Louis was frantically searching the crowd for Elmer now, not really
expecting to find him but not wanting to give up the tiny hope he was
trying to cling to either. He shot a look towards the hospital entrance
and the patients still exiting. No Elmer and no way for him to get back in through the masses either. He looked up at the building, barely able to suppress a shudder as it trembled once more. This couldn't be happening. He thought that the worst thing that could have happened had occurred almost five years before with the death of his first son but now.... No, just let Elmer come out of this, let him turn up somewhere safe and sound and Louis swore that he would forgive him anything, would forget that that little incident with the head ever occurred. Anything as long as his son was safe. Lona, he was never going to forgive her for getting Elmer into the middle of this. She was the only reason that Elmer would stay in the hospital under these conditions, he was sure of that.
Eleanor looked up at the hospital, shaking her head as she stalked over to her nephew, Blondi and the wolf trailing behind her.
"Aunt Eleanor, did you hear about the record we just set for evacuating a building during a fire safety drill?" Jesse said with a smile as his aunt approached. Oh, this was going to be a very, very good thing for Kingdom Hospital and for his leadership!
"Might I point out that the hospital isn't evacuated yet?" Eleanor doubted she would be able to snap Jesse back to reality but she felt she really had to try for some reason. "For some reason, it's a bit difficult to move the patients in Intensive Care on a moment's notice. I believe Anne said something about killing them or some such."
"She's the potion mistress, right? I thought that she could put a stopper on death," Jesse said quietly, hoping that no one had heard anything that his aunt had said that might imply there was something amiss in the hospital. Fire safety drill, that was absolutely all that this was.
"Putting a stopper on death takes two years to brew and requires ingredients from several animals that occasionally amuse themselves committing mass suicide. I wouldn't count on any of that to help this situation." Eleanor said with a shake of her head. "And it seems that several of your staff are currently trapped in the basement along with my defense teacher and students. This dog said that he saw a Dr. Hook and a Dr. Draper heading for the basement along with several patients and my students."
"Hook and Dr. Draper?" Jesse looked around the parking lot for a moment, scanning the faces as best he could in the growing darkness. "No, they couldn't be in the basement! Attendance at the fire safety drill is mandatory, you know. If they skipped it, well, what would they do if there ever was a real fire? Not that there's any danger of that! Kingdom Hospital is perfectly sound!"
"That isn't quite the word I would use," Eleanor murmured as the building shook once more, the hospital logo shuddering and starting to slowly crawl down the side of the building as a green light suddenly shot up from inside, apparently blasting a hole in the roof.
"Dr. James!" No, no, no! This wasn't happening! Louis raced across the parking lot, not letting himself look up at the apparently exploding building. "My son is still in there!"
Before Jesse could say anything, he suddenly heard a loud gasp and turned to find Renee Klingerman standing there, her eyes moving from the bright light shooting into the sky to the growing crowd of people, her expression one of shock.
"Louis, I'm sure Elmer's perfectly fine," Jesse said as he hurried over to Mrs. Klingerman. She was already suing Steg. He certainly didn't want her to get any ideas about suing the hospital as well. "Mrs. Klingerman, how nice to see you!"
"What is happening here?" Renee asked as she turned on Jesse with an angry glare. This hospital, she just couldn't believe how badly this hospital had messed things up and continued to mess things up. Suddenly she noticed something, her daughter, were was.... "Where's Mona?!"
"Little Mona's feeling much better." Brenda wondered over,
unnoticed until she spoke, a vague expression on her face as if her brain had suddenly take off for Pluto and left her body behind to manage as best it could. "She did the cleverest thing. She had this stick and she turned Steg into an ass. Very, very clever little girl, Mona." As she spoke, Brenda turned, glancing across the parking lot and apparently spotting something that only she could see. With a giggle, she drifted away once more.
"I'm afraid she isn't quite well right now," Jesse said as he reached out and took Renee's arm, trying to steer her away from the building and definitely far away from Brenda in case she decided to wander back. "I do understand that little Mona is feeling much better though. Why don't you come right over here and let me tell you all about it?"
"Dr. James, the hospital is exploding!" Louis stalked over, moving in front of Jesse to get his attention. He could feel his eyes starting to sting. No, this couldn't be happening. He couldn't lose his only remaining child!
"No, the hospital isn't exploding! Don't be silly!" Jesse chuckled nervously as he glanced over at Renee to see if she might be paying attention to what Louis was saying. "This is just.... The fireworks display. To celebrate our achievement in fire safety!" Yes,
that was it. Just fireworks. He smiled as a dragon drifted into sight.
Everything was perfectly fine at Kingdom Hospital.
"You might want to start passing around a hat to gather money to get rid of those. My son bought them from a couple of boys in England." A dark haired woman in cheery pink robes whispered as she herded a group of children past Jesse and further away from the building. "And for more money, they'll send you the instructions on banishing them too. Their mother must be so proud."
Renee shook her head as she looked from the building to the crowd and then to the two doctors standing there. She didn't know quite what was going on and she wasn't sure that she wanted to know. She just wanted to find her daughter now. This was it, she was going to take Mona home. Okay, she had problems but they could deal with that later. She wasn't leaving her daughter in this hospital for one moment longer!
"Mona!" she called, although she knew her daughter couldn't respond to her. "Mona?" She moved away from Jesse, pushing through the crowd in pursuit of the group of children that had just passed. Surely Mona was with them.
Louis glared at Dr. James for a moment before turning and heading towards the building, his face set. He had to find his son. He couldn't lose Elmer too, not after losing Edgar, Emma.... He pushed through the doors, barely able to move against the current of people still hurrying out. Finally after narrowly avoiding being trampled what felt like a million times, he pulled the stair doors opened and started down, having to resist running, sure he would pitch head first down the steps if he did.
"Elmer!" he called, a slight panic in his voice as he saw a bright light seeping under the stairwell door leading to the basement. Was there a fire or.... "No, Elmer!"
"You don't want to go through there," the dark skinned ghost suddenly slid through the door, appearing in front of the startled Louis. Her dress was no longer a Victorian style but a short, pink flapper dress, colorful beads around her neck and a hat with a large feather on her head. What was even more surprising, however, was that parts of her body appeared to have vanished. One elbow was missing along with several fingers on the opposite hand and part of a lower leg.
"As you can see, it isn't the safest," Lucretzia said with a hollow laugh gesturing towards her missing parts before motioning for Louis to go up the stairs once more, pushing him forward with a rush of cold air when he didn't move.
"Lucy, what happened to you?" Eleanor said as she spotted the ghost and hurried over, worry on her face even as her colleague frowned at the nickname.
"I tried to get through that energy field. Let's just say it wasn't a smashing success," the ghost said as she looked back at the building with worry. "Eleanor, it's getting worse down there. If Michael and the others aren't able to get this under control in the next few minutes, there's no way the hospital's going to survive and most of the town will go with it."
Eleanor looked up at the hospital, shaking her head as she stalked over to her nephew, Blondi and the wolf trailing behind her.
"Aunt Eleanor, did you hear about the record we just set for evacuating a building during a fire safety drill?" Jesse said with a smile as his aunt approached. Oh, this was going to be a very, very good thing for Kingdom Hospital and for his leadership!
"Might I point out that the hospital isn't evacuated yet?" Eleanor doubted she would be able to snap Jesse back to reality but she felt she really had to try for some reason. "For some reason, it's a bit difficult to move the patients in Intensive Care on a moment's notice. I believe Anne said something about killing them or some such."
"She's the potion mistress, right? I thought that she could put a stopper on death," Jesse said quietly, hoping that no one had heard anything that his aunt had said that might imply there was something amiss in the hospital. Fire safety drill, that was absolutely all that this was.
"Putting a stopper on death takes two years to brew and requires ingredients from several animals that occasionally amuse themselves committing mass suicide. I wouldn't count on any of that to help this situation." Eleanor said with a shake of her head. "And it seems that several of your staff are currently trapped in the basement along with my defense teacher and students. This dog said that he saw a Dr. Hook and a Dr. Draper heading for the basement along with several patients and my students."
"Hook and Dr. Draper?" Jesse looked around the parking lot for a moment, scanning the faces as best he could in the growing darkness. "No, they couldn't be in the basement! Attendance at the fire safety drill is mandatory, you know. If they skipped it, well, what would they do if there ever was a real fire? Not that there's any danger of that! Kingdom Hospital is perfectly sound!"
"That isn't quite the word I would use," Eleanor murmured as the building shook once more, the hospital logo shuddering and starting to slowly crawl down the side of the building as a green light suddenly shot up from inside, apparently blasting a hole in the roof.
"Dr. James!" No, no, no! This wasn't happening! Louis raced across the parking lot, not letting himself look up at the apparently exploding building. "My son is still in there!"
Before Jesse could say anything, he suddenly heard a loud gasp and turned to find Renee Klingerman standing there, her eyes moving from the bright light shooting into the sky to the growing crowd of people, her expression one of shock.
"Louis, I'm sure Elmer's perfectly fine," Jesse said as he hurried over to Mrs. Klingerman. She was already suing Steg. He certainly didn't want her to get any ideas about suing the hospital as well. "Mrs. Klingerman, how nice to see you!"
"What is happening here?" Renee asked as she turned on Jesse with an angry glare. This hospital, she just couldn't believe how badly this hospital had messed things up and continued to mess things up. Suddenly she noticed something, her daughter, were was.... "Where's Mona?!"
"Little Mona's feeling much better." Brenda wondered over,
unnoticed until she spoke, a vague expression on her face as if her brain had suddenly take off for Pluto and left her body behind to manage as best it could. "She did the cleverest thing. She had this stick and she turned Steg into an ass. Very, very clever little girl, Mona." As she spoke, Brenda turned, glancing across the parking lot and apparently spotting something that only she could see. With a giggle, she drifted away once more.
"I'm afraid she isn't quite well right now," Jesse said as he reached out and took Renee's arm, trying to steer her away from the building and definitely far away from Brenda in case she decided to wander back. "I do understand that little Mona is feeling much better though. Why don't you come right over here and let me tell you all about it?"
"Dr. James, the hospital is exploding!" Louis stalked over, moving in front of Jesse to get his attention. He could feel his eyes starting to sting. No, this couldn't be happening. He couldn't lose his only remaining child!
"No, the hospital isn't exploding! Don't be silly!" Jesse chuckled nervously as he glanced over at Renee to see if she might be paying attention to what Louis was saying. "This is just.... The fireworks display. To celebrate our achievement in fire safety!" Yes,
that was it. Just fireworks. He smiled as a dragon drifted into sight.
Everything was perfectly fine at Kingdom Hospital.
"You might want to start passing around a hat to gather money to get rid of those. My son bought them from a couple of boys in England." A dark haired woman in cheery pink robes whispered as she herded a group of children past Jesse and further away from the building. "And for more money, they'll send you the instructions on banishing them too. Their mother must be so proud."
Renee shook her head as she looked from the building to the crowd and then to the two doctors standing there. She didn't know quite what was going on and she wasn't sure that she wanted to know. She just wanted to find her daughter now. This was it, she was going to take Mona home. Okay, she had problems but they could deal with that later. She wasn't leaving her daughter in this hospital for one moment longer!
"Mona!" she called, although she knew her daughter couldn't respond to her. "Mona?" She moved away from Jesse, pushing through the crowd in pursuit of the group of children that had just passed. Surely Mona was with them.
Louis glared at Dr. James for a moment before turning and heading towards the building, his face set. He had to find his son. He couldn't lose Elmer too, not after losing Edgar, Emma.... He pushed through the doors, barely able to move against the current of people still hurrying out. Finally after narrowly avoiding being trampled what felt like a million times, he pulled the stair doors opened and started down, having to resist running, sure he would pitch head first down the steps if he did.
"Elmer!" he called, a slight panic in his voice as he saw a bright light seeping under the stairwell door leading to the basement. Was there a fire or.... "No, Elmer!"
"You don't want to go through there," the dark skinned ghost suddenly slid through the door, appearing in front of the startled Louis. Her dress was no longer a Victorian style but a short, pink flapper dress, colorful beads around her neck and a hat with a large feather on her head. What was even more surprising, however, was that parts of her body appeared to have vanished. One elbow was missing along with several fingers on the opposite hand and part of a lower leg.
"As you can see, it isn't the safest," Lucretzia said with a hollow laugh gesturing towards her missing parts before motioning for Louis to go up the stairs once more, pushing him forward with a rush of cold air when he didn't move.
"Lucy, what happened to you?" Eleanor said as she spotted the ghost and hurried over, worry on her face even as her colleague frowned at the nickname.
"I tried to get through that energy field. Let's just say it wasn't a smashing success," the ghost said as she looked back at the building with worry. "Eleanor, it's getting worse down there. If Michael and the others aren't able to get this under control in the next few minutes, there's no way the hospital's going to survive and most of the town will go with it."