"C-CRAIG?" Craig immediately 'ssshs' me, looking around himself cautiously, a worried expression on his face. I realise how loud I just yelled, and look around as well. I don't know how, but none of the kids woke up. Not even Cartman or Bradley, who are both right next to me. I turn back to Craig, shaking, afraid someone's gonna wake up and spot him. He'd be in so much trouble.
"W-What the hell are you doing here!" I hiss urgently, wanting him to leave. Well actually, I'd love him to stay, but it'd be a nightmare if he got caught. A nightmare.
"Don't be dumb Tweek. I got in a car and came over here the minute my dad phoned me and said you attempted suicide." I felt my heart rise.
"Really?"
"Duh. Are you okay now?" I nod, looking at my bandaged wrist. Craig stares at it with an unreadable expression.
"…L-Look, we need to get out of here."
"Why?" Craig takes his phone out of his pocket, flips it open, and stares at the screen. He puts it back in his pocket and looks back at me, a serious look on his face.
"My dad called and told me four hours ago… that we're now brothers by adoption…"
"…"
"…Is it true, Tweek?"
"…Yeah, it is. I saw your dad sign the papers myself."
"That's why then."
"What?"
"That's why we've gotta get outta here. Look… I'm not gonna be your brother." That's good. I don't wanna be his brother either.
…Then again, I have a reason, which is that I like him in a romantic way. Craig almost definitely doesn't like me that way… so what's his reason for not wanting to be brothers? Is it because I'm crazy?
"Is… Is there something wrong with being my brother?" Craig eyes his shoes, not looking sure what to say. It's the first time I've seen him like this. He's usually so confident and sure, not timid and silent.
"…No… that's not it. It's just…" He looks deep in thought, with no idea what to say. He catches me staring and shakes his head. He pulls some keys out his pocket and looks for the right number of my cell. He finds the correct key and immediately opens the door. I step out, feeling weird outside my room with no handcuffs on. Craig takes my hand and starts pulling me towards the exit.
"What the hell?"
"Quiet! I told you, we're getting out of here." He opens the door as quietly as possible.
"Yeah, but where-
"Sssssh! The nurse is right there!" Craig hisses in a barely audible whisper, pointing to some sleeping nurse on a chair. Nurses take turns at night sitting outside, so if one of us presses our buzzer to go to the bathroom, they can come in almost immediately. They almost always fall asleep though, so you keep having to press your buzzer so much that you wake up all the patients, let alone the nurse. Happens a lot.
We slowly step past the nurse and kept walking down the hall to the elevator. I like the elevator a lot. It's just better than stairs. Before Craig was introduced, for whatever reason I would have to go down, I would have to take the stairs. I'm allowed to take the elevator whenever I want now. A nurse told me earlier.
Craig presses the down button. About ten seconds later, the elevator arrives. Craig pushes me to the side and looks in the elevator. Once he sees no one's inside, he quickly pulls me in, afraid that a nurse heard the 'ding' of the elevator.
"What the hell was that about?"
"If someone was inside, they would've seen you."
"They would've seen you either way!"
"Yeah, but I could've said my dad forgot me here or something." I face palmed. Like that would ever work.
"Ok, say some doctor's in here, they see you, and by some miracle, they believe your dad 'forgot' you here, they step out, and see me… then what?"
"…I didn't think about that." I stare. This guy… scares me and attracts me at the same time. Seriously, this is fucked up.
An awkward silence forms between us, which is pretty dumb, with how close we are. I know why I'm feeling awkward. I'm in love with this guy after all, and we're in an elevator alone together. It's like a dream come true. Well, we've been alone together before, but… I dunno, that's just different. I just don't understand why Craig feels awkward. It's not like he loves me or anything… oh, fuck, what if he's found out I like him romantically? I did tell his dad, after all.
Oh no. I really hope that's not the case.
The elevator finally arrives at the ground floor. I silently pray there's no one waiting at the door. There isn't. I make a move to step out, but Craig grabs the back of my shirt and pulls me down to the floor of the elevator.
"WHA-
Craig covers my mouth and soundlessly points to the front of the building. I look on to see the front desk, reception, sign in desk, whatever you wanna call it. There are a lot of ladies there, all of which are awake, and don't look like they'll fall asleep any time soon. They're probably on a night only shift, so they spent the day before sleeping, so they'd be wide awake for this. I also bet they have a shitload of coffee. Lucky.
I think the hospital does this so that even if kids like me escape and make it to this point, the ladies (with their sharp, wide awake senses) would spot them immediately and handcuff them. I've heard rumours that the staff in this part of the building all carry handcuffs for situations such as these. I understand why Craig pulled me down now. If I'd walked even one step out, they'd have all seen me immediately. Thankfully, they're all so concentrated on paper work, that none of them heard the 'ding' of the elevator.
The elevator door moves to close, but I quickly stop it with my hand. Craig gets closer to me, making me blush, of course. Damn my innocence. He starts whispering to me.
"Okay, on three, we're gonna crawl as fast as we can out this elevator. Once we're out, we both stay still, and on the floor, or else they'll see us. And try and be as quiet as possible. You understand?" I nod slowly, slightly scared. I've never attempted an escape before.
Bradley and Thomas did once. They invited me to come as well, but I was smart enough to know they'd fail, so of course, I said no. As I thought, they failed miserably. They didn't even reach the elevator. It's such a shame, really, since they put so much effort into planning every detail. Bradley, who planned it, forgot one detail, which was pretty important, which was not to be spotted in the hallway. As soon as they managed to get out of the huge room where all our cells are, and sneaked past the sleeping nurse, they ran straight into a doctor on his way home, making Thomas scream, waking the nurse, and causing them to both be caught. They should've also done it way late in the night, like Craig and I, so that there's almost no chance of running into staff in the hallway.
"Okay…" I snap out of my thoughts and get ready to crawl out, before this thing tries to shut again. "… One, two, three!" We make a dash for it and, lucky for us, make it out just as the elevator door closes. I think a lady looks up just as we get in front of the huge desk.
"Did you hear that, Sylvia?"
"What?"
"The elevator was just here…and it opened… but no one came out…"
"That's funny…" I hear the lady stand up.
"Shit…" Craig mutters next to me. I can see the lady above us, leaning over the desk, looking at the elevator door to see if any escapees are lying on the floor outside the elevator, trying to hide. Thank God Craig was smart enough to remember we had to get below the desk, or else she would've spotted us for sure. And thank God the lady didn't look down.
"There's no one there. It was probably one of the doctors on a late shift on their way home, that forgot something, and went back up."
"Oh yeah, that's possible."
"Now shut up. I need to finish this report to the authorities."
"Authorities?"
"Yeah. Apparently some doctors and nurses want to sue Tweek Tweak, and I have to do the complaint for them." Craig and I immediately freeze, especially Craig.
"What could you possibly sue a kid his age for?"
"I think the same thing happened with that Bradley kid way back. You know how Tweek tried to kill himself earlier today, right?"
"Yeah, I heard."
"Well those dumb nurses are convinced that Tweek had a knife for the purpose of harming other patients. It's stupid, because they interviewed all the patients separately, and they every single one said he used round tipped safety scissors, and that they belonged to Eric Cartman. Eric himself said that they were his. But the nurses were just like 'Oh, they're all lying. We bet they made a pact to never tattle on each other. Tweek definitely had a knife.' They just want to get rid of the kid, that's all. Just like Bradley, he's a trouble maker, and they want him gone."
"That's retarded. They should know there're trouble makers. It's a mental institution."
"That's what I thought, too. I like Tweek Tweak. He's a sweet boy. I met him once when he first came here. I felt so sorry for him because he was so young and confused. Then I kept hearing rumours of stuff he and his friends kept doing, and today I practically had a heart attack when I heard he'd attempted suicide. The poor kid. It breaks my heart that I have to send a complaint about him to the police, and he hasn't even done anything wrong." I remember the lady now. I did meet her once. She was sooooooo nice. Lovely smile.
"Yeah, poor thing. But recently, I've noticed that kid, Craig Tucker… you know, Thomas Tucker's son? Yeah anyway, he's been coming to visit Tweek lately. What's up with that? They're like complete opposites. What a weird friendship."
"I actually heard that Tweek's father died a week ago, and today Dr. Tucker officially adopted Tweek. So they're brothers now. Maybe that's why Dr. Tucker let his son hang around with Tweek recently." Craig and I grimaced at the reminder of being brothers.
"The poor kid, losing his father so young. It's bad enough to be insane and losing your mother, now he's lost his father too. Well, at least he's not an orphan, and he's officially adopted. It's lucky he's got a new dad that's loves him."
"I seriously like all the kids here, but Tweek catches my eye in particular. He's special." I remember Mr Tucker's… sorry, Dad's earlier words.
"Why do I get such special treatment?"
"Because you are special. It's called special treatment, after all."
"Didn't you say you had to do that report?"
"Oh yeah! Sorry for disturbing your work." The two ladies finally stop talking and get back to working. I relax and look to Craig. Like outside my cell, he's deep in thought. I shake him. Not to be a dick, but I seriously wanna get out of here. The fear of being caught is taking effect.
"W-What?"
"We were escaping…?"
"Oh, right. Okay, the main doors about 10ft away from where we're lying right now."
"Should me make a run for it?" Craig nodded his head in thought, then shook his head suddenly.
"No. I was actually considering it for a second, but no. Even if we did it really fast and silently, the staff would definitely see us, and some might even run after us. Then they'd definitely call security, then we're done for. They'd find us in less than a minute, especially since it's snowing."
"…Since when does it snow in August?"
"It does in the mountains. Look, we need to think here…"
"…"
"…"
"…What if we distract the staff somehow?"
"That's a good idea, but how?" I look over across the lobby. I see through a sort of window a separate room where lots of men are staring at computers. I look towards the ceiling. I spot a black device, that's thankfully not pointing to us. We were lucky there wasn't one in the hall.
"That's a security camera right?" I point to the ceiling; Craig's looks up and nods.
"There's one in the room where all our cells are, but it's not night vision. People can only see with it when the lights are turned on in the room."
"So you think if we get the lights turned on in the cell room, all the staff will pay attention to that?"
"Yeah."
"How do we get the lights to turn on though?"
"I've seen it happen myself. There're vibration detectors attached to all the glass walls. I once saw some kid have a breakdown and try to break the glass. The detectors sensed the vibrations and the lights and sirens immediately switched on, so the security came running in. If we get the lights on and the siren to go off, the staff, camera watchers and security will be distracted, giving us a chance to run out without being seen."
"That's a good idea, but who'll be willing to do all that for us?"
"You know who." Craig stares at me for a second, then smiles.
"Cartman."
"Yep. You have his number, right?"
"Yeah." Craig takes out his cell and speed dials him. He gives me the phone. I put it to my ear while Craig keeps watch for people.
Ring
Ring
Ring
"…Do you have any idea what time it is, Tucker?"
"Cartman, it's me."
"…Did you steal Craig's phone?"
"No, he gave it to me. Look-
"Are you calling me for fun or something? Go back to sleep." My God. He hasn't even noticed I'm gone yet. Idiot.
"Cartman, look to your right." I hear some sheets rustle as he turns over to look in my cell.
"OH MY GOD! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"
"I'm in the lobby of the hospital, below you, on the floor, hiding with Craig. We're escaping. Well, I'm escaping. He's helping me."
"…SO YOU DIDN'T EVEN THINK FOR A SECOND THAT I MIGHT WANNA COME WITH?"
"Actually, I didn't. You're out of here in a few weeks anyway. Look, we really need your help, if we're gonna get out of here." I hear Cartman sigh. He sounds annoyed. Really annoyed.
"What is it?"
"You may get in trouble."
"Whatever. Just tell me what."
"We need the lights in the cell room to go on and for the sirens to go off, so that it distracts the staff and security. You're the only one that can set them off."
"…How do I do it?"
"There're vibration detectors attached the all the glass walls in the room. You need set them off, then the lights and siren will go on."
"And how do I do that?"
"Tweek, hurry! They're starting to hear you!" Craig hisses.
"You have to bang on the walls. Just grab something and try to break the door to your cell, so it looks like you're trying to escape. The security will come running. I have to go. Please, please do it." I quickly hang up the phone.
I was too loud. I can hear the same lady as before walking to the front of the desk. She's about to look down, but the sound of the siren stops her. God, it's loud. It's echoing through speakers all over the hospital. Must've scared the absolute crap out of doctors that're staying the night. I look across the lobby to see all the camera watcher guys gathering around one screen, probably watching Cartman try to smash a door. I almost laugh at the thought. All the ladies at the front desk run over to the room to see what set the siren off.
"Look, the security's got him!" Some guy from the camera room yells.
"That's our cue!" Craig says, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. We start running. As we're running, I look at a desk on the other side of the room, near the camera watchers.
There's a cup of coffee on it.
"Craig, can I quickly grab that coffee?"
"WHAT? NO! COME ON, WE'RE ALMOST AT THE DOOR!" Before I even listen to Craig's full answer, I start running across the room to get the coffee, almost in a trance. What can I say? Coffee's important to me.
"NO, TWEEK! YOU'RE GONNA GET IN THE CAMERA RANGE!" I turn to him, slightly confused, still running. He's running after me, trying to grab my arm to halt me. I turn back forward to see some guy pointing at his screen and yelling, getting the attention of the rest of the people in the room. All of the staff look towards the lobby and see me, as well as Craig. Craig stops runnning and looks up at the camera on the ceiling, the one I'd pointed to earlier. He lifts his arm up and flips it off. Nice.
One of the staff must've called the security pretty quick, because three huge men in security uniforms come from the elevator and push me to the floor. One stands over my body and handcuffs me behind my back. I can see Craig being restrained by one of them, a pissed off look on his face. I can also see the kind lady from the front desk, the one that said I'm special, staring in shock, as well as all the other women. The security guy who handcuffed me pulls me to my feet, and starts dragging me away by the collar. I see Craig once again, being held by the shoulders and questioned by the third security guy.
"CRAIG!" He and the security guy immediately look up.
"DON'T FEEL GUILTY! IT WAS MY FAULT WE FAILED! I'M REALLY SORRY!" Craig's looks directly in my eyes. I feel a sudden moment of connection between us, and I'm sure he feels it too. It's like time just freezes. But sadly, the moment of connection is too brief. The two other security guys roughly pull me away and into the elevator. I see one of them yelling into a walkie-talkie, while the other one still has a hold of my collar. We quickly arrive at the floor where the cells are, though I know after what I just attempted, they're not gonna take me back to my cell.
As I thought, they start taking me the opposite way of my cell. As we turn a corner into another hall, we run into the rest of the security, who have Cartman handcuffed as well. Cartman sees me and tries to muster his best glare. He's mad at me for failing at the escape; after all he did for me.
Oh crap.
I know the direction we're going. Cartman sees my freaked out face and gives me a questionable look. I mouth 'padded cells.'
'What?' He mouths back.
'Padded cells.'
'What?'
"PADDED CELLS, YOU RETARD!" The security guy that's got my collar whacks me on the back of the head for yelling so loud this time of night… or morning. I think it's almost one in the morning, so yeah, morning. Cartman now looks freaked out, since he knows where we're going.
As I thought, we arrive at the same door I was thrown in a few days ago. They throw me inside and, just as they're closing the door, I see them chuck Cartman in the cell across the hall.
That poor bastard. I actually feel sorry for him.