Breathless ✓

Thirteen ✔

"Room 113."

"I'll get it." I say before Sam can volunteer, knowing she hates going up alone.

She quickly sobers up, straightening the blue nurse's gown and running a hand through her short, sandy blonde hair. Her professional front is back before I can even blink and she sits straight, sending me a grateful smile.

"Thanks, Vic," her chirpy voice calls after me as I push open the heavy double doors that lead to the inner part of the ward. "And don't think this subject is buried. I know something's up and I will find out what it is."

I sigh, a small smile lifting the corners of my lips. Sam is amazing, but this time her theory is as far off as the west is from the east.

Letting the doors slide shut behind me, I squint as the bright fluorescent lights pierce my already aching eyes. The silence hanging in the air is deafening and I quicken my pace slightly, wanting to get back to my desk as fast as possible.

It isn't often that we get called to a room at this hour, and usually it is either a false alarm or a prank, but we are still required to take it as seriously as we would if it was a true emergency.

Stepping into the large elevator, I press the button for the third floor and watch as it lights up a bright green colour. Just like Sam, I never appreciated the idea of standing in a confined space, hanging far above the ground with no security or assurance that it was safe.

It didn't feel safe.

But I was grateful nevertheless, God knows what would happen if I had to take the stairs. My legs would surely give in if I had to climb three flights of this ten floor building.

The sharp ding of the elevator cuts through the silence, shortly followed by the metal doors sliding open. I step over the threshold into a dimly lit hallway, the only light source being at the other end of the ward.

Great.

A shiver crawls across my skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake and causing my stride to steadily increase. A rock settles in the pit of my stomach, unease eating at my mind.

Calm down Victoria. You've done this a million times before.

Then what's different this time?

I don't know, that's the worst part. I have no clue why the air is humming with tension, why my body is coiled tight or why my legs want nothing more than to run back down all three flights of stairs; to Sam, to safety.

Taking a deep breath, I scold my irrational thoughts and push them down to the best of my ability. No need getting all riled up over nothing.

My calming heart, however, immediately jumps back into its hammering rhythm when I open the door to room 113.

Darkness.

It's not supposed to be dark. Patients' rooms are never completely dark.

I freeze halfway into the room. The entire space is smothered in a dense shadow and I fumble to find the lightswitch. Cursing under my breath when my sharp pain shoots up my leg, followed by something clattering to the floor. I finally find what I'm looking for and the stark light invades my vision.

"Goodness gracious..." I squint slightly to see a medicine cart at my side, that explains the throbbing in my left toe.

I'm about to declare this whole thing as a false alarm and get my butt back downstairs, when a deep voice stops me in my tracks.

"Not so fast, young lady." I spin around so fast that the floor sways beneath me. A tall man is leaning against the empty hospital bed, a lazy smile resting on his features. His pitch black hair is cropped short in a military style, and his dark brown eyes remind me so much of... Christian? "Or should I call you Victoria. Victoria Forbes, is it not?"