Life, or rather limbo, at Kingdom Hospital quickly became the norm for me. Accepting my death for what it was, a young life tragically cut short, helped me adjust to being a ghost. I was able to walk through walls without even flinching now and I was getting better at making myself manifest in reflective surfaces, like windows and mirrors. I was actually quite enjoying my time with Mary and Anubis. They were great teachers and friends. Even the occasional sightings of Paul and the Doctor were becoming less scary. It seemed that they knew not to mess with me when Anubis was around. When he was not, however, was a completely different story.
One day Mary and I were on our way to visit Mona Klingerman, the girl was quite messed up but we liked to watch over her when her mom was away. The children's ward was our favorite place because some of the children could see us. Luckily they were able to play it off like we were their imaginary friends so their parents didn't get very concerned. The hallway seemed a little off though; we noticed it the second we walked in. It was cold. It never got cold in the children's ward; it was always like eighty degrees.
Workmen huddled around a thermostat scratching their heads. It read eighty but it felt more like fifty. I looked to Mary, but her eyes were fixed to a point down the hall. I followed her gaze and was met with stormy green eyes, Paul. As always the Doctor was right beside them. Remembering our last encounter I shivered a little, he probably hadn't appreciated that kick.
"Looks like you are missing a giant hairy menace, huh?" said Paul, grinning a bit evilly. He took a step towards us and we took one back. He chuckled. "Not so tough now, are you?" he sneered. I shook myself and stepped in front of Mary, no more running. He seemed perplexed or just stunned because he arched an eyebrow and stopped advancing.
"Leave… please," I added weakly. Gathering my resolve I spoke again," You're hurting them." I gestured to the shivering children and people in the ward. Paul looked at me like I'd grown another head. He spun to look at the Doctor, who was glaring at me.
"Well, isn't this an interesting turn of events. The beast picks up a stray that turns out to have back bone." Dr. Gottreich said, "It's a good thing we have better things to do right now or you would be sorely outmatched." Suddenly the Doctor's "creations" appeared, the men and women who had been subject to his torture in the afterlife. They were sad, soulless looking things with disfiguring burns and mutations. My heart broke as I saw children amongst them.
I grabbed Mary's hand and marched us out of the ward and into the ambulance entry. I knew the evil pair wouldn't follow us because they didn't like to be near those who still had a chance to live. Just then Ollie and Danny came in rushing a woman into the ER. "Those two work so hard," Mary commented.
"Yeah." I said. I must have looked very downtrodden because Mary led me to the seats near the security office. Blondie, Otto's German shepherd came to greet us. While petting him, I glanced up at Otto, who appeared to be sleeping on the job again. I ruffled the papers on his desk and he shot up from his desk, muttering "That's the third time this week." Mary laughed and complimented my growing abilities. She turned serious after a moment.
"You know that Paul's not all bad, right?" Mary whispered, eyeing her nervously I shrugged, not liking where this was going at all. "He was once just a teenager, like you. His parents sold him off to Dr. Gottreich when he was just 13. He lived with him for two years before the doctor killed him during one of his experiments. His eyes weren't always green." She said dismally. Startled, I peeked at her face, she looked so sad.
"Did you know him, you know, before?" I asked.
"Yes, I met him a few weeks before I died. He was the nicest person. I stuck around because of him. I didn't want him to be lonely." Her childish voice carried. I smiled at her and gave her a hug, deciding then and there that if I could save Paul I would.