The Tenth Ward by Rockwell Scott

Author:Rockwell Scott [Scott, Rockwell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-26T22:00:00+00:00

19

Rand found Harold waiting for him at the Coffee Bean, just as the man had said. An almost empty cup of black brew rested in front of him while he stared blankly at the table, wringing his hands together.

“Evening,” Rand said, and Harold snapped out of his trance. “This is my colleague, Katie. She’ll be assisting me.”

Harold forced a smile and stood to shake Katie’s hand.

“You all right?” Rand asked.

“Just nervous.”

“I am too,” Rand said, not untruthfully. His wet jacket froze to him in the chilly hospital air. “Has everything been arranged?”

“I’ve talked to the nurses working tonight. They’ve agreed to give you folks two hours alone time on the ward. This took a lot of convincing; you’re lucky that Donna’s the shift lead, and that she’s had her own weird experiences up there lately.”

“Understood,” Rand said.

“All these ladies could lose their jobs for abandoning their posts,” Harold said. It was the most serious Rand had ever seen him. “Me as well for being part of it. I know you won’t, but they’ve asked me to remind you not to take advantage of all this.”

“You have my word,” Rand said. A heaviness settled on him, pressing against his heart at asking the man to put his own job on the line for them.

Harold nodded once and took out his cell—a plain flip phone that must have been ten years old. He punched in the numbers, eyes squinting as he struggled to read the tiny keypad. “They’re here,” was all he said into the receiver before closing the phone. “Donna and the others will vacate. I’ll walk you up, then make myself scarce.”

“Got it.”

Harold offered him a walkie-talkie. “Borrowed this from Jerry. If you need to get in touch with me, I’ll be on the other end. Channel nine is never used by the staff, so tune in to that one.”

Rand took it and twisted the knob. It flared to life with a burst of static. He clipped the device to his belt. “Anything else?”

“Kick this bastard out of my ward. I’m tired of seeing so many good people go through so much.”

The three started toward the elevator. Once inside, Harold pressed the button for the tenth floor.

“Where will you be?” Rand asked.

“I’ll head to security and keep an eye on everything from the cameras. Jerry’s off tonight and Juan called in sick, so it’ll just be me. If anything—”

A tight hand clutched Rand’s arm. He turned in time to see Katie stumble backwards and fall hard against the elevator’s back wall.

“Oh,” Rand said, rushing to support her. She leaned heavily against him. “Katie, what’s wrong?”

Her palm went to her chest, which heaved with deep breaths. “I can’t,” she managed between gasps.

“Katie, what is it?”

“I’ll get help,” Harold said, reaching for his radio.

“No!” Rand held out his hand, and Harold froze, confused and nervous.

“Katie. What do you feel?”

“It’s so powerful,” she said. Sweat had broken out on her forehead and her eyes welled with tears. “So much.”

The elevator chimed at each floor as it rose.

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