Another short chapter...

Sorry it took so long to update :(

Chapter 12 - Opportunity

The moment broke as quickly as it had begun.

I was back in my bedroom, leaning against my cot with the Seeker positioned outside my doorway. But I was feeling more connected with Dana than ever. I could tell she was felling strange too, after visiting all of my memories of past lives in different Hosts.

I settled against the backboard of my cot, tipping my head to the ceiling and closing my eyes.

Collin is still here! Her sudden outburst made me jump. I took a deep breath, irritated.

Yes, I understand that.

No, I don't think you do. If Collin is still here, then we have to find him.

I rocked, uneasily, from side to side. I couldn't pretend that there wasn't a part of me that wanted to get out of here. Away from the eyes of the Seekers, towards the body's family.

I can't, I reassured myself, there's a Seeker outside the doorway.

Just…just say that you need to use the bathroom.

Oh.

I rose to my feet, trying to appear confident as I strode across the tiles.

"May I quickly use the bathroom?" I asked pleasantly, not bothering to ask myself why I was doing this.

"Don't you have one in your room?"

My mind went blank.

"Y-yes," I stuttered, "But…"

Tell him that it's broken.

No! A Soul built this room. We don't build things that break.

Tell him you clogged it!

No! I said, suddenly embarrassed.

Do you want to get out of here or not? She demanded.

I sighed. It…it didn't matter anyway. I would likely never see this man again.

"You see," I began awkwardly, "this body has…um, extraordinarily large…excrement. And the toilet was not able to…manage it."

The Seeker's face flushed, running sausage-like fingers through his hair. "Well then…um, the public bathrooms are just down the hall."

"Thank you," I said, hurrying away.

I found the door labeled Women's quite easily, and slipped inside before anyone could tell me to go back to my room.

I leaned against the sink.

What now? I asked.

Now…now we leave.

What? We can't just walk out the door!

Dana was quiet for a second. I let my eyes survey the room, taking in the three white stalls along the opposing wall, and the three matching sinks behind me. The roll of paper towels by the window.

The window! Dana cried.

The window?
Yes! We're on the first floor, right?

I walked across the room, leaning into the window. It was less than a three or four foot drop.

I don't have anything to break it with.

Mmmh… Dana said softly, check the stalls.

I swung open the stall doors, seeing nothing but a toilet and a plastic toilet paper rack.

Well, Dana said, we have us.

Us?

Yeah. Our body.

I imagined the body crashing through the glass, the window shattering into tiny, jagged blades.

No. We'd die.

Dana considered this for a second.

Probably. What about the hospital? It's just down the hall, see if you can find anything in there.

What if someone sees me?
Just tell them that you have permission to be there.

Okay…I exited the bathroom, throwing a quick glance down the hall for approaching Seekers. No one was around.

The hospital was just one hallway around from the bathroom. I grimaced, remembering the time before Dana, during my questioning. During my second episode of pounding, the one where I had been so anxious to find the bathroom. Little did I know it was just around the corner.

I slipped between the doors to the hospital wing.

The room was surprisingly quiet. The only sounds in the room were the beeping of some complex machinery and the breathing of the room's only patient, my Seeker.

Dana's mother.

I felt my hand reach out towards her, without me telling it too. It dropped immediately.

I want to take her with me, Dana hissed.

I – I can't Dana. We can't just drag her out of the hospital.

She was silent. I was, too. I didn't know what to say.

Whatever, she said, trying to disguise her obvious anger at the situation, just grab something that looks heavy and get out of here.

Okay

Quickly, I pulled a heavy, metal tool off of one of the countertops. I glanced over at my Seeker, still sleeping soundly.

Feeling only slightly guilty, I tucked the metal, scissor-like tool under my arm.

As I exited the room, the stress started to eat me. My breathing was shallow and tense. Had the Seeker outside my room grown suspicious? I closed my eyes in the dark hallway, listening to the rush of blood in my ears. The hospital doors softly fell shut behind me.

I shakily stepped toward the bathroom, my body tensing with anticipation. What would happen when I never came back to my quarters? What would Star Blanket think?

I was overwhelmed by the memory of Collin. The way his eyes changed color to match the sky.

Blindly, I stumbled into the bathroom on legs aching to run.

I bit my lip, suddenly freezing at the sight of the tall window.

Throw it, Dana said.

Throw it, I repeated to myself. Haltingly, I raised my arm high, with the heavy scissors shaking between my fingertips. I thought of Star Blanket and Healer Flames.

Throw it. Throw it!

I thought of Cassandra and Fallen Flower. And everyone who thought Dana was gone, that she was dead.

Without my consent, my arm flung forward and the scissors split across the room. I held my breath.

It crashed into the window and the curtain of glass shattered, shattering into a scintillating pile at my feet.

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