A/N: Vivi here! Welcome back to Internal Medicine. I hope you enjoy the newest chapter, Blank Space!
"Where are you?" A man was moving around this place, filled with shelves, in the dark. I figured that he was the bad man. I assumed that I needed to get as far away from him as possible. But where was Dean? I remembered taking him to the doctor, but the last thing I remembered was the annoying lady handing Sam's credit card back to me. "Allison, please. Stop playing games."
The man was now very close to me, just a few rows away. I looked around through the shelves and walked away from his voice. A set of concrete stairs came into view. Without hesitation, I sprinted silently to them.
"Come out come out wherever you are." The man called. I climbed the stairs easily, but couldn't stop the door handle from making a soft click when I opened it. "Wait, stop." The man said sternly. He started saying words I couldn't understand, so I shut the door behind me and locked it. I was in a small, cluttered office. There were cork boards on the wall covered with diagrams and phone numbers. It looked like a typical doctor's office.
Soon, I found my way to the back door of the administration office, where the annoying receptionist was checking in another patient. Something made me think that Dean might be in there. I glanced in and saw that the room was bigger than it appeared from the little glass window in the waiting room. Silently, I rounded the corner and found a little area with a table and chairs and a microwave. Dean was in his car seat, sound asleep on the table. I picked him up out of the seat and looked around for a getaway plan. My keys and duffel were next to the car seat; I threw the keys in my pocket and put the duffel over my left shoulder. The pain was bearable now; the claw marks were almost healed. I looked at the clock on the wall; four hours had passed since Dean's appointment.
I felt my face go pale. He should have woken up when I picked him up. Why wouldn't he wake up? He was still warm and I could feel his pulse as I held his neck steady against my chest; I knew I had time to deal with his lack of consciousness later.
I heard the receptionist stand. Immediately, I jogged down a back hallway that led away from the table and chairs. Down a second hallway, I saw a door with light shining through it. I shoved the heavy metal door open and ran out into the cool air. I was really getting tired of these cold April days.
The parking lot at the side of the building was nearly empty. I took a moment to cover Dean in my sweater, both for protection against the cold and for concealment from curious eyes. Hugging the side of the building, I glanced around the front and saw that my car was still there. A few more cars had joined it since I last saw the lot.
"Seriously?" My stomach fell when I saw that all of the tires on my car had been slashed. Scanning the area, I wondered briefly about what had happened between us leaving the appointment and me coming to between shelves of equipment downstairs. I wasn't sure if I had another breakdown and flipped out or if something darker was afoot. Either way, it was best for me to leave the area with Dean in hand. They might call the police and find the mass murderer from Illinois in their clinic.
The coast was mostly clear. Only one jogger running down the sidewalk drew my attention. I power walked to the sidewalk and steamed away from the building, hoping that by not running I wouldn't be labeled suspicious.
Once the clinic was out of view, I dug through my duffel to find my cell phone. In amongst the diapers, a thick wad of bandages emerged and dropped to the ground. I picked it up, but hesitated when something in the wad crinkled. Letting the bundle unroll, I saw what had made the sound.
A small burlap bag with a symbol on the front rolled out onto the sidewalk. I picked it up and looked it over. Maybe one of the guys had put it in my bag as warding or for good luck or something. I frowned. Just to be safe, I took my pendant off and wrapped it around the bag several times, securing it tightly. Once I'd found my phone, I zipped the bag up and thought no more of it. Sam's number was already on speed dial. He'd probably want to know what had just happened.
The phone only rang once before he answered. "Ali?"
"Hi Sam." I said, slightly alarmed by the urgency in his voice. "Is something wrong?"
"Wha- you tell me. Where are you?" He asked.
"I'm about three blocks away from the urgent care where I took Dean. Sam, why do you sound like something bad just happened?" I looked around me to make sure I wasn't being followed before crossing the street and making my way to the nearest grocery store where I could pretend to shop until I figured something out.
"You prayed to Cas like three times a couple hours ago. Then they stopped coming in. What's going on, Ali?" Sam asked. "We're already almost to the clinic. Maybe twenty minutes out."
I felt my hands start to sweat and my heart begin pounding as I entered the grocery store. "Sam, I don't remember praying to Cas at all. There's like a four hour window that's just gone. I remember checking out at the clinic and then I woke up in the basement with some guy calling my name. I found Dean in their office and took off." I hushed my voice as an elderly man walked past. "Someone slashed my tires. Sorry, Sam."
"Ali, screw the car. Are you okay? Is Dean okay?" I paused in an aisle lined with canned foods and took stock of myself and Dean. I was slowly bleeding; both of my forearms had mirror image cuts across them. I touched Dean's face and patted gently, speaking softly to try and wake him. No luck. At least he was breathing regularly.
"I have some weird cuts on my arms that I don't remember getting and Dean won't wake up. We're at that fancy grocery store on Main." I said, my voice hushed. "Sam, I found a little burlap bag in my duffel after I got away. Do you know where it came from?" I asked nervously. "Cuz it's freaking me out a little."
"Allison, drop that thing where you are and get away from it. Burn it if you can. It's a hex bag, witches use them to manipulate people." Sam said. I pulled the bag out and shoved it far behind a bunch of canned spinach, not bothering to remove my pendant beforehand.
"I hid it, I don't have a light." We were nearly to the exit when I heard sirens in the distance. Someone must have called the police when they found the doctor locked in the basement and a lack of Dean. I turned around and retreated to the cleaning aisle. "Sam, the police are at the clinic. How soon can you be here to get me the hell out of this nightmare?"
"Ten minutes. Just lay low until we get there, okay?"
"Those police are going to search the area. They'll find me here." I said. Raking my brain, I thought of one way I might avoid being found. "Call me when you get here and let me know if the coast is clear."
"Stay safe, Ali." Sam hung up and I made my way to the front desk.
"Hi." I said, putting on my best fake smile. "Is there anywhere I could go for a few minutes that's private?"
The clerk on duty was a pimple ridden teenage boy with a glassy stare. "Uh, like where?"
I rolled my eyes. "Like a lactation room?"
The boy's eyes got very wide and his pasty white face flushed. He struggled to make eye contact and seemed unable to speak.
"Look, sweetie. It's a natural thing. And I'm not gonna sugar coat it: the girls get painful when baby hasn't eaten for a while. So unless you want me to speak to a manager, please point me in the right direction." The bitchface had made another appearance and much to my relief, it had done its job. The boy pointed towards the back of the store. "Thanks, hun."
The store actually had a nice lactation room. It was tucked away, further down the hall than the restrooms. Several comfy chairs were lined up against a colorful wall with curtains between each chair that provided some privacy. When I entered, several of the curtains were draw and I could hear happy baby sounds every now and then. I scurried over to an empty chair as far away from the door as possible and pulled the curtain.
The chair was very comfortable. I settled Dean across my lap and tried again to wake him. This time when I touched his face, his head turned slightly and he breathed in a little deeper than before. What a relief. He would wake up soon. They probably gave him a heavy dose of antihistamines. Even I was knocked out by those suckers.
A few minutes later, I heard heavy footsteps and commanding voices. Someone was searching the restrooms. The door to the lactation room opened a few seconds later and a female voice broke the pleasant melody of the elevator music that played from overhead speakers.
"Everyone come on out. I need to see some IDs." The woman said.
I heard several groans and a few gasps. Some babies started to scream. Pretty soon one mother emerged and spoke to the woman with a crying infant in her arms. "What's this about?" She asked, clearly angry.
"We've got a fugitive on the loose who assaulted a man down the road about twenty minutes ago. She may have kidnapped a child as well." The officer said. "Long brown hair, athletic build, green duffel bag, probably carrying a sleeping child."
"Look, lady, all the women in this room have been here for a while now. Most of us have brown hair and athletic builds. Most of us will be carrying sleepy children. If someone had tried to hide in here, we'd all have heard." The mother said. Several others from behind closed curtains agreed with her. "Please let us finish feeding our children in peace."
The officer was quiet for a moment. "At least slip your IDs under the curtains." The women grumbled but complied. I dug around for my wallet and produced one of my fake IDs. Alberta Montgomery was the name. The picture had been altered by Sam himself to show me with lighter, much shorter hair, and heavy makeup. It was perfect for both disguises and deception when it came to avoiding the law. I slipped mine under the curtain, pretending to calm down a fussy child. Soon, my ID was returned to my side of the curtain and I was safe. The officer left.
Eventually, my phone rang and I answered it quickly, not wanting to disturb the women who seemed to be having trouble getting their babies to comply after the interruption. "Sam?" I hissed, trying to keep my voice down.
I heard him sigh in relief. "Ali. There are police everywhere, where are you?"
"I'm almost done nursing him, hun." I said casually. "I'll be out in just a minute."
"You're doing what?" Sam's voice went up an octave.
"Are there a lot of people in line?" I asked. "Or are they gone?"
He hesitated. I could practically hear the gears turning in his head. "Got it. Uh, the police are still scanning the aisles. Have they seen you yet?"
"Oh, no dear, there are curtains. It's actually a really nice space. Let me know when the lines go down, okay? You can just text me." I said softly.
"Good. Okay. Me and Cas are in the parking lot. I'll text you when the coast is clear."
"Thanks, hun. See you in a bit." I hung up the phone and tucked it away in my duffel. Then I decided that the duffel was too dangerous to walk out with. I pulled my keys and wallet from it, stuffing them into my pockets. The rest of the things in the bag like diapers, wipes, baggies of cereal, and toys could be left behind. I did, however, remove the little black sports car that Dean had grown fond of before tucking the bag behind the chair and out of sight. The car went right into my pocket. I waited anxiously for Sam's text.
A/N: Review please!