator begins toclose, and I reach for the B. But just as I’m about to push the button, a hand appears between the doors, and they bounce open again. My shoulders stiffen as a handsome blond man in blue scrubs and a white lab coat steps on.
“Going up or down?” he asks.
