Bruno moved from one news station to the next, picking his teeth with his pinky finger. Nothing was showing his work of art at the hospital, everyone was talking about the weather or a scared little boy who got saved by his pet Chihuahua.
How did that unbelievable story top the nurse he'd left dead in one of the best hospitals in the state, switching the television off, Bruno thought more about his next approach and eliminate method.
The security would be buffed but only around his targets and their room floor was another hassle, he wasn't dumb enough to think they'd classify the death as a silly mistake. Bruno didn't make mistakes, he made statements - big ones at that.
"Fuckers." He mumbled to himself, opting to clean his gun, he would take a silencer with him next time, it'd make his job easier.
A loud bang on lower level of the house made him sigh, if Maxwell wasn't paying him a shit load of money, he would have killed the clumsy bitch locked up downstairs.
"What did I tell you bitch?" Bruno said as he took the stairs downstairs.
There was an iron door at the foot of the stairs, not that the girl locked up had any sense to try to escape. Jamming the key into the lock, he shouldered the door open.
The space was so dark he had to use the torch on his phone and just a few feet away was the lanky bitch cleaning up her mess.
If he hadn't known her since she was a wailing baby, he'd have missed her, she's perfected making herself look invisible.
"I-m sorry." She stammered as she wiped the water she'd spilled.
"How many times have I told you to watch it?" Bruno sneered, stepping on her fingers.
To her credit she didn't yell or show any sign of pain. "I didn't see the table."
"How dumb can you get?" Bruno pressed down on her fingers with his heel. "I told you to push these junks to the side of the wall and leave your cleaning till it's time for you to have your candle."
"You didn't give me a candle yesterday."
His backhand was swift, her head snapped to the side from the impact. "What else did I tell you about requesting for things?" She didn't respond.
"Clean this mess up." Bruno kicked the bucket she'd been squeezing the water into, spilling the contents back on the floor. "I don't care how you clean up but be quiet, I'm thinking up there and you're disturbing me."
"I understand." She picked up the bucket, mapping out the spots the water had spilt with the light he was offering for now.
"I will be away for two days starting from tomorrow so I'll bring down the left over bread and since you have water to spill, you can drink from the bucket."
"Thank you." She said, she had a few bottles of water hidden away but she wasn't going to tell him that.
"Remember." He zipped his mouth. "Be fucking quiet, I don't want to come back here again."
She watched him go, hearing the familiar slam of the door, the twist of the key and the usual locking sound.
Squeezing the rag a final time, she picked up the bucket and dropped it silently by the side of the wall where she wouldn't kick it over again.
Walking carefully on the wooden floor avoiding the parts that creaked , she walked into another segment of the space that had been turned into her room.
The springs on her bed had long since found their freedom outside the material so she slept on the floor with a blanket to cover but on some days the heat was so unbearable she slept naked.
It was pitch black but she'd learnt to adjust her eyes and also steal a few candles when Bruno wasn't watching.
She winced when she brushed her fingers over her cheek, it stung but if she left it for a few days, it got better.
Removing a candle and a box of matchsticks from a tiny crack in the wall, she counted the matchsticks making sure she had enough to last her till when Bruno returned from wherever.
Her biggest fear growing up was when Bruno had to go on length trips, sometimes he'd be gone for months. The most he'd been gone was eight months. She'd cried her eyes raw banging her hands on the door till they were bloody screaming for someone to help her.
Nobody came and she made do with nothing but water and spoilt food till he came back, he'd beat her till she passed out for staining the door with her blood but that night he tossed a plate of food past the door and she happily ate it from the floor.
She lit a matchstick watching the lovely glow illuminate her room before lighting the candle, she allowed the matchstick burn out hissing when it burnt her fingers.
The candle was only going to last a few hours so she quickly picked up a book she hasn't finished.
Bruno always received a visitor every three months, she knew when he was around because Bruno dropped off new clothes for her and several boxes of books.
She was given strange things like chocolates or strange gifts; the chocolates tasted great and she stashed them on most days but most of the gifts were complex like the rubic cube she received the last time.
The books were strictly educational, save for one or two that had big graphic images that she memorized in her spare time, they were more distracting especially the one about the animals so she always looked at them last.
Right now she was reading a book titled 'Justifying the law'. All the books were based on different branches of law, she'd read so much she could quote some sections like the back of her hand.
Bruno always told her to focus every time he drop off a new box. 'This knowledge is the only thing that can get you out of this hellhole, read as much as you can until he needs you.' Those were his words.
She assumed the 'he' was the man who always came visiting every three months. Leaving this place she'd called home all her life was her life long dream, so she read every book till they were worn from use.
Bruno told her she'd get a name when she got out so till then he'd call her bitch, she knew the meaning but Bruno had a heavy fist and wasn't afraid to use it.
She often went to sleep wondering what her name would be, nothing came to mind, none of the books contained anything relating to names. Falcon sounded nice but it'd be silly to be named after a bird.
The candle burned slowly, she'd store the wax when it burnt out for when it was cold. During winter, Bruno brought in a bit of snow for her to see and touch and no matter how many times she'd seen it, she was still fascinated. After he left, she'd huddle under her short blanket wearing all her good clothes, burn the wax and pour them on her feet or hands; that was the most effective way to help with the unbearable cold.
Two hours later she closed the book, yawning and stretching her taut muscles. Another box of books would probably arrive when Bruno got back, that would keep her busy and if she was lucky, they'd be no more rubic cubes.
Bruno's loud footsteps distracted her, he was dragging something across the floorboard, a bag perhaps but it sounded like a big one.
He'd never needed to be gone a long time in recent times and subconsciously she hoped he came back quickly. There had been infrequent thoughts about her spending the rest of her life in a box or dying when he was off somewhere, none of those thoughts ever frightened her- they sounded like silly dreams and she didn't know any life other than the one she'd lived inside her black box.
As for death; she'd knocked on his door several times over the years begging on her hands and knees for him to end her misery, he paid her no attention going off to retrieve other souls worthy of his time. She wasn't scared of death, he didn't even know her name.
The rhythmic click of the door snapped her out of her day dream, she quenched the fire with her fingers, tossing the evidence into the crack in the wall.
"I'll be off soon. Come take this."
She got to her feet following the dim glow of his torch. "Thank you." She collected the loaves of bread, sardines and butter.
Bruno grunted dragging his trousers further up his waist, "Your books are here but I'll give them to you when I get back."
She stopped herself from demanding for them, he said he would be away for two days, she would wait. "Thank you again."
Bruno walked out, locking the door behind him. She listened to his heavy footsteps receding up the stairs and finally silence.
She counted the bread with her fingers, she'd have to eat a slice a day and save the rest incase he didn't come back when he said he would.
She secretly hoped he would.
•
Bruno threw the bag into his car, everything he needed for the operation was in it, if he failed this time Maxwell would kill him - not that he could - it was nice to make him feel that way.
He drove off his property, inputting his security code at the gate. Maxwell had gone all out with the property and nanny proposal years ago but Bruno didn't mind the helpless cries of a baby and a house all to himself away from everyone was a dream come true.
The journey to the hospital lasted two hours, it could have been shorter but he took all the routes where the security cameras were faulty, that way he'd eliminated the possibility of a trace.
It looked the same as the day he'd infiltrated the walls but he knew the interior would be trickier, Bruno sat at a distance watching the activity, he couldn't go in the same way he came so it was time to improvise
He'd given up thinking up a new way when an ambulance zoomed past, nurses and doctors rushed out before the driver had the time to unbuckle his belt, and an idea presented itself to him.
There was one way he would get into the hospital unnoticed and he had a few bones to break. He rushed to his car, waited patiently for the ambulance to drive away and followed at a safe distance.
It was the driver and a young woman sitting shotgun, probably his assistant, Bruno wouldn't have much use for her and a creepy smile lit up his face at the thoughts fleeting past his mind.
The ambulance turned into a homely street- the pickup fences kind with children toys littered in the yard. The housewives were probably at their engagements and the children off to school, the husbands might be home fucking their mistresses or they might be at work fucking their assistants.
Bruno held the steering tightly, looked around to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary and pressed his foot down on the pedal.
The ambulance jerked forward from the impact and Bruno's head hit the steering wheel, he let out a loud curse haven't not calculated that.
"Sir! Sir."
Bruno looked out the window, it was the driver knocking on his window, he rolled it down.
"Your head is bleeding." He said, there was a nasty scowl on his face but his voice was calm. "You hit us back there and your seat belt isn't fastened."
Bruno nodded, closing his eyes and wincing. "My head is pounding."
"Come with me." He opened his car door, helping him inside the ambulance, his partner gave him the stink eye.
"There was no need to speed down the road on a Saturday morning." The nurse sniffed him. "Thankfully I don't smell alcohol on you and that is a nasty gash on your head."
"He'll need a few stitches and-"
"I don't have insurance." He said playing for a little pity.
"We won't write you up, it's just a few stitches and your car took more damage than our old truck." He chuckled when his assistant rolled her eyes.
She numbed the area around the wound and efficiently stitched it closed. "That looks good, keep it dry and covered for a few days. If you see some discoloration you should go to the hospital but if it's pinkish then that means it's healthy."
Bruno nodded, jumping down from the ambulance waving off the drivers assistance. "This was very nice of you but now I have to do something not very nice of me."
The assistant was too busy cleaning up but the driver looked confused. "What does that mean?"
"Exactly this." It played out in slow motion, Bruno drew his gun and shot the driver in the thigh and leg, that got the assistant's attention, she rushed to him trying to stop the bleeding.
"What the hell? How-"
He shot her in the head, cutting off her emotional speech. She dropped like a heavy sack.
"Oh my God! Cheryl!" The driver cried out.
"We will have time for a reunion later but I really need you to fall asleep."
The driver held his assistant's head in his hands, pushing her hair aside to expose the entry point. " She's still alive, please call-"
Bruno hit the side of his head with the butt of his gun, he passed out over his assistant.
He took another look around the neighborhood, it was deadly silent. He jogged to his car, started it and parked far down the street, he would come back for it later.
He jogged back to the ambulance in quick strides, jumping into the back, he made quick work of his clothes, replacing them with the driver's.
A small mirror hung on the side of the ambulance, Bruno stared into it admiring the stitches the lovely woman had given him then ripped the wound open.
Time to make an appearance.