Fear: Ch. 14

It was the song again. The same, jovial tune that had played while I ran up a dark street. The same tune that I had almost been murdered to…

I opened my eyes and saw white.

I was in a hospital bed, staring up at the neat, tiled ceiling. There was an IV in my arm, and just like the fresh blood in the tube, everything came flowing back.

When I had awoken to Adrian's pallid face, he'd been in a cold panic. After resting me on the sofa, he'd went back in the kitchen, receiver raised to his lips to call in a team.

The kitchen had been empty though. The only sign that Stan Peters had been there was the vast red puddle on the floor.

And the open window.

So, somewhere out in the unknown, he still walks free.

This thought made my head spin.

"Now, now sweetie." A heavy-set nurse with blonde hair and a white uniform had just entered the room, pulling aside the curtain to my bed. "This monitor says your getting worked up. Looks like you need a higher dosage…"

"No." I mumbled, voice dry from sleep, "No, I'm fine. How… how long have I been in here?"

"Well, they brought you in at 3:30 last night. Its nearly seven in the morning."

I let the words sink in. That psycho bastard had had nearly four hours to get away.

I shifted in bed and the white hospital gown I wore bunched up in places. I couldn't look, but I had three bandages on my chest. My whole left hand was wrapped. Around both my wrists were ugly, purple rings. I shivered.

"Where's Adrian?"

"Your friend is fine, sweetie." said the nurse in a sugary voice, "He's down the hall, in the waiting area."

"Can I see him? Please?"

"Visiting hours are not yet-"

"Please?" I asked, urgently, "I need to see him, and I'm not going to just lay here-"

A knock sounded at the door. The shocked expression on the nurse's face turned to curiosity. Upon answering, she turned back at me, grinning.

"Well, what a pleasant surprise." she cried, "It looks like you have a gift, dear."

But I'd saw it when she'd opened the door, and my stomach turned.

It was a single, pink balloon, secured with a white ribbon. It came with a note, written in dark letters. They were the color of dried blood.

I'll save you a seat at the circus, Jamie.

I screamed.