LOVE COMES SOFTLY.

XXV.

She pinched the bridge of her nose until it hurt. Then she lowered her hand and looked across the door of the room where Mrs Mckade lay. She could stand here for another hour or two staring at that door, but eventually, she would have to carry out Dr. Stevenson directive. The longer she put it off, the more she would think about it, and the more she thought about it, the more contemptible it became.

She approached the door with all the alacrity of a ninety year old. Her tread was leaden as she grabbed the door knob and pushed it open.

The room was stifling.

She approached the bed where a weak Ella lay, her eyes opened but her body weak with the amount of sedative she had been injected with in the space of twenty four hours.

"Who are you people?" She asked in a faint voice, blinking only once.

Grace took a deep breath as she placed the tray, which held a syringe and a bottle of sedative, on the trolley beside the bed. "When I took this job, I was told you were I'll and needed care. I didn't know they would treat you this way."

Ella groaned. "T-they?"

"I don't know who Dr. Stevenson is working with." She shook her head. "And I can't tell your family without getting in trouble."

"H-help me."

Grace sighed again as she reached for the syringe and the small bottle. Inserting the needle into the tip of the bottle, she pulled the bottom of the syringe back until the bottle became empty. Placing the bottle in the tray, she turned to face Ella, whose eyes was beginning to water.

Her heart squeezed painfully.

Just then the door opened. One glance over her shoulder confirmed that it was Dr. Stevenson. Grace reached for Ella's right hand and pressed the syringe into it without meeting her eyes.

As Dr. Stevenson approached he said, "How's she doing?"

"She's sleeping now." Grace replied in a loud voice as she pocketed the sedative bottle.

Dr. Stevenson gave Ella a cursory examination. He listened to her heartbeat, checked the chart for her blood pressure and temperature, all without at her face or right hand. Her eyes were closed. Good. It meant the sedative was already kicking in and would keep her unconscious until the boss said otherwise.

"She became agitated a while ago and began crying," The nurse reported. "She begged me to let her get up. Dr. Stevenson, if she feels strong enough, I don't see-"

"Thank you, Ms. Kelly."

"Doctor, I'm sure you know best, but-"

"I'm sure I do too." He gave her a stern look. "I will no longer tolerate this this second-guessing, Ms. Kelly."

"I'm only considering what's beat for the patient."

"You don't think I am?"

"Of course, you are, Doctor. I wasn't implying that at all." She drew herself up straighter. "But I am a well trained nurse with years of experience."

"Which is why you were retained for this position. But you're overstepping your bounds."

"Mrs. Mckade is overly sedated. If you ask me-"

"I didn't!" Dr. Stevenson shouted.

"Furthermore, I think her lithium dosage is dangerously high."

"You see the lab reports. Her lithium blood level is exactly where it should be."

"Then I don't trust the lab, and I don't believe the reports."

Grace's heart was pounding against her ribs. Her knees turned to jelly when Dr. Stevenson turned with to her with a evil glint in his eyes. Her pulse her throbbed behind her eyes, and she knew her face was red.