by Jessica Kapp
I continue past Gavin to a docking station. The computer screen has a few details about a patient’s symptoms and I rub my chin, pretending to care about what I’m reading. The patient is waiting for a kidney transplant. She’s twenty-eight and there’s a list of drugs she’s currently taking. I count seventeen, but there’s an arrow at the bottom indicating more on the next page. How many more?
Gavin rattles the door but it doesn’t open. I look away while he tries the keycard again. The computer screen has gone black, and I touch the keyboard. There’s a flash of white and the page reloads, but the content has changed. I read the name at the top of the screen. Meghan Collins. Only she’s not in room six, she’s on floor six.
And she’s in surgery.
“Oh my God!” My hand flies to my mouth. A nurse walking by glances at me and I fake a cough, turning my body away from her.
I hear a click and look up. Gavin waves me over. We slip into Paige’s room and he shuts the door.
“We’re too late.” I stagger and he grabs my shoulders to hold me up, his face wrenched with confusion. “I saw it on the computer. It’s Meghan. She’s already in surgery. We need to do something!”
“That can’t be right.” Gavin rubs his temples, pacing in the small room. He walks behind Paige’s head and brings his hands down to his sides, balled like he needs to hit something. “Let me think.”
I step toward Paige, unnerved by the hospital gown she’s wearing and her shallow breaths. I stroke her hair. A section of it is pulled back with a string, tied into a tiny bow. It’s something I’ve never seen her do. She wanted to look perfect for her new family. My eyes burn, and I fight back tears.
“There must be something we can do for Meghan,” I plead.
Gavin removes his hospital cap, wiping his brow before he yanks it back on. “Ry will be too late. And we need to get out of here. The longer we’re here—”
“We can’t leave her!” My voice booms and Gavin’s eyes grow wide. He presses a finger against his lips.
“Take Paige to the freight elevator and head to the basement.” He grabs the sidebars on the bed and kicks the wheel locks loose with his foot. “Get her loaded up and head back to the barn with Adrian. I’ll try to save Meghan.”
Try. The word never felt so small to me. So hopeless.
He moves toward the foot of the bed and opens the door to peek out. “It’s clear.”
It takes every bit of strength I have to push the gurney out. Paige is light and the wheels roll along as if they’ve been greased up, but it feels like I’m wading through a hallway filled with oatmeal. Two doctors absorbed in conversation hurry by, and a nurse bolts past me, speaking into a walkie-talkie. This can’t be happening. My heart gets heavier with each step. We can’t lose Meghan.
The freight elevator opens and a man gets out, holding a device that fits in his palm. I slip in and keep my back to the door.
“Hey,” he says. “Don’t I know you?”
I spin around. It’s Kenny, and I know without a doubt he was in the room during my final screening. If he’s kept this secret from Gavin, what else is he hiding?
“What are you—” he says before the door shuts. A wave of panic hits me. Why didn’t he tell us Meghan would be on a different floor? And what if he gets in the way of saving her? My eyes flash to the number panel. Do I hit the reopen button? I jerk my hand back. No. I have to get Paige out of here first.
I reach my floor and race to the exit door. The gurney slams against it as I burst through, and Adrian looks up, startled.
“Where’s Gavin?” he asks.
“There’s been a mix-up. I need to help him. He said you should leave, take Paige back to the barn.”
Adrian doesn’t move.
“Help me,” I say, grunting as I struggle to lift Paige. He hustles over and I thrust her into his arms. “Where’s the replacement?”
“Side door.”
I pick up a young girl wrapped in white sheets. She’s lighter than Paige, and her face is exposed. She can’t be more than thirteen. She looks like a dead doll when I set her on the gurney.
“Don’t wait for us,” I say, yanking the sheet up to her chin.
“But I thought—”
“Just go!”
I barrel down the hallway and press the freight elevator button, but it doesn’t light up. I stab the button again and kick the door. “Come on!”
When the door finally opens, Kenny is standing in the middle with his arms folded. “Going up?”
My stomach drops. What do I do? I don’t have a weapon. I know I can get away from him, just not in an elevator. But I need to get to Meghan and Gavin. I push the gurney inside, creating a barricade between us. Kenny is on the side with buttons. The door closes but he doesn’t move.
“Gavin said it’d be the usual crew.” He tilts his head, and a smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. His features are stunning, but he lacks charm. He’s like one of the bad boy models you want to look at, but never want to be around. Gladstone Community Review only used those guys in motorcycle ads. They didn’t run very often.
I lift my chin. “I told him I wanted to come.”
“You shouldn’t have,” he snaps, then relaxes his mouth and softens his voice. “I see you dyed your hair.” He eyes the strands that have slipped out of my hospital cap. When he tries to touch one, I back away. He reroutes his hand, caressing the corpse’s face. Her skin is still peach—freshly dead.
“Aren’t we supposed to be on same side?”
Kenny gasps as if he’s offended. “Of course. What would make you think we weren’t?”
“Then how come Gavin doesn’t know you were at my health screening, Curtis?” I eye the panel, my hand itching to jab the button. I’m stuck with a dead body and someone I want to hurt. It won’t end pretty.
“I work in scheduling. It allows me…certain privileges. Freedom to move around the hospital.” He weaves his thumb over the panel, failing to push a number. “With so many new hires, I can go anywhere I want.”
“Well, you’re not much help,” I say, anger tainting my words. “They’re operating on two people today, and we weren’t ready.”
“Oh dear.” He shakes his head, but his eyes don’t reveal any remorse. “They’ve been watching the employees so closely since you got away. It’s hard to keep up with schedule changes.” He shrugs like it’s nothing. Like there’s no reason to get worked up. It’s just someone’s life, after all.
Finally his thumb sinks into the number six. I start to object. “First I have to take the body to five—.” Six is where Meghan is. My stomach knots. Is his office up there? Or did he know Meghan’s room was switched earlier? And if that’s the case, why didn’t he tell us?
The elevator movement throws me off balance and I grab the gurney. Kenny’s hand is over mine in an instant.
He follows my stare. “I’m sorry, what floor did you need?”
“The body needs to go to room two, on five.”
“I’ll go with you.” He smiles as he presses the number. “We’re on the same team. We should stick together.” He doesn’t let go until I nod.
The elevator opens and he steps off, towing the gurney. I wait until his face turns to step back in and push the elevator button.
“I think it’ll be safer if we separate,” I say as the door shuts.
Kenny’s head whips back with a glare that could burn through the steel.
Blowing out a shaky breath, I wipe the hand he touched on my scrubs and hit the number six repeatedly, but the elevator still doesn’t go fast enough. The door finally opens and I step into a busy hall. I pretend to rush after a nurse, but I’m trying so hard to not look anyone in the face, my shoulder bumps a doctor going the opposite direction.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry,” I say, bending down to get the papers that have scattered around his polished shoes. When I stand to hand him the stack, my eyes widen. Doctor Morgan frowns like he recognizes me but is unsure why.
I step ar
ound him, feeling his eyes on my back and the cool air on the exposed part of my scab. I move in front of another nurse, cutting her off without apologizing.
At the end of the hall I catch a glimpse of Gavin carrying a tray into a room. Did we make it in time? I speed up until I’m practically running toward the room, but Gavin comes out before I reach the door.
And Meghan isn’t with him.
My breath hitches, and my words come out ragged. “W-what’s going on? Where is she?”
His eyes are blank, almost deadened as he grabs my shoulder.
“What happened?” I shrug him off to hold my ground.
“We need to go.” His voice is low and urgent, and he pushes me toward the elevator.
I wriggle away and dart for the door, but he slams his hand against it before I can open it. I elbow him in the gut and swing it open as he groans.
And then I scream.
Meghan’s body is laid out on a table. A doctor holds a knife that is dripping blood, over her stomach.
It’s too late…
My knees threaten to buckle, and my mouth quivers as the tears build.
“What’s the meaning of this?” the doctor barks, waving the scalpel at me. “Are you supposed to be in here?”
I shake my head and back away from Meghan’s body. My eyes drift to the lines marked across her breastbone, the incision across her abdomen.
The door behind me opens and a hand yanks me out.
Gavin leads me into the stairwell. He starts down the steps and pulls at my arm to follow, but my legs are shaking beneath my weight, and I can’t get a firm grasp on the railing.
My emotions erupt. “Sh-she’s dead—”
He slides a hand over my mouth. My tears stream into his fingers as he holds me against the wall. His eyes are red and pained. Confirmation we failed.
Meghan is gone.
Several flights below us, a door opens, slamming against the wall. A walkie-talkie crackles to life: “Security, be advised for a possible code 43.”
They know our group is here.
Gavin drops his hand and I wipe my eyes. I want to ask him if he thinks Adrian is safe, if Paige and the rest of the team got away, but Gavin’s face is wild with fear. I swallow my questions, but the dread stays.
“Let’s go,” he says, gesturing for us to head back up the stairs, past the floor we came from.
He uses the skeleton key to open the rooftop door, then grabs my arm and practically throws me through the opening. I stumble forward as the door closes behind us.
“What the hell was that?” Gavin kicks the air and pulls off his blue cap.
“I was trying to save Meghan.”
“What the hell did you think I was doing?” The veins in his arms bulge as he grips his head like he’s trying to keep it from bursting. “I told you to go with Adrian. To safety.”
“What if you needed my help?”
“With what? Getting caught?”
“I didn’t mean to scream,” I say, taking in a jerky breath. “But there was all that blood on the blade, on the doctor’s hands, all over Meghan.” Meghan…oh God, Meghan is dead. And now we’re all in danger because of me.
Gavin puts his hospital cap back on and his face goes slack. “I’m sorry about your friend,” he says, voice sincere. “But we’re in a lot of trouble now.” He takes a step toward me as if he wants to console me but stops short. I want to bury my face in my hands, but now is not the time to cry.
Not when we need to escape.
I sniff back my tears and follow Gavin to the edge of the building. He leans against the concrete wall that encloses the rooftop. I take a spot several feet away from him and glance down. The parking lot is below us. I see the abandoned building where Adrian dropped us off. There are a few police cars driving with their lights on but no sirens.
“Are they looking for us?”
“Probably.” His voice is flat and his eyes are fixed on the horizon.
“I’m sorry I put the team in danger,” I say.
Before he can reply, he gasps, jerking his body away from the ledge and dropping to the floor. I follow suit. Our backs are against the wall, and Gavin’s breathing is heavy.
“I think someone spotted us,” he says. “We have to get out of here. Now.”
“Do you think the stairs are clear?”
He shakes his head. I stay low as I dart to the other side of the building. There’s another rooftop about ten feet away. With enough speed, we could make it across.
“Over here,” I say, waving him to join me.
Gavin hustles across and assesses the jump. His brows slant. “Even if you make it, you’ll break a leg.”
I ignore him and climb onto the ledge. There’s a slight breeze, but it’s favorable. All I need is a running start. Gavin hovers near my legs. His hands twitch like he might need to catch me at any moment. I eye my target. I know I can make it.
But maybe Gavin won’t. He’s strong, but is he fast? Can he jump? Would he?
No. This won’t work. And I won’t leave him. Not when I’m to blame for our entrapment.
I canvass the rooftop, taking inventory. We can’t jump. We can’t use the stairs. Then I see the ventilation system. It’s larger than the one Parker and I used to sneak out of at the Center. Maybe this system leads out too.
“This way.” I hop off the ledge, and Gavin follows me to the intake unit. We pull on the wire grate, and when it detaches, he rams it into the fan. The motor makes a high-pitched wheeze as it stops. Who knows how long it will hold.
Gavin leans back on his hands, kicking two fan blades to make a hole for us to squeeze through.
“You first,” he says, keeping a tight grip on the grate.
I duck under his arm. The machine rumbles when I’m halfway in. I wince, expecting the blade to turn and rip my torso in half.
Gavin groans. “Hurry!”
I fall forward and spin my body around.
“Your turn,” I say, locking my hands around the grate that’s shoved through the blades. Gavin lets go of his end and waits a beat to make sure the fan doesn’t move. I brace my feet on the metal tube and lean back. If my grip slips, Gavin’s as good as dead.
His shoulders are broad and it takes him twice as long to shimmy through the opening. The metal grate digs into my fingers. I’m fighting a machine. I need Gavin to move faster.
His face strains and he drops through, pushing the blades back into place with his feet before helping me pull the grate inside. The fan makes a loud cah-thunk and starts to whirl. My blue cap is sucked off, slapping Gavin in the face. He hands it back to me, and I see his faint smile through the brown hair tickling my face.
“Now,” he says, the hint of relief gone, “let’s see where this goes.”
Chapter 14
Dust stings my eyes as we crawl through the metal tunnel. It’s warm and feels like I’m inhaling a plume of death with every breath. We reach the elevator shaft and climb down the maintenance ladder to the sixth floor.
“The elevator should have an escape hatch,” says Gavin. “Our best chance is to get back inside and walk out the front door. They won’t expect it, so it’s probably the safest exit.”
Logically, it makes sense, but my heart disagrees. I’m terrified. Jumping from one rooftop to another sounds more appealing right now. I keep my mouth shut, as the hum of the elevator grows louder. Gavin signals with his head when it reaches us and we drop on top. The elevator sways slightly. We stay still, listening for voices or the crackle of a walkie-talkie. Finally, Gavin leans down and peels back the escape hatch just enough to peek in.
“Empty.” He rips it open and extends his hand. I take it and he lowers me into the hole. When he lets go, I land with a soft whomp.
Gavin lowers his body, hanging on with one hand so he can flip the escape hatch shut before dropping to the floor. I press one and the elevator begins its descent.
“Are you sure we should walk out the front door?” I point to my knees. Our scru
bs are stained black from the dirty ventilation ducts. At floor three, the elevator slows and Gavin’s eyes dart to the door. My heart freezes mid-pump. “What do we do?” I spin around, searching his face for answers.
The door slides open and Gavin lets out a breath of relief, the warm air grazing my forehead. I glance over my shoulder as Kenny steps inside.
“I’m glad I found you,” Kenny says urgently. He presses the close button and holds it. “What the hell happened up there?”
Images of Meghan flash in my head. The slash across her stomach. The bloody knife. I want to hurl. I want to hurt Kenny. I blame him, if for no other reason than I think he knows more than he’s letting on.
“We walked in on the surgery,” Gavin says, his head hanging.
“Well, you guys have gotta get the hell out of here,” Kenny says. “Do you need a ride?”
“We’ll get a ride from a guy on our team. Thanks anyway,” I say, keeping my back to him. My tone is as cold as the trough water, and Gavin gives me a sharp look.
“Let me help. I feel awful about what happened today.” Kenny lets go of the button and pats me on the shoulder. “We’ll take my car.”
“Thanks, man.” The worry lines on Gavin’s face soften and he gestures to me. “I don’t think you two have met. Tabitha, this is—”
“Kenny. I know.” I turn around, but I don’t extend a hand.
“We met earlier,” Kenny says, showing off his perfect white teeth. His smile suggests we go way back. My skin crawls and I lean closer to Gavin.
“So how bad is it out there?” Gavin asks.
“They know you went into the stairwell, and some guy said he saw people on the roof.” Kenny points at me. “Someone in the surgery room noticed a scab on your neck. Better keep that thing covered up.”
I adjust my hospital cap with shaky hands. Maybe I shouldn’t have come. What if we don’t make it out? What will happen to everyone else at the Center? To Gavin? To the people back at the barn? To me?
The elevator pings and Kenny waves us out. “This way.”
I walk between them and keep my eyes forward. Gavin stays close to my heels to block my scab from any onlookers.