Chapter III – A lousy day for Bugs

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the KH characters, but I own Carmen.

A.N.: Here I am back again, folks. Sorry for updating that late. I have been having final exams the last two months, so I just didn't find any time to write. I promise to do better.

Rating as always. If you can't stand slightly bloody scenes and a little bit of bad language, don't read.

I almost forget: Sorry if I've got some mistakes in the medical jargon. Not that much of my favourite parts of science.

When strength fades, fear is a gift.

"Paul, what the hell are you doing here? Don't you think my night has been bad enough already?"

As she tried to rush past him, he grabbed her upper arm and sent her bruises singing automatically. "You don't even want to thank me for saving your life?" At her startled face, a little giggle rippled from his throat. "You have seen this flee ridden monster, Carmen. He would have ripped your head off, if I hadn't been here."

She wanted to curse him, but at the same time she knew that he was right. Antibus had not come to help her this time. He hadn't even come past her accidentally. He had come for her. She just wasn't sure why.

"So what next, Paul? Shall I spend a nice evening with you and doctor "slaughter my brain"? I know you by now. You never do anything without getting a big charge out of it. What do you want?"

"Nothing but your own best." He followed her slowly as she started to amble through the cold halls. They were looking a bit warmer now then they had before Mary had been freed, but that didn't matter to him. "You are more of a use to me if you get out of this hospital on your own two feet again, Carmen."

In her head, she tried to put some order into her thoughts. She didn't even remember the last time she had spoken to Paul. Anubis had told her to stay away from him and she had done so. Even now that the parts seemed to have switched, her instincts told her to better keep to that line.

>>>

In Mona Klingerman's room, the TV was on again. The little girl stared at it without showing a single reaction. Colours, words, sounds. Everything seemed to be lost on her. Sighing, Carrie checked the machines for the last time.

She had not spent a long time at the sleep lab. After the "head line", as most of the doctors called it with a smile, she had lost the interest in brain scans. Unfortunately, the sleep lab had been the only station left on her journey through the hospitals departments.

It had been Hook – who else – who had offered her to try the "ped" once again. With the explanation that she would be the perfect nurse for that little patient, Hook had had her meet Dr. Draper, who was now responsible for Mona. With a little smile, Carrie wondered if Dr. Stegman had found a job vacuuming, now that he was charged in front of court. The jury did yet have to judge, but the chances he would ever come back were close to zero. Therefore, Dr. Draper now looked after Mona.

The little patient herself had not yet made any progress at all. It made Carrie sad to see her like that every day, but at the same time, the sadness awakened a feeling she hadn't known about before.

She would help Mona. Darn it, she would help her, even if it was the last thing she would ever do as a nurse. And so Carrie von Trier was never in a bad mood, never even so much as frustrated, when it came to Mona.

Mrs. Klingerman liked it that way. The first time she had met the young nurse, she had yelled at her. Now she even played rummy with her, when Mona was quietly sleeping. The energy Carrie spent just to help her little girl made her proud somehow. She appreciated Carrie's optimism, her strength and even her weakness in terms of nerves. It only made her more human.

But this day, she would not appreciate it at all.

>>>

It began all too peacefully with one of the little seizures they had gotten used to by now. Even Carrie had gotten used to them. They were nothing extraordinary. But this day, they were nothing but the beginning of a dreadful series.

The seizures returned and they got even worse. Carrie even had to give Mona full sedation in order to keep her from collapsing or even worse. But the breaking point was 3.34 pm. Whatever would happen in future, Carrie knew she would never forget that specific time.

Mona was watching TV again, as usual. This time it was Bugs Bunny running from A to B and back again, trying to get rid of some little alien creatures following him. "Hey, Mona, how is Bugs doing?" Experimentally, Carrie stepped next to Mona's bed to have the same perspective. "How's Bugs doing, Mona? Doesn't look that good for him right now, does it?"

Silence spread. "Mona?" Startled by the quiet, Carrie glanced down at the little girl. Not getting any answer from her was quite usual, but still the silence felt odd this time. When her eyes met Mona's she leaped backwards immediately.

This wasn't Mona anymore. She was totally sure about that. She had seen her eyes being empty, emotionless, but never that… evil. It took Carrie a while to get used to the thought. Evil. A demon peering at an empty wall. Yes, Carrie couldn't see him. She did not see Paul standing there with the intention to kill.

"Carmen." Keeping an eye on Paul, Mona turned to Carrie again. The nurse was nothing else but a trembling body anymore. "Carrie, you will need Carmen. And Peter. Go."

Gracious as a feather, the nurse fell down to the ground.

"Ah, there she goes again." Grinning, Paul stepped closer. "It was a clever move of yours, Maat, to leave that whore when she came down to our kingdom." Slowly, he closed his fingers around Mona's throat. "But it was a bad one to switch to a half-dead, paralysed child."

A short smile flashed over Mona's face. "Paul… hide and seek, you know?"

"Within a second, Paul drew back again, feeling that her force had vanished. She had switched again. Again, she had slipped right through his fingers. Disappointed, he left. He would find her. Hide and seek, but not forever.

>>>

The monitors switched to black right when Renee Klingerman entered the room. To her feet, Carrie lay, still unconscious. As she stepped closer, Rene felt her knees shake.

The TV monitor was smeared with blood, Bug's head hanging ripped off in a tree. Behind Rene, Mona's EKG curves turned to a single line.

A.N.: Once again, sorry I didn't update for such a long time. Please read and review. I promise the next chapter will be on within the next month.