I change my clothes in case someone recognises me at the hospital, even though the staff who were there this morning may not be on duty, I wanted to be safe in case security recognises me on the cameras. I also grab a cap so no one recognises my hair. Before I leave the room, I grab my sunglasses so I would have something to disguise my face with.
Now I need something to help disguise the girl.
I glance around my room and checking my closet for something for her to wear. The only thing I had to put over her hospital gown was my dressing gown. She could use the clothes she had worn this morning, but she would be recognised by staff if she wore them.
I feel a stabbing in my stomach when I think about my sister. She had a crimson trench coat that she had gotten for her eighteenth birthday just two months before she was killed. It was perfect for her to hide her gown underneath it. The thought of a stranger wearing my sister's coat made me feel like being sick at any minute. I couldn't let a stranger wear her clothes. It wouldn't be right, but I had to. It was the only way to disguise the girl and sneak her out of the hospital without being recognised.
I walk slowly towards my sister's room. I stood in front of it, staring at the door like I was expecting Tiffany to open it and invite me in, just like she would have done in the past.
With my stomach twisting into knots, and the guilt for entering my sister's room without her consent, I reach for the knob and turn it slowly.
I flick on the light and glance around her neat and tidy room that hasn't been touch since she was gone. It smells stuffy in here and humid from not opening the window and door for almost three months. From standing at the door, I could see the dust on her furniture and belongings. Soon everything in here will be cleaned out and even more empty and lifeless like it is now without Tiffany. I heard my parents talking the other day, discussing what they were going to do with her things. They were thinking of keeping some of her things that were worth keeping such as some of her prize possessions, such as the trophies she had won for surfing and soccer. Her furniture they were planning to sell and her clothes were to be donated.
One of the things I don't want my parents to sell is Tiffany's Disney collection. If I ever had to remember my sister for one thing only, it would be her love for Disney. She was a Disney girl at heart. Figurines of her favourite characters sat on her shelves, sitting beside her collection of books. Plush toys of her favourite characters were scattered around the room, on the floor, the shelves, the floor and her bed. When we were four years old she would ask me to dress up as her favourite Disney Princesses since she didn't have a sister to dress up with. It's not something I'm proud of, and it's definitely a secret I have kept from Rhett and my other friends.
When my parents do start to clean her room, I want to have her Disney collection. That way I will always have something of what she loved still a part of me.
Pushing a side my sister, I walk over to the wardrobe. I stare at her clothes, ones that will never be worn again. Her crimson trench coat hangs on a hanger at the end of the wardrobe. I take it off the hanger, closing the closet. Folding the coat neatly, I tuck it under my arm and quickly walk out of her room before my parents sees me in here.
I walk to the front door, calling out to my parents that I was going over to Rhett's. They don't ask questions about when I will be home. They just tell me not to be home too late.
I walk out onto the street, heading to my car that's parked outside the apartment. I place the coat on the seat beside me, start the car, put on my seat belt, pull away from the kerb and drive to the hospital.
I find a parking spot near the main entrance, putting on my sunglasses and cap as I walk to the entrance. The reception is closed so it made it easy to slip right past and down the corridors to where I need to go. It's currently seven thirty, but I knew visiting hours end at eight o'clock. So I'm glad I won't be asked to leave just yet.
I enter the ward I visited earlier today. I smile at the nurse who was sitting at the desk, and walk past her. As I walk down to the girl's room, I hold my breath fearing that the nurse would ask me what I'm doing here. I make it to the girl's room without being ask what I'm doing here, especially when I will soon have to leave.
When I enter her room, it's dark, with only the light above her bed on. The room is also empty. Did they move her? Or maybe I'm in the wrong room.
"Hello? It's Riley. You ask me to come l I take off my glasses, folding them and hang them on the collar of my shirt.
No one answers me. I was about to leave the room and ask the nurse where she was, when I hear a click from behind me. Before I get a chance to look over my shoulder, a hand clasps over my mouth. I scream, but it only muffles behind the hand. My heart races fast in my chest as I was drag into the bathroom behind me and pushed up against the wall. The door closes behind me and I come face to face with the girl. I relax, knowing she won't do anything to harm me.
I hope.
She keeps her hand over my mouth before removing it. She stands there staring at me in silence. I wait for her to say something, but she doesn't.
"My name's Riley," I say. "What's yours?"
She blinks at me, her lips in a fine line. Her face is blank with no facial expression so I had no idea what she is thinking, staring at me as she tries to figure out who I am and whether or not I could be trusted.
I repeat my name and ask for her name again.
She continues to stare at me without any words. Before I could ask her again about who she was, she clamps her hand over my mouth. She signals me to be quiet. I nod, and she removes her hand.
I held out the trench coat when she took a step back from me. She stares at it in my hands.
"It's my sister's trench coat," I tell her. "I borrowed it from her. I figure you would need something to hide your hospital grown in case you don't have any clothes."
She smiles, and then it fades quickly. She grabs the coat from my hands and unfolds it. She holds it up in front of her, getting a good look at it before putting it on her. I watch her as she does the button up, amaze how the coat fitted perfectly on her.
"So how are we going to get out of here?" I ask. "There is a nurse at the desk."
Without saying anything, she grabs my hand and drags me out of the bathroom, through the room to the door. I place my sunglasses on to hide my face.
The girl peeks out from around the door. I peek around also, spotting the nurse who was still seated at the desk, typing something on the computer. The girl then drags me out the door, turning right instead of left towards the reception. We sneak quietly down the corridor that loops around to the front desk. We wait until the nurse's back is to us before we make a run for the exit.
We're in the main corridor now. The girl drops her hand from me, and then loops her arm around me. I don't say a word about what she was doing or pull away. She walks close to me like we were a couple, just strolling down the hall after visiting a patient.
I thought we were about to be caught when we reach the elevator, waiting for the doors to open. A doctor and three nurses run past us with a patient on a bed, rushing to theatre. I exhale the breath I didn't even know I was holding as soon as the girl pulls me into the empty elevation. She pushes the button for ground floor.
"So far, so good," I say.
The girl looks at me, but doesn't say anything.
The elevator stops and the doors open. We step out of the lift, and head towards the main entrance. A security guard who wasn't hanging around reception earlier was now there. My heart races in my chest when he smiles at us. I thought he was going to stop us, but instead he tells us goodnight. I return the goodbye while the girl smiles.
We step outside, walking down the path towards the carpark. When we were far from the main entrance, the girl takes the coat off and hands it to me, smiling. I take it from her. Without saying anything else, she turns to leave.
Confuse, I take off my glasses and ask where she was going. I couldn't understand why she would asked me to come get her, used me to help her to escape without anyone noticing her walking out, and then just leave me here without saying a proper goodbye. That wasn't a part of the plan, was it?
"Wait, where are you going?" I ask as I follow her.
She stops and turns to face me. She stares at me for a few seconds before turning to walk away.
I fold my glasses neatly and place it on the collar of my shirt. Frowning, I walk after her. I grab her arm, making her face me. She panics with my hand on her, pushing it away, but doesn't scream.
We stand there staring at each other, waiting for someone to say something, but neither of us say anything. We break eye contact when a siren nearby goes off. Turning, we watch as an ambulance pulls in, parking outside emergency.
I stare at the ambulance, watching as the paramedics rush to get a patient out of the back of their vehicle. I then turn back to the girl, just as she started to walk away.
"Is that it?" I ask her. "You are just going to leave without saying goodbye or thank you? I helped you sneak out without anyone recognising you. Now you're just going to walk away?"
The girl stops walking and turns to me. Her eyes were a mixture of guilt, sadness and fear. Why was she so terrified of me? I wasn't planning to harm her it that's what she thinks. I want to help her.
"Can I at least know what your name is?"
She shakes her head.
"How come you won't speak?"
She bites her lip. Without saying anything else, she walks away. I watch her, wondering where she was going to disappear to. Did she even have a place to stay for the night or any spare clothes to change out of her hospital grown?
"Do you have a place to stay for the night?"
This time she doesn't stop to answer me. She keeps walking. My heart sinks with disappointment with how cold her heart was. Is this how she treats people to get exactly what she wanted? And what did she want? For me to help her escape? Is that the only help she wanted from me?
"Do you have any spare clothes? You do realise that if the police catch you walking down the street in your grown, they might pick you up and take you back here if they find out you left without being discharged, especially if the doctors think you are in danger of harming yourself and others after what you did earlier."
That gets her attention. She stops just before she walked out onto the street, and turns to face me. After staring at me for a few seconds, she walks over to me. She stands there staring at me, waiting for me to speak. Why won't she say a word?
"Why don't you spend the night at my place? In the morning you can leave."
She smiles and nods before following me to my car.