My senses tingle with the urge to burst into movement. Alarms are ringing in my head, screaming at me to evacuate as soon as possible.
Luckily, I have my clothes on underneath my hospital gown and my phone is still stored in the back pocket of my shorts. The only thing left to do now is to beat it and get the hell out of here.
The question is, how exactly am I going to do that?
I mull over my options. I have no idea what the layout of this hospital is, much less where the nearest exits are located. Plus, my chances of getting seen by staff are pretty high, considering the fact that they're swarming the place.
Unless...
I look to my right and spot a white lab coat draped over a chair. Right next to it on the table sits a clipboard and a pair of glasses.
I pull my hair in a quick high bun, throw on the lab coat and glasses, and grab the clip board. By now, the two nurses outside my room have gone.
I take a deep calming breath, and slip out of the room.
Immediately after leaving, I take a sharp turn right and cast my gaze downwards in hopes that I just look like a shy intern finding my way around. Multiple people pass me but I don't dare to look up and face them, so I keep staring intently at the shiny hospital floor.
I'm white-knuckling my clipboard at this point, but I force my legs to keep taking step after step. I lift my head, trying to look for an exit sign, but it's nowhere to be seen. I pass by multiple patient rooms, and a nursery with babies that blast my eardrums off with their cries.
Finally, when I'm about to lose hope and turn myself in, the green shining exit sign appears after a left turn. Thank god. As I near the door, my heart rate climbs a level with each step I get closer.
Then, when I can't take it any longer, I burst forward into a run and fling the door open, launching myself out of the hospital.
The bright sun hits me square in the face; I've never felt more alive. My adrenaline is swirling in my veins.
I just escaped a hospital.
My eyes zero in on a familiar van concealed in the bushes lining the parking lot of the hospital. Speaking of, why is the parking lot so crowded with people?
The van, which I now realize is the Twinkie, starts pulling deeper into the brambles. Immediately, I start running full force at the van, making sure not to draw any attention to myself in doing so. When I reach it, I start tapping frantically at the glass.
Inside, I can see most of the gang, but they're ducking as if they're hiding from something. What is going on?
At first, they look at me like they've seen a ghost, but the recognition settles in as they realize it's me and not some nerdy (hot) looking doctor smushed up against the window.
JJ, who's the closest to me, whips forward and swings the door of the van open for me to scramble inside. A bombardment of questions meets me as I drop into a seat.
"Yo, what are you wearing?"
"Are those glasses?"
"Why are you dressed like a slutty doctor?"
"Shut up, Pope!"
"What?? It's not Halloween, Kie!"
"I had to wear this to not get caught sneaking out of the hospital, okay?" I rush out, ripping the glasses off and chucking them on the floor of the car.
"Roger that, Dr. Brington." JJ mocks, gesturing to the name embroidered on the lapel of the lab coat.
I stare at him with a straight face. His smirk drops. I rip off the coat and it joins the glasses on the floor.
I turn my attention to the group. "Thank you guys for saving me on that airstrip."
JB props himself onto his elbow with great effort. "We're just glad you're okay."
Kie nods and her eyes flicker to my bandaged arm. "We were so scared, C. When I saw you fall covered in blood, I thought that.. that-"
I reach out with my good arm and pull her in for a hug, cutting her off from a full on meltdown.
"I'm okay. The bullet barely grazed my arm. Sadly, the same couldn't be said for Peterkins."
The rest of the group share a knowing look that indicates they know something I definitely don't.
"Celeste there's something we probably have to tell you-" Kie starts.
"John B is the #1 suspect for Sheriff Peterkin's murder," JJ blurts, earning a pointed glare from Kie.
"I had to get it out there. Rip the bandaid off," he shrugs.
My mouth gapes open. John B isn't making eye contact with me, and that itself gives me the answer.
"It was clearly Rafe! Everybody saw it happen!" I exclaim, my face burning up from anger.
"No shit, but when I went to the police to turn him in, Ward already told them I did it," John B answers, "They tried to chase me down. I barely made it back."
This cannot be happening.
"You don't deserve this."
He sighs. "They always blame the Pogues for the crime."
"Yeah. Who are the cops going to believe? Ward Cameron, or us?" JJ adds.
Pope weighs his two hands in front of him. "So the accuser is a bigshot developer, lord of the island. And the accused- John B- is pretty much a homeless 16 year old boy."
"Thanks." JB grumbles under his breath.
"Shit." I curse.
The truth is fully setting in now.
"Law enforcement is going to be searching far and wide for you."
"It's okay, Sarah will bail me out of jail." John B remarks, sounding more like he's trying to convince himself than us.
"She did witness the whole thing," Kie says.
Pope's eyebrows knit together in his classic thinking face. "Sarah isn't just going to snitch on her brother."
"We gotta get you off the island." JJ says to John B.
"I'm telling you. The ferry: it's the only way." Pope reasons.
The sound of faint police sirens fill the distance. "Guys, get down." I say, hunkering lower in the seat.
A police car whizzes by on the main road, and deep paranoia sets in. The police really are on the hunt. We're in deep shit.
"We need to get you out of here." JJ concludes.
Pope opens the driver door cautiously. "I'm going to go see when the ferry times are."
I watch as he jogs over to a board with news posts, grab one off of it, and hurry back with a newfound intensity.
"Okay." He says, breathlessly. "We got some bad news."
Pope holds up the piece of paper up to the window.
"The ferry's closed, and there's this,"
Kie grabs the paper and I peek over her shoulder at the black writing under the picture of John B's headshot. It's not hard to read the words WANTED in block letters plastered under his face.
Above his face, though, is what is truly worrisome.
John B's eyes widen as he looks at the $25,000 reward that is assigned to his name.
"Well this is a good framer of you," JJ adds unhelpfully.
"Wait. JJ." Pope says, his eyes glimmering with that I-have-an-idea look. "Does your dad still have that cigarette boat, the Phantom?"
"Maybe."
"You could get right up to the coast, no problem. The surf's running 3-4."
"It's not going to be that easy. I don't even know where the keys are."
"Find them, then!" Pope's voice is starting to give way to frustration as he grips the steering wheel tighter.
"Why is nobody moving forward?"
"Relax, Pope." I say, scared people are going to start to notice.
Kie cranes her neck to look at JJ. "How much weed did you give him?"
"Weed?" I exclaim.
JJ laughs out loud. "Little Pope tried bud for the first time today."
"A lot happened when you were unconscious, okay?" Pope shouts, and starts to honk the car horn rapidly with his palm.
Fuck.
A boy from the far side of the parking lot points to the van and taps his mom.
"Look mom! It's that wanted guy! Right there!"
My fist clenches.
"Shit. We got a snitch."
"We get $25,000 if we find him!" The boy continued, and I can tell that he's catching other people's attention as their heads whip around to our direction.
Without warning, we hear a loud pounding sound from the back of the van. My heart races when I see a man pressed up against the window, staring directly at John B.
"Hey! He's right there!" The man yells, a greedy expression lighting up his face.
"Turn the car on, Pope!" JJ yells, and Pope scrambles to start the engine.
A commotion starts outside as more people gather to watch.
All of us are shouting now, which is making Pope even more panicky (more than he probably is from that weed) and his hands fumble around to try to start the car.
The engine finally starts with a rumble, but the van lurches forward and we crash into the car in from of us with a crunch. We get thrown forward from the impact, my head slamming into the seat in front of me.
Pope jams the wheel hard right, and we go veering onto the grass. We drive bumpily through the field while almost killing a bunch of people along the way.
Pope swerves right again, and the car's back wheel skid frighteningly as we enter the main road.
"Watch out!" I shout.
Then we crash straight into a mailbox.
Debris flies everywhere, shards of sand flying into the windows.
My eyes are closed shut, but instead of hearing the expected yells or screams or sobs, all I hear is Pope laughing his ass off.
"What the fuck, Pope!" Kie yells, her voice cracking from fear.
"I'm living my best life now!" Pope whoops.
I huff, cradling my head in my hands. I can feel the migraine creeping up on me.
"Stop!" JJ shouts shrieked. "I should be the last one to say this Pope, but you are not okay to drive."
The tires squeal as Pope slams down onto the breaks.
"JB. Get out." Pope says.
He's right. The cops are one hundred percent after us right now. If we create a divergence, then John B is less likely to get caught.
"I'll get the rig and meet you in the dump tomorrow, okay?" JJ says as John B jumps up and grabs his things.
"Three, tomorrow at the dump." John B confirms as he jumps out of the car and takes off into the brambles lining the road.
"Go!" I shout after him.
My stomach squeezes at the thought of him being out there all alone. Any wrong move could mean getting caught by the cops.
The door slams shut, and Pope, foot to floor, takes off down the road.
My head pounds. This is so fucked.
John B is a suspect to a murder that he didn't commit. And not only am I a witness, but I was shot by the real murderer.
A burning rage bubbles up inside of me as I think about the rashness of Rafe's actions. Protecting your father my ass. You're just trying to prove yourself to be a strong grown man that you're clearly not.
But after what happened today, after seeing him in the hospital, I've made up my mind.
Rafe Cameron has no mercy. He doesn't care about anybody but himself, even if its me.
This whole time, I've been teetering on the line of loyalty because of unresolved feelings that I had (have?) for Rafe. That ends today. Feelings or not.
From now on, it's Kooks versus Pogues.
I will do everything in my power so that the Pogues land on top.
"Pope." I start, clasping my hands in front of me. "I'm gonna need some of that weed."
A/N: My bad guys, its literally been so long. But I hope you enjoy this new chapter. Now that it's summer, I hope to be pumping out content more frequently so be sure to stay tuned and comment your opinions and feedback.
Also I know some of these events are SO unlikely: like how did Celeste get treated by a doctor without her identification? I don't know. Someone needs to teach me how hospitals work; I don't watch Grey's Anatomy.
<3