William ignored the keypad lock on the nursery door. He used the master physical key he had sworn only Victoria would possess, the metal cold against his palm. It was 2:00 PM, and she hadn’t come down for lunch.
Inside, the room was dim, the curtains drawn against the grey afternoon sky. Victoria lay in the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. When William sat beside her, she didn’t flinch. She turned her head slowly, her eyes unfocused and glassy.
“Victoria?” He touched her cheek. Her skin was clammy. “Did you sleep well?”
“I… I feel heavy,” she slurred, her words dragging like stones. “The blue pills… Gretchen said…”
William snatched the pill bottle from the nightstand. *Sedative hypnotic. Prescribed by Dr. Aris. Dosage: As needed for agitation.*
“As needed?” William growled. He shook the bottle; it was half empty after only three days.
He stormed out of the nursery and found Nurse Gretchen in the hallway, sorting linens.
“You are fired,” William barked, holding up the bottle. “You are drugging my wife into a coma. Get out of my house.”
“I take my orders from the conservator,” Gretchen replied, her voice devoid of emotion.
“I am the husband!”
“And Lady Beatrice holds the emergency medical injunction,” Gretchen countered, pulling a folded court document from her clipboard. “Signed this morning. Given Ms. Vance’s history of ‘flight risk’ and ‘hallucinations,’ the court has authorized mandatory chemical rest. If you interfere, Mr. Croft, security will remove you from the East Wing entirely.”
William stared at the paper. It was a legal wall he couldn’t punch through. He looked back at the nursery door, realizing with a sick dread that he wasn’t the warden anymore. He was just another inmate.