Chapter 5 - The Restricted Wing
I showed the terrifying text message to Cole, expecting him to let me go alone.
Instead, his grip on my hand tightened with fierce determination.
He told me there was absolutely no chance he was letting me face a psychopath by myself.
He knew a maintenance access route that would allow him to follow me unseen.
We sprinted toward the freight elevator located in the abandoned east wing of the hospital.
The elevator car smelled like industrial bleach and old metal.
We rode in agonizing silence as the digital numbers slowly climbed to the top floor.
Cole outlined his plan to flank the kidnapper while I provided a distraction.
The elevator doors chimed and slid open to reveal a dark, unfinished corridor leading to the roof access.
I stepped out first, forcing my trembling legs to carry me toward the heavy steel door.
I pushed the metal bar and stepped out into the freezing night air.
The rooftop was vast, covered in gravel, and illuminated by flickering orange emergency lights.
The wind howled loudly, whipping my hair violently across my face.
I saw a figure standing near the ledge, holding a second person hostage near the sheer drop.
I screamed my mother’s name and ran cautiously toward the edge of the building.
As I got closer, the shadows shifted, and the truth became horrifyingly clear.
The hostage was not my mother at all.
It was a plastic CPR training dummy dressed in my mother’s floral blouse.
The figure holding the dummy stepped into the orange light and dropped the plastic body onto the gravel.
It was the same person in the surgical scrubs and blue mask.
The figure slowly reached up and pulled the surgical mask down.
I gasped loudly as I recognized the face of Cole’s oldest mentor, Doctor Harrison.
But Dr. Harrison was not smiling, and his eyes were completely glazed over.
He opened his mouth to speak, but the words were slurred and confused.
He took one stumbling step forward and collapsed face-first onto the rough gravel.
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A massive pool of dark blood immediately began spreading from beneath his surgical gown.
The heavy steel door behind me suddenly slammed shut, and the lock clicked into place.
