“I didn’t think you’d believe me. You’ve never trusted me. I’m sorry.”
No, she thought, remembering that last waltz, the music and his sad face and the way he disappeared. I’m sorry.
“You were following me all along. We didn’t meet by chance.”
“Oh no. It was chance. Fate. I didn’t know about you, wasn’t looking for you. But when I met you, I knew the Authority would find you sooner or later. I didn’t want them to find you.”
“But they did.”
“Once again I apologize for that. Now, we’re getting out of here.”
He started to pick her up, moving one arm to her legs and the other to her shoulders. She leaned away, pressing herself against the wall in an effort to put more distance between them.
“Please trust me,” he said.
Why should she believe anything he said? She didn’t know anything about him. Except that he was a marvelous dancer. And she needed to dance.
She put her arms around his neck and let him lift her.
“Come on, then.” He picked her up, cradling her in his arms. She clung to him. “Get the door, would you?”
She pulled the door open. He looked out. The corridor was empty. Softly, he made his way down the hall.
Then Ned froze. Voices echoed ahead of them, moving closer. Without a word, he turned and walked the other direction. If he had been able to run, he would have rounded the next corner before the owners of the voices saw him. But he held her, and he couldn’t do more than walk carefully.
Footsteps sounded behind him. She looked over his shoulder and saw a doctor flanked by a couple of orderlies enter the corridor.
“Hey! Stop there!” The doctor pointed and started running.
“All these bloody doors lock on the outside,” Ned muttered. “Here, open that one.”
She stared. The door had no handle, no visible hinges or latches. Ned hissed a breath of frustration and bumped a red light panel on the wall with his elbow. The door popped in with a little gasp of hydraulics.
He pushed through into what turned out to be a supply closet, about ten foot square, filled with shelves and boxes, and barely enough room to turn around. He set her on the floor and began pushing plastic tubs at the door. He soon had enough of a blockade to stop their pursuers from shoving through right away. He kept piling, though, while the people outside pounded on the door and shouted.
Madeline cowered on the floor, her legs stuck out awkwardly. “You can’t dance for both of us, and I’m too big for you to carry me through.”
“Yes.”
“You shouldn’t have come. Now you’re caught too.”
“But I’m with you,” he said, turning to her with the brightest, most sincere smile she had ever seen. “It makes all the difference.” He went back to throwing boxes on the stack.
She caught her breath and wondered what she’d have to do to see that smile again.
“Help me stand.” She hooked her fingers on a shelving post as far above her as she could reach and pulled. Grunting, she shifted her weight to try and get her feet under her.
“Madeline, good god what are you doing?”
“Standing. Help me.”
He went to her and pulled her arm over his shoulders, reaching his own arm around her waist. Slowly, he raised her. She straightened her legs, and her feet stayed where she put them.
There. She was standing. She clenched her jaw. Her calves were exploding with pain.
“Do you think there’s a door in here?” she said, her voice tight.
“There’re doors everywhere. But you can’t—”