Both Faith and Luke whipped their head around and nodded quickly. The woman picked up a walkie talkie and spoke into it with a shaky voice.
"Barney, I'm gonna need security down here. And a couple of doctors."
She eyes Luke's blood stained shirt and the scrapes covering either of them.
In an instant, two doctors, a man and a woman, rushed into the small waiting room. With one look at Luke, the male doctor reached forward, pulling him from his chair and guiding him to another room.
Faith followed closely behind. The woman grabbed at her sleeve, but the girl pulled away fiercely, and continued after Luke. Both doctors and kids entered the room, which was larger than imagined.
There was a small padded table which the male doctor motioned for both teens to sit upon. They did as they were told. Both looked a mess, their blonde hair all over the place. The doctors introduced themselves and asked Faith and Luke to tell them everything that happened. Faith began to restate their story in an exasperated, yet firm voice and Luke nodded along.
Meanwhile, security had reached the waiting room, but found no deranged woman. The only trace was blood spatters on the pristine glass doors. The receptionist shrugged.
"She just...disappeared."
~~~
After telling their story, the female doctor lifted up Luke's shirt in worry. The wound was still trailing blood and Luke swayed back and forth, lightheaded.
"Doctor!" The woman exclaimed, addressing the man who stood next to her with an equally worried expression, "We can't waste anymore time! Let's get this gruesome wound stitched up, pronto!"
The man nodded, making a quick call for supplies. A few people dressed in scrubs entered the room, one with a tray of tools. The other pulled Faith away, back to the waiting room.
After putting a few band-aids on her scrapes, which she later peeled off, they offered her a phone with which to call home. She calmly accepted it and dialled a number. It rang for a few seconds before a familiar voice picked up.
"Hello?"
"Ashton?"
"Faith? Where are you?"
"At the hospital."
"Wha-what are you doing there?"
"Please just come here. I can explain later."
"Oh my God, I've been so worried. Okay, I'll be there soon." Beep.
Faith returned the phone and sat back in the waiting room. Her brother rushed through the door minutes later and wrapped her in a hug. His golden hair was a mess, most likely from sleeping. She never thought she would be so happy to see him.
Ashton sat down in a chair across from her. With a stern look on his features, he spoke.
"You're not hurt, are you?"
She shook her head.
"No. I'm fine."
"Good. Now explain to me what's going on. Mum and I have been freaking out."
Faith's lip quivered. She didn't want to admit that she had been lying all along. Especially not to her brother, the person whom she looked up to the most.
"Luke's here." She mentioned quietly. Ashton's eyes widened.
"But we just came yesterday and they told us he wasn't here. Does Liz know?"
Again, Faith shook her head.
"He just got here. I brought him." She sighed. "Ash, I did something really bad."
Ashton raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"I've been lying to you. All those times I left home, I wasn't going to the library, or the mall, or all those other things I've said. I've been working for her."
"Who?"
"That girl that was with Luke when he collapsed. She did it. And I helped her."
"What are you talking about?"
"She's the Surgeon. She's bad. I helped her kidnap Luke. I didn't want to. I had to. But I helped Luke escape. We drove here and she chased us. The police have her now, though, so it's okay." Faith spoke rapidly, taking spasmodic breaths between odd words.
"Faith, I don't understand."
"Neither do I."
"Why did you do it?" Ashton asked.
"Because, I had to. She made me. She said she would kill you if I didn't."
"Kill me?"
"She's bad. I'm so sorry." Faith broke down into tears.
Ashton rubbed her back, mumbling soothing words. He was still left in the dark about the current situation.
Not much later, the male doctor re-entered the room, pulling off a pair of latex gloves. His eyebrows were knit together in concern.
"I've got good news and bad news," he said with a grimace, "which would you like to hear first?"
"I think we're in need of some good news," Ashton answered.
"In that case, your friend is all fixed up and ready to go," the doctor said without a smile.
The siblings immediately stood and followed the man into the large, bright room where Luke sat. He watched them as they entered. Ashton remained near the door, cautious.
Luke blinked a few times and smiled.
"Hey."
They both returned a relieved grin and Faith ran up to the blonde boy, wrapping him in a hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered.
"Me too," he admitted. As Faith pulled away, Ashton spun towards the older man.
"Doc, what was the bad news that you were going to tell us?"
"Ahh, yes. The woman you said followed you here...she was gone by the time security arrived."
The three teenagers opened their mouths in shock. Faith grabbed her brother's wrist.
"Ashton, we have to go. Now."
"We can't just leave out of nowhere. Where are we gonna go?"
"I don't know. She could be anywhere by now. And she'll be looking for us.
"She's right. I've seen what the Surgeon can do. We're not safe," Luke interjected.
"Let's go!" Faith pleaded.
"You children can't just leave. It's the middle of the night; definitely too dangerous for you three to be out alone, the doctor said. Luke slid out of his chair.
"Actually, it's more dangerous for us to stay here."
With that, the two boys followed Faith out the door, without so much as a thanks to the doctor. Ashton led them to his car.
"Hop in."
Luke got in the passenger seat and Faith sat in back.
"Where are we going, Faith? Ashton asked, looking at her through the rear view mirror.
"Just drive and don't stop."
xxx
rejected gum
