-3-
"ALiCE?"
It's the middle of the night, and I'm lying in bed, watching the moonlight run across the cracks in the ceiling - the same thing I do every night in this God-forsaken place. I am so into my usual routine that it takes a few moments for K.'s voice to register.
I sit up and peer into the darkness. "K?"
"Come on."
The concept is laughable. "Come on? Where?"
"Come on."
I know K. knows the clinic as well as I do. Checks every 15 minutes. Locked doors. Staff at the desks, staff walking around, cameras and surveillance... it's not exactly an impenetrable penitentiary, but still. It's not like we could just get up and walk away.
K. hands me a bag I've never seen before - I can assume what it is though. My earthly possessions. Whatever it was they bought for me back before I came here. Was I even conscious back then, or still catatonic? Who was I back then?
It isn't the time to ponder such stories. K. takes my arm in one of his hands and leads me out of my room and into a dark hallway. Too dark. Something's not right here.
We approach the double entrance doors and exit without a card swipe or anything. We approach the elevators and walk into an empty and waiting elevator car.
I stare at K. for a long time before he acknowledges my presence.
"I gotta take you to that restaurant."
"Are you serious?"
"You'll love it."
"No. K. How... Why... We just walked out."
He nods, but says nothing. The elevator reaches the first floor. We exit the hospital and walk into the city.
The sign outside tells me it's 4 o'clock in the morning.
I wonder how long it'll take Andersen to find out I've gone AWOL. I almost wish, for a moment, that I could still be there, just to see his reaction.
But I'm not in the hospital anymore. I'm in a new city with a guy I barely know, in a world I hardly remember.
This is going to be interesting.