He stopped the elevator doors from closing and nodded in the direction I was going. “You need an escort? Bell still has another ten minutes so I’ve got the time to spare.”
I waved him off with a grin. “Oh no, I’m fine. It’s just down the hall. Besides, I think Bell is even more exhausted than I am. Patrolling a hospital can be boring this time of night.”
Wilson chuckled and gave me a nod. “If you’re sure. Just call if you need us.”
I waited until the doors closed before continuing my trek to the cafeteria. I hadn’t been exaggerating to Wilson about how dead it was here. Unless a trauma was coming in or one of my own patients had an emergency, a hospital could get pretty quiet this late at night. It was never really surprising when you’d go to the cafeteria and find maybe five or six people total inside, which was the case tonight.
A couple doctors sat at tables bent over a cold sandwich or a cup of coffee, two nurses chatted quietly in a corner, and the one kitchen worker on duty tonight named Greg could be heard in the kitchen washing up the dishes from the day.
As fast as my tired legs could carry me, I made a beeline for the coffee machine. Choosing the largest size possible, I filled it almost all the way, leaving barely enough room for cream and sugar. There was no way I’d make it another trip down here later, so it was best to stock up. Deciding Alice would appreciate a cup as well, I poured her one and made it how she liked.
Walking to the counter, I shouted for Greg the kitchen attendant, letting him know I was there ready to pay.
“Just leave the money on the counter, Miss Sophia! Thank you!”
I grinned and did as he asked, not wanting to distract him too long from what he was doing.
After a few sips of my coffee, I felt myself perk up just the slightest, really glad I listened to Alice. As I neared the elevators, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as a tingling sensation crawled its way over me. As if I was being watched. I glanced around, not seeing anything, then sighed. My paranoia was getting way out of hand, and I was pretty sure my exhaustion wasn’t helping one bit.
When I reached out to press the elevator button, hands roughly grabbed me from behind, one covering my mouth to muffle my surprised scream and the other wrapped around my upper arms in a vice-like grip. I was dragged backwards into an empty patient room before I could even blink.
“Be a good girl, Sophia, or Iwillkill you right now,” a deep gravelly voice warned venomously in my ear.
But there was no way I was coming quietly or behaving for this psychopath. Didn’t take a rocket scientist to know this was my stalker and the arsonist who had been making my life a living hell. A sickly sweet scent drifted into my nostrils from the glove on his hand, making me even more nauseous about the situation.
Instinctively, I relaxed, knowing this man wanted me more than anything. If I pretended to placate him, maybe I’d make it out of this.
And just as I’d hoped, his grip around me loosened just enough for me to make my move. As he began moving his hand away from my mouth, I struck. Quick as a snake, I bit down onto his hand—hard enough I could taste his blood on my tongue. I spit it out, letting it dribble down onto my chin.
He cursed loudly and shoved me away, but when I tried to scream and make a run for the door, he tackled me from behind. I slammed into the ground, knocking the wind out of me a little as his full weight settled on top of me. He rolled me so I’d face him. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see his face since it was covered in a black mask.
“You bitch!” He backhanded me hard enough I swore my cheek bone almost cracked from the impact. When I lifted my head, he did it again, this time hitting me with his fist which connected with my ear.
But I wasn’t going to let that phase me.
I wasn’t going to let him take me.
I was going to fight.
I roared out in anger and lurched my hips upward, surprising him enough it displaced him the slightest and I swung my fist up, clipping him in his temple and causing him to curse again. Scrambling out from beneath him, I dragged myself along the floor, crawling as far away from him as I could; my eyes settled on something metal and shiny tucked away underneath the hospital bed.
Without hesitation, I slid across the floor as fast as I could for it, the man hot on my heels and grabbing at my legs that kicked wildly at him. My foot hit him in the face, gaining a grunt from him and giving me a slight push forward toward what I was aiming to get to.
I’d just managed to grab the edge of the object as he got a biting grip on one of my ankles. With a hard yank that nearly pulled my leg from its socket, he tugged me back toward him, but I was ready.
With all the strength I could muster, I twisted to face him and swung the metal object at him with a scream. It connected with his head, making a loudthunksound. He rolled, clearly dazed by my surprise attack, but it didn’t take him long to come at me again, only this time I’d managed to get to my knees and swung the object down against his face. He grunted and fell to the floor again. Not wanting to take any chances, I finally stood and quickly hit him one more time. This time, he stopped moving.
My breaths came out in harsh gasps as I surveyed what the hell I’d just knocked him out with.
“Huh. These things are more useful than I thought,” I muttered, tossing the bedpan to the floor.
Part of me wanted to take the time to lift this fucker’s mask and see who he was once and for all. But I’d seen this horror movie before. No way in hell was I about to be that dumb white girl who got killed for doing something stupid.
My body shook and radiated pain from the scuffle as I rushed from the room. There was no telling how long the man would stay down, so I needed to find help fast.
Limping slightly and still very much out of breath, I raced back to the cafeteria, breathing out a sigh of relief when I saw the people I’d seen just a bit ago still inside.
“Help! Someone call 911! I was just attacked!” I shouted, gaining everyone’s attention.
