Freida McFadden

Ward D

taci

She'll never entirely leave me though. I saw her the most when I was drinking those peach iced teas laced with hallucinogens, but even after Jade left my life, I still saw the little girl from time to time. It's been nine years, and I have never told a soul aside from Jade. I don't know if the drugs she slipped me triggered something inside me that couldn't be turned off, but that little girl is always with me. Always. And she always tells me to do things. Bad things. But I don't listen. Of course I don't. Well, most of the time. I did listen at that party when Cameron andI hooked up. I dropped some laxatives from the medicine cabinet into his girlfriend Jess's drink because I had my eye on Cameron for a while, and the little girl knew how badly I wanted to get him alone. I listened to her when she told me to send a damning letter to the director of that research fellowship Cam applied to because she knew I didn't want him disappearing across the country for an entire year. I also listened to her when she told me to go back and check Seclusion One instead of making my escape from Ward D. And when she whispered in my ear to stab Jade with Mary's knitting needle. I never would have thought to do that on my own. But I don't listen to her blindly. It's not like I would do absolutely anything she tells me to do. I mean, I would never kill anyone just because the little girl told me to. Even though it feels like more and more, that's what she's been telling me to do. But I wouldn't do it. After all,I would have to be crazy to do something like that.

"He's too good for you, you know. Ljolt slightly at the voice. I drop my eyes, and my heart sinks. A pretty little girl is standing in front of me as if waiting for an iced dirty chai tea latte of her own. Her blond hair curls around her heart-shaped face, and she's wearing an immaculate and frilly pink dress. Her familiar blue eyes bore into me, an unreadable expression on her face. I hate this little gird. So much. I avert my gaze, trying to ignore her ike I always do. But she is not to be ignored. "He's probably going to dump you soon," she says. I swivel my head to watch the barista making a drink, observing the steps with great fascination. I wonder how they know how to make all those drinks. Do they take some sort of course to learn? Coffee 101? He'll dump you just like Cameron," the little girl adds. Just like all the others dumped you."

I put down my drink and raise my hand as my coffee date marches through the door. The guilty party in my addiction. Will Schoenfeld. Will's hazel eyes light up and he raises his hand in greeting when he sees me. He looks really cute today in his Columbia T-shirt and baggy blue jeans, with his hair just the right amount of tousled from the wind outside. You can't even tell that he spent a night in the ICU a year ago, recovering from an overdose of Ativan. We've been dating for four months now, and we recently had a talk where we asked each other if we were really boyfriend and girlfriend or if we were just casual. And we decided that yes, yes we are indeed boyfriend and girlfriend. So that's where we are right now.

Damon grins. "Maybe you should've dropped a few more hallucinogens in her peach iced tea." I feel like Damon just slugged me, For a moment, my entire world is Crashing down around me. "What?" Jade drops her eyes, but Damon just laughs. "Come on, Jade. She's going to die-you should at least tell her what you used to do to her. It's funny." You didn't!" I cry. Jade lifts a shoulder. You are always drinking those peach iced teas. It was so easy just to drop a little something in there if you went to the bathroom or... you know." "Oh my God."I clutch at my cheeks. "I thought I was going crazy. That was you drugging me all along? How could you do that to me, Jade?"

She ignores my feeble attempt to apologize. "We met in such an interesting way too. What do they call it a meet-cute? Damon was my mother's drug dealer. You know how she was always hooked on pills? Well, he used to bring them to her." I'm not sureI would call that a meet-cute, but I'm not about to Contradict her. She smiles distantly. "And he was the one who brought her the cocktail she OD'd on. She had no idea what she was putting into her system. Damon was so clever about it."

You're more resourceful than I thought you were." His gaze lifts to the fluorescent lights overhead. "If you hadn't been so damn curious, you actually might have gotten away. Respect, Amy. Truly. I take a step back. Stay away from me..." "Why are you so afraid?" "I don't know who you are, but I know you're not Dr. Beck." You're right I haven't even introduced myself." He smiles at me and those dimples pop. He really is handsomeI can see why Jade fell for him. "My name is Damon. Damon Sawyer. And it's very nice to finally meet you, Amy. I've heard so much about you."

The beam of my flashlight first rests on the bed. There's a woman there. A small woman of around eighty years old. She is staring up at the ceiling, a drop of blood in the coner of her mouth. She is so still. It's Mary. Mary Cummings. She's finally joined her husband. I move the beam of light away from Mary's dead body. But that's a mistake. Because the next thing the light illuminates is a figure lying in the corner of the room. A male with the frame of a football player, dressed in blue scrubs. And when the beam hits his eyes, they are staring ahead at nothing. I clasp my free hand over my mouth. "Cameron," I whisper. "Cam..." He's dead too. 

If I ever had a chance, this is it. I grab my phone out of my pocket and turn on the flashlight function. I shine it around the room until I locate the door. And then I make a run for it. The door to the unit is directly on my left. All I have to do is grab the handle and get the hell out of here. But before I can do it, I find myself hesitating. I find my eyes drawn in the direction of the seclusion rooms. Notably, to Seclusion One. Don't you want to see what's inside? I shine my flashlight in the direction of Seclusion One. The keypad that usually glows green has gone dark. Is this when Damon Sawyer escaped? Or is he still in the room, ready to pounce when I open the door? And then a terrible thought hits me. When anyone leaves the unit, the door alarm sounds off. It's like a siren you can hear it everywhere. AndI haven't heard that sound once since I first entered Ward D. Cameron supposedly had a family emergency and left the unit. But if that were true, we would have heard that deafening siren noise emit from the door. Which means... Cameron never left.

OMG I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH DE. BECK

I click on the text message from Gabby, which came hours ago, shortly after I texted her that I had arrived at Ward D, and that Dr. Beck was cute. God, my priorities were different back then. Her text message fills the SCreen: You thínk Dr. Beck is cute2?? You perv, Dr. Beck is like eighty years old!!! I stare at the text message on the screen. My heart is pounding out of Dr. Beck is like eighty years old! my chest. So according to Gabby, who spent a week working with him, Dr. Beck is an old man. And if the attending physician on this unit is an old man, then who the hell was just with me in this room? And then the bar on my phone disappears.

They were wrong But none of that is what is shocking. What makes my heart drop into my intestines is the story of what brought Damon Sawyer to the emergency room in the first place on this particular occasion. When I read it, I'm certain I must've read it wrong. This can't possibly be what I think it is. But every time I read the words, they say the same exact thing. Sawyer was with his girlfriend. The two of them were drinking beer together, and they decided it would be hilarious to go and rob a bunch of banks using their beer bottles. So they went all over town, demanding money from bank clerks while pointing their beer bottles at them. Jade does have a boyfriend. But her boy friend isn't Will Schoenfeld, who was never hearing voices at all and just went too far to achieve his dream to be a reporter for The New York Times. No, Jade's boyfriend is Damon Sawyer.

"It's just a mild sedative, Will," Dr. Beck grunts. "This would be so much easier if you could just stay still." It takes both of them to keep him restrained, which means Ramona cant get to the syringe in her pocket. She looks over her shoulder at me. "Amy, can you grab the syringe? Just inject it right in his deltoid." My stomach drops. "You want me to do it?" "Amy, no!" Will screams. “Please! I didn't do anything! You have to believe me!" It would be easy enough to do. A syringe is sticking out of Ramona's scrub pants, and all I would have to do is jab it in his upper arm. Two people are holding him down, so it shouldn't be that hard to do. Except then I hear a snicker from behind me. I rotate my head, and that's when I notice Jade standing just outside the door. Her hands are folded across her boobs, and she has a smirk on her lips. I have known Jade for a long timne, and I know that look. That's when it hits me. She's not afraid of Will at all. She was lying to me. She was lying to Ramona and Dr. Beck. She is enjoying this. Amy?" Ramona says. Iswallow a hard lump in my throat. "... I don't think..."

I open my mouth but I'm not sure what to say. Will told me a lot of things, but none of them felt like lies. "He loves to make up jobs for himself to seem more important," Jade says. "Like that he's a pilot. Or a teacher. Or a reporter. Even though all he's done since we' ve been dating is occasionally drive an Uber, and most of the time he doesn't even do that. His parents have been giving him money to keep him afloat, or else he'd end up on the street." I can only shake my head. "You didn't believe him, did you?" Jade squeezes my hand. "Don't feel bad if you did. God, I can't even tell you how many of his lies I fell for over the years. But after I talked to you, that was the first time I got scared that he could be dangerous."

"Are you okay?" Ramona asks me. "Did he try to hurt you?" No, of course not," I say. "I was so worried!" Jade squeezes her hands together, and to my surprise, her eyes spill over with tears. "I couldn't find you, and when I realized you were with him, I was so scared he was doing something terrible to you." Not even a little bit." I give her a hard look. "He did tell me that the two of you aren't really dating though." Jade's eyelashes flutter. "He said that? Seriously?" Yes..." Jade reaches out and takes my hand in hers. Will and I have been dating for three years. I swear it. I don't understand why he would say something like that. Well, I do understand, actually. He's always been a compulsive liar. What other nonsense did he tell you?"

He doesn't answer, and Jade kicks him in the shin with her Doc Marten. In response, he groans loudly. What did you do, Jade?" Imanage. She smiles pleasantly, like there isn't a bloody man tied up two feet away from us, "I just told him if he didn't do what I said, I was going to stab him in the eye. He was really cooperative after that." You can't possibly think this is going to solve anything," I choke out. I mean, as soon as you let him go, we're going to be in so much more trouble," Right." She bobs her head. Except we're not going to let him go, We're going to kill him." At Jade's words, Mr Riordan's good eye flies wide open. He starts struggling against the duct tape, although it doesn't do much good. The whole display just makes Jade laugh.

No, I don't," he says firmly. "Because.. I don't hear voices." I snort. "I see. So they just went away on their own, is that it?" No, I..." He licks his lips as he takes a breath, carefully measuring his next words. They never went away because I never heard them in the first place. I was never hearing voices. I... Ilied about it." Okay. This is the absolute last thing I expected him to say. "Excuse me?" I lied, okay?" He scratches at his stubble. “I read a bunch of stuff about how a paranoid schizophrenic is supposed to act, then I went to the emergency room and read the script. And they put me here." I stare at him. "Why on earth would you do something like that? Are you out of your mind?" "No, I'm not. That's the whole point." He drops his voice so I have to strain to hear. "So here's the thing. I'm not an Uber driver. I'ma reporter. This former patient of Ward D came to me with this story about how he felt patients were mistreated here. But, you know, it's hard to get a straight story out of a lot of the patients here, and I didn't want to print a bunch of patient hallucinations. So I thought the best way to get my story would be to experience it firsthand."

"T'm not!" He lays a hand on his heart. "I swear on my life that Jade is not my girlfriend. I hardly even know her!" "Is that why she had her hand on your shoulder when we were in the hallway before?" He frowns. "She looked upset about Mary. What was I supposed to do? Push her away?" "And I saw you disappear into her room... "I assure you," he says, "that never happened. Jade is... She's somebody to stay away from. So that's what I've been doing. I don't even know her last name. I swear." Will's eyes are wide and earnest behind his glasses. He actually looks like he's telling the truth. "Tm sorry," I say. "It's just very hard to believe you after you lied about those pills. I mean, you haven't taken any of the antipsychotics you've been prescribed. How can I trust you?"

Jade gestures more vigorously. "Come on "All right," I say. "But just for a minute." I step through some wayward grass that has grown into the pathway to the back door. I climb the three steps and pass through the entrance to the kitchen. And that's when I realize whOse house this is. My mouth falls open. The peach iced tea I have been holding in my right hand drops to the floor, spilling brown liquid all over the grimy kitchen tiles, intermingling with the droplets of crimson. And I realize at that moment that I will never ever be able to drink peach iced tea ever again. That I will become ill at the very thought of it. "Ta-da!" Jade says, and she bursts into giggles. Oh no. This is worse than I could have imagined.

And when I discovered Will wasn't taking his medications and told Dr. Beck about it, Jade was the one who yelled at me. She accused me of betraying him, Except I never quite understood why she cared so much about a complete stranger. I think back to what I read in Jade's chart. She was going from bank to bank, robbing them with a beer bottle. But she wasn't alone. According to the chart, she went on her crime spree with her boyfriend. Who presumably came to the hospital at the exact same time she did. The same night Will was admitted to the emergency room. Oh my God. Will is Jade's boyfriend.

"But when I tried the code for the door to the unit, it didn't work!" I glance over my shoulder. "Could you help me get out? Il be right back." That's a lie. As soon as that door opens, I'm gone. At this point, I would rather flunk out of medical school than come back here. Ramona tilts her head to the side. "Oh, Amy, I wish I could. But when the fuse blew, the doors reset. The passcode doesn't seem to work anymore. And the phones went out too. Unfortunately, we may be stuck here until the morning." My stomach sinks. "There's no other way? I mean, we have to have a way out. What if there's a fire?" "Believe me, I'm not happy about this," Ramona says. "But with the computer system down for the night undergoing maintenance, I'mn not sure what we can do. We just better hope there isn't a fire, right?"

fter I punch in the final number of the code, I expect to hear that loud alarm noise and a click as the door unlocks. But instead, all I hear is a soft buzzing noise. I must've punched in the wrong code. I type it in again this time, trying to steady my shaking hands. 347244. That's it. That's the code Dr. Beck typed in this morning. I could recite it in my sleep. Except when I type it in again, I only hear that soft buzzing sound. What is going on here? "It's not working," I report to Will.

"Well, I'll tell you something else you might not have thought about." He settles down on the sofa beside me. "That other med student what was his name? Carter?" Cameron.. Right." He drops his voice a notch. I heard him screaming." What?" "Right." His eyes dart over to the door, a fearful expression on his face. "And it was hours ago "But... where?" 4 heard it from my room," he says. "And then here's the really crazy part..." He takes a deep breath. "When I came out to the hall to see what was going on, I think I saw the door to Seclusion One slamming shut." I feel like somebody just punched me in the gut. "What? Are you sure?" Im not sure," he admits. "I said I think I saw it. It all happened really fast. But if the door to that room was open, then..."

That nurse Ramona got rid of it." I suck in a breath. "Wha(?" "She came and cleaned it all up while you were grabbing Dr. Beck," he says. "I saw her do it. She came out real quick as soon as you left, cleaned up the blood, and then she was gone before you got back and Dr. Beck could see it." My head is spinning. “Why would she do something like that?" Will starts pacing across the room. "I don't know. But what am I supposed to think when the only person who saw what I saw is a guy with paranoid paranoid schizophrenia who hasn't been taking his medications? And right now, Will is looking a lot more like the person that was described in his emergency room notes. His hair is sticking up, and his hazel eyes look wild. He stops pacing and stares at me. You don't believe me." I play with the drawstring of my scrubs. It's time to tell him the truth. "I know you haven't been taking your medications. I found them hidden in your copy of The World According to Garp."

Poor Miguel.. We're going to have to call 911. Or actually, I guess we're inside a hospital so there's no need to call 911, I'm sure he ll have to go straight to the emergency room. If he's alive at all. Please let him be alive. Please. Except when we get to the room, I get the shock of my life. On the flor outside Seclusion Two, there's absolutely nothing there. No blood. Nothing. Dr. Beck turns to look at me. "You said there was blood on the floor... I stare down at the floor, which is completely clean. 

I step through the dark hallway in the direction of the seclusion rooms. I hear that choking sound again, coming from Seclusion Two, and now it almost sounds like someone is gasping for air. "Miguel?" I call out. "Are you okay?" Then something emerges from the crack under the door. A dark liquid. It's blood. And it's leaking out from under the door.

I started this book on a flight home from nashville and got 70% of the way through on the flight. I was intrigued! this book kept me hooked for sure, but not anything groundbreaking. it’s a book I’d recommend reading in one sitting, but also one you could pass. freida’s books have been really easy for me to read through and have time pass by but I don’t think they are anything amazing. 3 stars for me!

Tara Bounkeovisane

That was such an easy read—classic Freida. Honestly, everyone in this book needs to be checked into a psych ward. I got really hopeful around 80% in because of the twist, but the ending totally dragged.

Kath

3.5 ⭐️

That was such an easy read—classic Freida. Honestly, everyone in this book needs to be checked into a psych ward. I got really hopeful around 80% in because of the twist, but the ending totally dragged.

Amy, have yourself checked. Bye!

OK WHAT NOW?!! 🙊 I was 100% sure i had guess the plot twist in this book, and i just thought i had it.  BUT THE EPILOGUE?? Girl…. Girl… phew. I didn’t see that coming. It was a fast read for me and quite refreshing actually. 

tiffany 

A nice quick thriller, something other than fantasy and romance. 

Edna Aviles

OH MY FUCKING GOD. This book was perfection, obviously very creepy but when you think you figured it all she comes with 10 another plot twists. I was HOOKED. THE ENDING OMFG WHAT WAS THAAAAT

This had me hooked from the start, the plot kept me reading, always surprising me and I didn't see the plot twist. This was faced pqced and I loved every second

Samantha King

NaMia Cannon

I loved Ward D! I was trying to save this one for last because I had a feeling I would really enjoy it but I couldn’t wait any longer. 

Just one night spent at the psych ward shouldn’t be too bad. Until the bodies start dropping and you don’t know who to trust. 

It’s a Freida book so I would trust no one.

 Some patients have mild psychological problems while others need to be secluded behind locked doors. As if that wasn’t scary enough you get several of them claiming that one of the crazier patients has gotten out and is planning to unalive them all. One patient is an old childhood friend who seems to enjoy playing mind games. On the plus side one of the patients is Spider Dan and he’s the real MVP here. Go web! 🕷️🕸️

The only thing I had a hard time wrapping my head around was why Amy would trust Jade so much when even in the past chapters the relationship they had wasn’t entirely trustworthy. I wish there would have been even a tiny justification for Amy wanting to believe Jade. Ex. maybe if Amy stole that sweater and took the heat for Amy or the same with the answer sheet for the test. Anything like that would have given me a moments pause to think Jade could have been a real friend. 

Christa Bell

I loved Ward D! I was trying to save this one for last because I had a feeling I would really enjoy it but I couldn’t wait any longer. 

Just one night spent at the psych ward shouldn’t be too bad. Until the bodies start dropping and you don’t know who to trust. It’s a Freida book so I would trust no one. Some patients have mild psychological problems while others need to be secluded behind locked doors. As if that wasn’t scary enough you get several of them claiming that one of the crazier patients has gotten out and is planning to unalive them all. One patient is an old childhood friend who seems to enjoy playing mind games. On the plus side one of the patients is Spider Dan and he’s the real MVP here. Go web! 🕷️🕸️

The only thing I had a hard time wrapping my head around was why Amy would trust Jade so much when even in the past chapters the relationship they had wasn’t entirely trustworthy. I wish there would have been even a tiny justification for Amy wanting to believe Jade. Ex. maybe if Amy stole that sweater and took the heat for Amy or the same with the answer sheet for the test. Anything like that would have given me a moments pause to think Jade could have been a real friend. 

This was so good. I couldn’t trust anyone in this one and when I think I have something figured out something else happens that changes my whole perspective. This was a fun one to read and makes me kind of glad I decided to not work in the medical field if anything it added to my cemented decision😂

Priscilla Stanfield

kept me on my toes through every page. loved the twists at the end. SO crazy!!!!

Jessica Roberts

me gustó el plot twist de dr beck pero no tanto el epílogo

Ximena Calvo

Spider-Dan, Spider-Dan, does whatever a spider can 🎶

Jillian Roberts

No me lo esperaba pero siento que no me impactó tanto 

Valeria 

Nicole Henderson 

Shidehdeishidi

I think that this is my 2nd favorite book from her so far

Samantha 

Good story, however written in very simple and predictable way. 

Jess

Good story, however written in very simple and predictable way. 

Nice and easy read though.

Sydney Minick

⭐️-3.5

This book started off great. Pulled me in every direction! I was lil disappointed at the plot twist because I felt like it wasn’t as good as her other plot twists. Overall, still a easy thriller read!

Where are all my Freida McFadden Housemaid Fans at?  This book is 🤯 A psychological thriller that  I just couldn’t put it down.

Amy is a medical student who has to do her 12 hour shift locked in Ward D, the psych ward.  The catch is it that there’s a special code to get in, no cell service and you cannot leave until the end of shift.  She is caught up in the psychological twists and turns and doesn’t know what is real and who to trust. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Barbara Williford

Where are all my Freida McFadden Housemaid Fans at?  This book is 🤯 A psychological thriller that  I just couldn’t put it down.

Amy is a medical student who has to do her 12 hour shift locked in Ward D, the psych ward.  The catch is it that there’s a special code to get in, no cell service and you cannot leave until the end of shift.  She is caught up in the psychological twists and turns and doesn’t know what is real and who to trust. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

FREE with Kindle Unlimited 

Cassie Casaburi

I’ve been working my way through Frieda’s works for the last few months now and there hasn’t been a single book that I haven’t loved but this one takes the cake for sure! She always puts refreshing and enjoyable twists into her stories and these left me wanting for nothing. Absolutely excellent, I wish I could go back and reread it for the first time over and over again.

Ward D

Reviews

Highlights