Biting winter air was drawn into my lungs with each sharp breath. Fueled by adrenaline, my heart thumped away in my chest, struggling to provide my burning muscles with enough energy and oxygen to flee at full speed. Branch after branch made contact with my skin, leaving me covered in scratches and bruises. The more I ran, the more they scraped away at me.
I spotted an opening ahead and burst out of the forest. My feet skidded in the snow as I came to a grinding halt just at the edge of a cliff. Powerful gusts of wind pelted my back as if urging me forward.
I did not look back. I did not consider defeat. I took one last deep breath and dove off the cliff, into the unknown.
-
Gasping, I opened my eyes to see only pure white. The air was warm and still.
My eyes adjusted. I was in a sterile white room—a hospital, I slowly realized. There was an IV in my arm and a heart monitor clip on my finger. Wincing, I tore the tube from my vein and removed the monitor, causing the machine to display a flat line and let out a shrill alarm.
A woman in medical scrubs burst into the room with a panicked expression. "Hey, you can't just take that off! You need to lie back down; you have a concussion." She stepped toward the machine and turned off the alarm.
When I moved to sit up, it felt as if every muscle in my body was sore. My head began to throb, and the room spun. "How did I get here?" I asked.
"Your boyfriend brought you into the emergency room last night. You were unconscious," she answered.
"Boyfr—?" I realized she meant Kyle. "He's not...Nevermind." Spotting my belongings lying on the floor, I carefully rose from the hospital bed to retrieve them. "Where is he?"
"I don't know. He was here all night, worried sick," she said. "It's great that you're awake, but please, slow down!" she urged.
I put my jacket on and laced up my combat boots, doing my best to bury the pain in the back of my mind.
A man suddenly opened the door, glancing at me with an odd expression. He tapped on the woman's shoulder, and they went to speak in the hallway. I tiptoed toward the door, listening intently to their hushed conversation.
"The blood results are in, and I...don't understand. The numbers are all wrong," the man said.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't even know how she's alive at this point. Most of these levels should be lethal for a normal person."
There was a pause. "I...I think she's trying to leave," the nurse said.
"Don't let her. Call security. There's something wrong here."
I slumped against the wall, processing that news. It was time to make another daring escape, except this time, I was in no condition to be running. I leaned forward, peaking out the narrowly open door. Already approaching down the hall were two large men wearing all black, one of them carrying shiny metal handcuffs. Shit.
There was a small window in the room, but I realized with dismay that I was on a high floor, as the drop must've been more than fifty feet. In desperation, I checked a few cabinets, discovering that a fairly large one was mostly empty.
Hiding worked before, so why not try it again?
I ducked down and scrunched myself uncomfortably into the cabinet, hunched over with my legs pulled tightly against my torso. I reached out and managed to shut the door tightly just as someone burst into the room.
"Hey Casey, is this the right room? It's empty," a bellowing voice said.
"Are you joking? She was just in here," the nurse said. "I was standing outside the door the entire time."
"She isn't hiding, is she?" I heard him open the cabinet next to me and had to cover my mouth to stifle my panicked breathing.
"No, dumbass, no one could fit in there," another man said.
"Is there a protocol for this? Do we put the building on lockdown?"
"We can't deny people of medical treatment just because of some weird results. What if it was a glitch?"
I grit my teeth as my muscles began to scream for me to change position.
"Put out an announcement. She can't leave without anyone seeing her. 5'3", long brown hair, blue eyes, twenty or so."
Finally, to my relief, everyone filed out of the room and the door clicked shut. I rolled out of my hiding place.
Their announcement sounded over the intercom. They described my appearance in detail to everyone in the hospital. In the back of my mind, I was almost certain there was no way out—that today was the day I'd be captured. But I was far too stubborn to resign myself to that fate.
I began rummaging through all of the drawers in the room, unsure of what I was searching for. One drawer contained some spare scrubs. Another had a surgical mask and scissors, which hatched a brilliant idea in my mind.
Without hesitation, I gathered my hair into one chunk and began cutting until it was left at shoulder length. Hastily, I put on scrubs over my clothes, pulled the cloth mask over each ear, and slung my backpack over my shoulder, hoping it didn't look too suspicious. I wasn't willing to leave it behind.
I turned the light off and cracked open the door. Waiting until the hallway was empty for a moment, I slipped out and quietly shut the door behind me.
I did my best to look like I knew where I was going as I passed numerous hospital staff. Inside, I was petrified. For some reason, it was more daunting to try to blend in with the enemy than simply running from them like usual.
Slowly, I let my guard down a little as I realized no one was even giving me a second glance.
But then a man stopped dead in his tracks, staring at me intensely. "Hey! What are you doing without your badge?"
I struggled to formulate some sort of excuse. "I...It must have—"
Then he burst out laughing. "Don't worry, I lose mine all the time! I was just pulling your leg." He kept chuckling to himself as he walked away.
Taking a shaky breath, I continued searching for an elevator or stairwell while trying to act as naturally as possible. Then I turned a corner too quickly, colliding with someone in medical clothing.
Beginning to profusely apologize, I looked up, only to meet Kyle's striking green eyes. They looked a bit red around the edges. "Tess?" he said with relief.
I laughed lightly and said, "I guess we had the same idea," referring to our matching attire. Then I said with urgency, "We have to leave."
He grabbed my hand, which was definitely a first, and lead me down a series of hallways. He must have already familiarized himself with the place in case we needed to make a quick escape. "I heard that announcement. What did you do?" he asked.
"Nothing."
We walked swiftly rather than running, so as not to draw attention to ourselves. At least that was my excuse, since I physically could not take any more running.
Finally, we entered a stairwell, which I managed to hobble down. A group of workers approached us, ascending the stairs to our left. With horror, I realized one of them was the nurse I'd spoken to earlier. She met my eyes. Time seemed to slow down. I thought better of my initial instinct to flee and immediately identify myself. Instead, I held her gaze and let out a cheery, high pitched "good morning!" in contrast to my normal attitude and lower speaking voice.
Seemingly convinced that it couldn't be me, she looked away. One of her colleagues replied, "thanks, you too," then turned to the nurse, "Will you explain exactly what happened?"
"Practically everything was off, some even at deadly levels. Doctor Williams was shocked," she replied. "He took the sample back for more testing, and it came back the same."
"And she was in stable condition?"
"Yes! She spoke to me and stood up! Then vanished."
"I don't know if I..."
Their voices faded out of my hearing. Kyle gave me a disconcerted look but said nothing. Our current priority was only to escape. We made our way down several more flights, my muscles burning. If we had needed to go up so many steps instead of down, I don't think I'd have made it.
Finally, we weaved through the crowded first floor, found an inconspicuous side exit, and stepped outside into the cool early morning air. The rising sun cast a warm, welcoming light over the city, but I wanted nothing more than to leave.
Kyle and I shed the medical disguises. It was time to steal a car.