CHAPTER 3 (CHILD'S PLAY)

"Where the heck are we going?" Nick asked me as we sped through corridor after corridor. My feet slapped the floor and people were throwing us suspicious glances as we raced about.

Oh. And why wouldn't they? We looked like vigilantes!

"I… I dunno! Stop asking questions and I'll… Find a way!" I huffed, still holding on to his hand and running about aimlessly.

Dang it. This place is so huge! It's almost endless!

Jeez. I must be really confused right now to be thinking like this.

I finally stopped, since I felt extremely exhausted. Running for fifteen minutes straight sure has taken a toll on my body. We stopped just beside the comfort room. My hand was leaning against the wall and I was swallowing as much oxygen as I could.

Norah you manage to turn a normal situation into something biblical in proportion.

"You should take a rest," Nate said, not looking tired at all. He didn't even break a sweat.

I looked at him, wondering why he wasn't sweating bullets right now. He looked pretty fragile, and I expected him to shrivel up and die in the first few minutes.

Well, that was an exaggeration but you get my point.

"We shouldn't have run you know. That doctor seemed nice. And it was accidental," Nate said.

I stared at him and was about to open my mouth and say something witty, but then I decided to shut up.

He DOES have a point. It's not like I murdered the dude or anything. I mean, I just hit him…

But then what if that leads to a coma? Then he has some sort of brain damage due to the impact? What if I actually shattered his skull into smithereenies?

OH. NO.

No. Running away was definitely the best way. It was the perfect plan.

Suddenly, a nurse walked past us. She was walking fast and her heels were lightly and rapidly clicking.

"Doctor Strauss! Doctor Wilforth's knocked out cold in room 25! And the patient's gone missing as well!" she cried out to a doctor with grey hair.

The hairs on my body stood up.

Oh no… She meant me!

"They're after us Nate!" I cried, panicking once more.

"Er… Technically, they're after you," he replied, grinning.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh funny Nick. Simply… Oh no. We need to hide! Let's go!"

And with that, I grabbed his hand and we began our marathon again.

Maybe I should've been a runner. I can't believe the rate I'm going at!

Finally, I saw a yellow door. Bright yellow. In my flurry of panic, I screwed it open and went inside, dragging Nate with me.

Poor guy. He didn't deserve it. But then again, people around me tend to get into a LOT of trouble.

As we entered the room, some tiny little creature poked me.

"Hi there," it said in a squeaky voice.

It took me a while to realize that the tiny little creature was actually a small kid with blond hair. She was smiling at us and her hands seemed messy with paint.

"H-Hi there," I said shakily.

I looked around. The room was painted baby blue, like a nursery. Little children were scampering about and chuckling as they held toys in their hands. There were tiny, round tables in the room and a shelf crammed with picture books.

Huh. This must be where the keep the little runts.

I mean, children.

"We'll be safe here I guess," Nate said as he smiled and shook hands with the little kid. The kid blushed and went away.

"Yeah. We could stay here," I said and walked about.

This didn't seem so bad. Not such a bad place for a hideout.

I sat on a small stool, it could barely support me but it'll have to do. Nick began playing with some of the kids and they were forming a circle around him.

I watched him in amusement. He seems like a pretty nice guy. I don't see guys like him that much. He seemed like a refreshing change.

"Miss, do you like Cinderella?" a girl with brown hair and freckles approached me, beaming.

"No. I hate her. I think her hair is ugly and she looks like a mutated duck," I replied.

Well it's true. And besides, I always speak out what's in my mind.

To my horror, she began to frown. Slowly, tears were trickling down her cheeks and she was sniffing.

"You're mean!!!" she cried out and ran away, bawling her eyes out.

Oh cripes.

I forgot that kids get offended that easily.

I stood up from my seat and followed her. "Hey kid! Wait up!"

She was in one corner now, sitting with her legs curled up and her back leaning against the wall. She was crying and every child was looking at me.

Great. So now I'm a bully.

I looked at Nate, asking for some help. He shrugged and made it clear to me that I should apologize to the girl.

I sighed and went to the girl. She was still crying and sniffing and her head was buried in her hands.

"Aw come on… Don't cry now. I'm sorry," I said as I squatted down to her size.

Jeez. I swear kids are getting tinier these days. Are they getting enough nutrition?

Aaah. Focus on apologizing now before I traumatize her forever.

She was still crying. "N-no… You were being mean to Cinderella. What did she ever do to you?"

Uh… Let's see… She was haunting me in my dreams when I was a kid. In my dreams, she had snakes in her hair and she had horrible, webbed wings and for some reason, she was trying to gobble me up.

But no, I can't say that.

"Nothing… Look, I'm really sorry. Are we friends now? I'd love to be friends," I said sincerely and smiled at her.

She looked up, her lip was trembling but she wasn't frowning anymore. Finally, she broke into a smile and nodded. "Right. We're friends now. Let's play dollies!"

She chuckled and went to their toy bin. She pulled out a Barbie doll and gave me one. "This is Tinkerwooditzy and yours is Fluffysunmuffinpants," she said excitedly and began to make the her doll dance in the air.

Fluffysunmuffinpants.

Sheesh. Where do they get this nowadays? I only named my dolls Sara or Jessie before and not some nursery-rhyme type gibberish.

Ah. But I can't help the way she is.

I made my doll dance, doing it a bit lazily. I'm grown up already, I don't want to play. But I guess I'll have to or I'll upset the kid.

Hm… Could this head come off?

I got curious and I began to pull its head out. Maybe it won't anyway.

All of a sudden, the head popped out and the doll was decapitated. The girl gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth. "Oh no! You killed Fluffysunmuffinpants!"

I panicked and began placing the head back. "I'll fix it!"

Come on… Come on… GET. BACK.

The kid grew frustrated and snatched the doll from my hands. "Oh! You really ARE mean!"

She turned her back and began placing the head back. "Poor Fluffysunmuffinpants…"

Nate was beside me now. "You popped the head off?"

"I was curious," I replied, trying to justify my action.

Okay. That might've been stupid, but does this kid have to treat me this way? I mean, it's not like I executed the doll through guillotine.

"She's really mean!" I hissed to Nate as the girl stuck out her tongue at me.

"Well, she's a kid. Understand her," Nate said gently.

Hm… I guess so… But… Argh. Nick's right.

"What do I do?" I asked him. "Aside from apologizing? Candy?"

She certainly looked like she wanted more than an apology.

Nate paused for a while. "I have one. It's this silly thing that kids do to make others forgive them, but it's really effective. They call it the Graceful Fallen Lion."

"Really?" I asked, intrigued.

"Yup. Now, follow after me. Get down on your knees," he said and I followed.

"Bend your head forward."

I did that. This was weird.

"Put your two hands on the floor."

Yup. Then?

"Say you're sorry."

"I'm-what?!"

"Do it."

Hmph. So I DO have to apologize. Pretty slick way of tricking me though.

I sighed and as much as it pained me, I had to say it. "I'm sorry."

The kid finally faced me. Her face was statue-like.

I could only look and hope that she utters even a single word to me.

Finally, she broke into a smile and suddenly hugged me. "You're not mean at all."

I was pretty surprised.

Wow. Little kids weren't crazy, whacko aliens from another planet after all.

"Thanks Nate," I told Nate.

It was nice having him around. At least he solved this mess.

"No problem," he chuckled.

"Ah-ha. So here you were Miss Norah," a voice said behind us.

I turned around and saw that a nurse was looking at us, her hands on her hips.

"Time for your fluids now," she said.

I gulped and looked at Nate pleadingly.

"Hold still now Norah," Dr. Wilforth (the doctor I knocked out cold) said gently as he was preparing his injection. I was back in the hospital bed now.

Inside, my body was panicking. It's like the scene when King Kong or Godzilla came. The cells inside my body were screaming in terror as fear stirred inside me.

No. Pleaaassseeeee no!!

"No. No. No. No. No. Plea-" I began to say when somebody held my hand.

I looked to my right and saw that it was Nate. He was holding my hand and smiling. "Come on Norah, it's not that bad."

I only stared at him.

He really is a nice guy.

"Ready?" the doctor asked.

Nate nodded and smiled at me.

"Yup," I replied.

Ding-dong!

"Dear, could you get that? That must be your dad's friend now," mom's voice issued from the kitchen. I could smell seafood pasta coming from the kitchen.

Mmmm… I can't wait for dinner.

I was back at home now. My parents knew that I was in the hospital a while ago but they didn't know the trouble I caused. My hand was still in a cast. At least it was my left hand. My right hand was the one I used for writing.

We were having a guest tonight. An old friend of dad.

I was walking slowly towards the door.

I still can't stop thinking about Nate. What makes this guy so nice anyway? I don't know why. Maybe any other guy, or person, would've abandoned me. But he stayed and even watched over me.

I found that pretty cool.

I opened the door and beamed. I should make a good impression on the guests.

"Good evening!" I chirped.

I looked at the guest. My jaw dropped.

Heck no.

I grinned sheepishly at him.

Oh haha Fate. VEEERYY FUNNY. I'm simply rolling on the floor now.

"Er… Hi Dr. Wilforth…"