Harry
"I'm here to see a patient by the name of Allison Parker." The chill from the hospital creeps it's way up my spine and makes me shiver. I hate the way this uncomfortable chill makes me feel. The aseptic smell of the health center mixes with a distracting smell of flowers and pointless hope. There's nothing that I hate more than this.
The middle aged nurse who sits at the desk in front of me lets her fingers type on the keyboard while squinting her eyes through her glasses. Her brown hair is pulled in a low ponytail while her bangs cover her creased forehead as she stares at the monitor. Colorful cartoon rabbits cover her scrubs, making her look rather approachable. At least her scrubs look a little more inviting. The nurses at the institution only wore splintering white scrubs.
"And what is your relation to Miss Parker?" she asks while glancing up at me through her silver frames.
I hesitate before slouching my shoulders, putting on a sad face in hopes to convince her. I drop my head and sigh while leaning against the white cold desk, letting one of my hands to go to my hair as the other lays in front of me.
"I-I'm her boyfriend.." I shake my head and bring my sad and convincing eyes to hers. "She got mugged last night in front of a club. I was on the way to pick her up and then... I got the phone call," I suck in a sharp breath, placing my pointer finger and thumb at the bridge of my nose. I shut my eyes tightly as if I'm about to break down just from thinking about it.
"I understand," the nurse says apologetically before standing up and placing a hand on my arm that lays in front of her on the desk. "She's in room 206 right down the hall. Go down the hall and take your first right. She's the third room of the left," she gives me a soft smile and squeezes my arm.
"Thank you," I nod and pull my arm away before continuing down the hall towards her room. I shake my shoulders once I disappear from the nurse's sight and push my hair behind my ears. I put my hands in my jacket pockets and stroll away from the nurses station. At least she believed it.
The sound of footsteps and beeping monitors fill my ears as I shuffle down the hallway. Nurses go in and out of the rooms as patients lay helplessly in their beds, looking as miserable as ever. The unappetizing smell of food trays linger out of the rooms as patients eat their lunches. My stomach turns at the smell and I swallow a lump that blocks my throat, feeling sick all of a sudden. God I hate hospitals.
When I reach room 206 I notice the door is cracked opened enough for me to see the girl laying in the bed. Her blonde hair lays sprawled on the pillow as she sits up watching the tv hung on the wall across from her. She has a bandage wrapped around her shoulder with a monitor above her making an annoying and bothersome beeping noise.
I step closer to the door and knock before entering, not waiting for any kind of invitation. The girl quickly whips her head towards me and gives me a confused look. As she should, she doesn't know who the hell I am. Not to mention I don't look very friendly. I wear a black leather jacket over a white V-neck shirt paired with black jeans. My long hair sits just at my shoulders, looking ragged as ever. I probably look like hell too. I haven't gotten any sleep and I'm sure the bags under my eyes look rather unappealing.
"W-who-" she squeaks while sitting up farther in the hospital bed.
"I have a few questions for you Allison," I start while striding over towards her, pulling a chair over and placing it right next to her bed. I sit down and lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees.
"How do you know my name?" she looks more worried now, as if I'm the one who shot her last night. I could have, but it wasn't me this time.
"I have my ways, but that's not important right now. I need to know what you saw last night at Big Top," I say while clenching my jaw.
She pulls the thin blanket up to her chest with her non bandaged arm and grips it tight against her. She looks like shit herself. There's dark marks circling her brown eyes. Her skin is pale and looks icy to the touch, most likely from the piercing cold air that radiates from the vents.
"You want to know what I saw? I saw my life flash before my eyes! That's what I saw! I could've been killed last night," her pale face begins to reveal a deep red color as she stares at me angrily.
I shrug and look at my fingers that are now intertwined with one another. I play around with the rings that rest on my fingers, turning and twisting them as I wait for her to calm down. If we're both angry this won't be a good visit. I need to concentrate and gain some knowledge from last night. She's my only hope at this point.
I take a deep breath and finally look up at her. She looks really disgusted at me, like how dare I ask her a question like that. I compose myself and nod simply at her before pulling a cigarette out of my jacket pocket along with a lighter. I stick the cigarette between my lips and let the flame from the lighter catch on the end. She only stares at me in horror as I take a long drag.
"I get that, but I need to know who you saw. Did you see the guy who went on a firing rampage? Do you have any memory of what he looked like, what he was wearing or anything? I need something," I supplicate while searching her face for any answers she may have.
"What are you a cop or something?" She asks out of uncertainty. I let out a sadistic chuckle and shake my head. She looks at me even more confused, wondering what I found so funny.
"Hell no, I'm no pig," I spit while continuing to shake my head out of pure humor. "But I need to know exactly what you saw," I say slowly and seriously, focusing my eyes now on hers before blowing some smoke out of my nose.
She watches the smoke linger in the air before she takes a deep breath. She shakes her head before laying her head on the back of her stiff pillow behind her. Allison looks up at the white tiled ceiling before closing her eyes as if she's trying to remember the harsh memory from just a few hours ago.
"I was just coming from the bathroom when it happened. The club went completely dark and I started hearing gun shots right next to me. My friends were waiting for me at the bar but must have gotten out before me because they never found me. There was a red light coming from the stage after the first gunshot fired so then I was able to see how close I was to the guy. He was probably about 10 feet away from me wearing a black hoodie with the hood pulled over his hair. His eyes were a piercing blue color, a really just chilling color, full of coldness. H-he aimed the gun right at me once he noticed I was frozen in place, unable to believe what my eyes were seeing. When he went to fire the gun, someone ran in front of me, letting the bullet enter their body and grazing just my shoulder," Allison keeps her eyes shut tightly as she breathes heavily, recalling the events.
"I fell to the ground and I guess he thought he killed us both because he walked away, stepping over me as I laid on the floor. He wore black Vans with regular blue jeans. His shoes were right by head as he passed over me. I tried to keep quiet and act as if I was dead so he would leave me. I stayed there until the gunshots stopped and someone carried me out to the sidewalk in front of the club and set me up against the building before calling an ambulance," she finally opens her eyes and takes a deep breath before bringing her one hand over to her bandaged shoulder, laying it gently on top.
I furrow my brows and bring my fingers up to my lip, letting it rest in between. I smush the cigarette on the tiled floor with my boot, leaving the remnants behind. I look out the window on the opposite wall, looking at the trees that line the hospital building. I need to know more. I need to know what his intentions really were. Being given the descriptions of him is rather helpful but I need more. I need to know why he did this and if he's coming back.
I look at Allison who looks rather exhausted from reliving the harsh memory again. Tears brim her eyes as she stares up at the ceiling. I can't say that I feel any empathy for her. I couldn't care less actually. I just came because I needed some answers and she was the only one who was alive enough to help me. This is strictly business, I don't give a shit about anything else.
I sigh and lean back in the chair crossing my legs in front of me so my booted feet hide underneath the bed. I run a hand through my hair before crossing my arms over my chest, letting one hand come to my chin. The room is silent now except for the cheesy soap opera playing distinctively on the television.
"Did you see who else he shot? Was it just anyone in his way or did he pick and choose who he shot?" I ask bringing my dark eyes to study her watery ones.
She glances over to me while keeping her head on the pillow. She nods and swallows a noticeable lump that's lodged in her throat.
"H-he only went after girls that were blonde and guys that had longer brown hair," she sniffles and hesitates while her bottom lip trembles slightly.
"Kind of like yours."
Very interesting things coming!!
Also almost 300 reads, that's amazing! I appreciate you all :)