Final Truth

Chapter 44: The Hospital

Cassia's point of view:

Against every odd, all the horrid things that went on while I was underground, countless things that should've destroyed it, my hospital still stands as proud and pristine as it was before, looking a little out of place next to the broken buildings.

It beckons to me like home, my place of refuge that has been robbed from me in the past months. The sight of it brings joy to my soul, giving me newfound strength in my attempts to get everyone inside.

Susan, injured spine and all, assists in trying to carry a comatose Jacqueline, a feat she splits with Genevieve. Cade is a few paces behind me, Caleb slung precariously over his shoulder as if he weighed nothing. I've got Adam's arms around me as I help him trudge inside while he constantly grimaces at the pain in his stomach.

"We're here, don't worry," I whisper to him, throwing the doors open and letting the smell of sterile equipment welcome me back with open arms.

I look around for a moment, catching sight of the familiar front desk where people would check in, the endless sea of couches and plush chairs where people would wait, and finally the children's area, pieces of board games still strewn out as they were the last time I saw them, completely untouched.

"My sincerest apologies for interrupting your thoughts, dear, and I beg for your forgiveness if you think me to be rude, but there's a bullet in my stomach," Adam spits at me, letting one of his arms around my shoulders fall to clutch his abdomen.

"Oh God, okay, I'm sorry. Alright, I'm going to take you to the operating room and get you ready for surgery. I want the rest of you to take Caleb and Jacqueline to separate hospital rooms and lay them down. I'll deal with them next," I tell them, feeling extremely odd to be the only medical professional in the room, the sheer emptiness of this place now hitting me.

I yearn for Kyle, but I have to force myself to swallow the grief. I would mourn for him when the time is right.

They heed my orders, and Susan leads them to where the rooms would be, Cade sparing me a glance over his shoulder as he carries Caleb.

Adam nudges me in the shoulder to get moving, so I continue my carrying/dragging him to the operating room, past the waiting room and down an impossibly long hallway and through the double doors.

Then another long hallway.

Then another set of double doors.

And finally, the door to the operating room on the right.

"You know, they could've made the layout of this place less extensive when it was built," Adam grumbles as we enter.

"If I recall correctly, weren't you and one of your sisters architects for this place when it was built?" I bring up.

"Details," he grumbles, grabbing a clean hospital gown from one of the cabinets and sitting down. "You can, uh, give me a minute to change now."

"Nonsense, you'll hurt yourself. Besides, you can't wear a hospital gown during this thing; I've got to have access to your stomach. We've got some scissors laying around that we use all the time to cut people out of their clothes when they're incapacitated," I offer, turning around to go through some of the drawers and cabinets to find them.