The substitutes
Disclaimer: All characters appearing inboth any of the chapters in this story AND in Stephen King's „Kingdom Hospital" do not belong to me. I don't get money for this.
A.N.: There isn't much to say about this story. Basically, it starts where the first season ends. Have fun. (You may also review of course )
I – Forever haunted
Bones may break, glass may shatter,
You can always make it better.
But broken souls make broken hearts
So no one ever from this place departs.
xxx
She kept going through the corridors and the sight send shivers down her spine. Those grey walls seemed to come closer with every step she made. They were grey, dirty and full of cobwebs. God, how she wished to be back at home behind those glass walls of their living room! "Peter? Peter, honey? Darling? Hello!"
Natalie usually was no one to be scared easily. In fact she remembered Peter complaining about how nothing could ever even make her shriek from shock – he had given up on trying to do just that long ago.
But he was wrong. She didn't know why, but that place scared the hell out of her.
"Hey, honey! What are you doing here? It's not even visiting hours. Shouldn't you be at home in bed?" A relieved sigh escaped her mouth. Glad to have found her husband finally, she turned around slowly.
xxx
Natalie Rickman awoke without screaming but backed up against the wall as quickly as possible. Her arms firmly closed around herself, she roamed the room quickly. The cobwebs faded slowly, merging into the curtains of their bedroom window. The dirt vanished, replaced by little spots of moonlight that played on the ground. Closing her eyes, she tried to shake the rest of the dream off herself. Just a nightmare. Thank God. As she opened them again, she realised that the space beside her was warm, but empty.
Carefully, she slipped into her night gown and made her way down the stairs. She knew exactly where to find him. Although he had never sneaked out of bed at four o' clock in the morning, there was only one room she could imagine.
The lights in his "little kingdom", as they always called it (what a phrase now, after what they had been through), were dim, but on. As she had thought, he was painting. What else would a painter do in the middle of the night?
"Peter?" Fear crept up inside her, as he turned around to her slowly. Most of her dream had faded away. Most of it. Everything but that vision of…
"Nat, what's—"
"God, Peter, you're alright, you're alright. God, thank God." She interrupted him quickly by throwing herself against him. She could feel confusion and hesitation inside him, before his arms finally went around her and he planted a short kiss on her hair. Step by step, realisation dawned inside him. "You had a nightmare, darling. I'm okay, really. See." To prove it, he lifted her up a bit and gave her another kiss. "See, I can walk, I can speak – everything is fine. It was just a nightmare."
"Thank God. For a moment I really thought you--" Sneaking out of his embrace, she took a step back, but froze immediately. Her eyes widened, even as she tried to speak, but just couldn't form the words. It was like a stone inside her throat. "God, Peter, you painted it."
I painted a lot during those last minutes. Peter thought glumly. In fact, he had not been that creative since… never actually. He turned around, too, facing whatever scared her like that. What he saw made him raise an eyebrow sceptically. "That was Gottreich's kingdom. I walked through it for a couple of times, together with Mary. Made my bones chill at the first time."
Paralyzed by the tiny rest of the dream, Natalie just kept staring at it. With a nod, Peter turned around again and grabbed for a brush. "I see. Watch this." Without hesitating, he took some albino white and brushed about the painting two times, leaving a big white cross on it.
"Peter…" Shocked by his reaction, she stepped next to him and gazed at him helplessly. "Peter, you just drew that painting!"
"Yes, I did. And it scared you. I don't want anything in my house that scares you." Without haste, he put the brush away and covered the painting. "I will draw it anew someday. Maybe at the end. I have a feeling like I could fill a whole gallery from all the memories in my head." When she smiled weakly, he took her hand and led her out of the room. "Let's go to bed, Natalie. We've got to get up at 7 o' clock, remember?"
xxx
They arrived at the insane place others called "Kingdom Hospital" right at 8:10. Hook had told them that this MRI was "just to be totally safe", but still she had that creepy feeling inside her stomach, as she entered the halls. Three days ago, they could have died inside those walls. All of them. And now she and her husband were – voluntarily! – coming back. She really must have lost her mind.
Her mood improved slightly as she saw Hook approaching them. He was a good doctor. He knew about his subject. If he said "it's just to be safe", then it was "just to be safe". She was sure about that.
The MRI went without any problems. The scans showed no abnormalities. No shadows, no "UBO's". She had done research on the whole medical stuff while Peter had still been in a coma.
"See, darling…" Embracing her again, he drew her closer. "I told you everything was fine. My nut is alright again and there are no earthquakes, ghosts, or—"
The cry came as unexpected as a thunderstorm on a summer's day and vanished into nothing at the same speed. The only thing it left was cold silence. It had been a child's cry. But it had not sounded like Mary. Not at all.
"Did you hear that? Dr. Hook, did you hear that?"
"Hear what? Mrs Rickman…" Feeling slightly embarrassed, Hook tried to stay as rational and polite as he could. "I can understand that the last days were really hard and exhausting for you and your nerves may still suffer a little bit from that, but—"
"Nonsense. Hook, I'm not insane and I'm not ready for a tropical sunset therapy holiday. I heard a child scream."
"Natalie…" More worried than embarrassed, Peter drew her even closer. "Darling, there is no reason to—"
Another scream broke the silence. This time, all three of them turned their heads up to the ceiling, from where the scream seemed to have come. Taking a deep breath, Peter sighed in frustration. "Hell, no. Not again."
A.N.: So, how did you like the first chapter? You want another one?