It had been a long, anxiety fueled hour on the road, made longer by the complete lack of anything of interest to be seen.
Kris muttered a curse under her breath as she drove. It was hard enough to stay focused on the dark road in front of her even without all the thoughts and fears jumbling around in her head. She impatiently tapped the steering wheel with hands that were already shaking and pressed her foot down a little harder on the accelerator.
Thanks to her police siren, she'd been able to make good time out of town but now the winding, uneven roads that crisscrossed between the major highways made high speeds impossible. Kris leaned forward and squinted her eyes in an attempt to see anything farther than what her headlights illuminated. Where was this hospital Sabrina told her to look for? It wasn't on any map and she'd certainly never heard of it. Still, with nothing else to go on, Kris drove on for another ten minutes before a glint of metal had her heart leaping into her throat.
Could that be what she thought it was?
With her heart pounding in her chest, Kris managed to slow down her car enough to take a good look at the wrecked car that had caught her eye on the side of the road.
"Oh, shit." She breathed to herself as coasted by it.
She'd been right. That was Kelly's yellow Mustang lying abandoned on the side of the road, but the sight of it was anything but encouraging.
The car was completely totaled, its hood crumpled in, the windshield shattered and the front axle suspiciously missing a tire. It was no mystery as to what they'd hit either. Lying dead and mangled on the hood was a very large and very dead buck leaking blood all over the front of the car and asphalt below it. Kris jerked her cruiser to a stop a few yards away from the wreck, jumped out and, flashlight in hand, jogged over to the car.
The sight alone of the dead deer had been enough to make her want to look away from the scene from where she sat in her car. Up close in the glow of her flashlight where she could smell the blood, burnt rubber and gasoline, it was enough to make her want to retch. Kris cringed as she approached the car. The damn deer was nearly inside out. They must have hit it going at least sixty miles per hour.
A bit comforted by the fact that Sabrina had spoken to Jill less than two hours ago, Kris moved her flashlight beam from the unseeing eyes of the dead deer to Kelly's battered vehicle.
What a mess.
Being careful not to disturb anything, Kris tiptoed around the bits of twisted metal and glass and managed to lean her head in through the broken driver's side window. She immediately frowned. There was blood smeared on the front passenger seat , the steering wheel, streaked around both door handles and as much as she wanted it to be true, she knew that it hadn't come from the deer.
The interior of the car was suddenly illuminated with a light much brighter than her own and Kris jerked her head out of the window to see a pair of approaching headlights. As she watched, the vehicle they belonged to slowed and then pulled to a stop several feet behind Kelly's car, revealing a sleek, white truck. Not sure what to expect, Kris stepped away from the road and lowered her light.
The truck's engine still idling, its front door opened and a tall bearded man stepped out.
"Hi, miss." He called in a friendly tone. "Do you need some help to-" He paused, suddenly looking very confused before stopping dead in his tracks. His entire demeanor changed and had Kris had more time she would have found a reason to check into him for something illegal. "Uh-…good morn- evening, officer." He stammered nervously.
Kris offered him a cautious smile. "Good evening." she answered back. She swept her hand out to gesture at the wreck she was standing in front of. "I do need help. Not sure if you can give it to me though. Unless you happened to have seen who was driving this car."
The man nervously rubbed the back of his head. "No, ma'am. Just driving by. Saw the car and wanted to make sure no one was hurt."
Kris sighed. "Thought so. Well, if they were hurt, it sure wasn't bad enough to keep them here."
"No, ma'am. Sure wasn't."
He stood awkwardly for a few moments before Kris decided he was irritating her. "You can move along now, sir." She said curtly. "Thank you for your concern. Drive safe. Watch out for deer."
"Goodnight, officer." The man blurted out quickly. Looking relieved, he hurried back to his truck and quickly maneuvered around the wreck to get back on the road.
Kris nodded at him as he passed and then, suddenly realizing something, waved her arms, motioning him to stop.
"Hey!" She called after him.
The truck immediately stopped and Kris jogged over to the driver's side window.
"Hey." She called, leaning up against it. "You drive by here a lot?"
The man looked deeply uncomfortable, much more so than he should have, but Kris had no time to care about anything but Jill and Kelly.
"Uh… yeah. Yeah, I live in the area."
Kris's face lit up. "Then maybe you can help me after all. Can you tell me where the hospital is?"
The man scratched at his beard and slowly shook his head. "Hospital? No… I think the closest hospital is in San Francisco."
"There isn't a hospital in Bridge Grove?" Kris asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.
This time, the man smiled. "No, officer, there's not much of anything out here." He draped his elbow out of the open window, revealing an odd symbol sewn into his shirt that Kris had never seen before. "Trust me, I've been all up and down these roads. During the day too. No one in their right mind would build a hospital out here. Just not enough people, you know?"
Hoping she was masking her disappointment, Kris smiled. "Yeah. Alright, then. Thanks a lot. Have a good evening."
The man nodded politely and Kris stepped back to let him pull into the road and drive away. She watched him go and then, with a heavy sigh, let her gaze travel back to Kelly's totaled car.
There was one missing piece of the puzzle. If only she could find the other two.
She hurried back to her car, started the engine and pulled away from the wreck. So there was no hospital in Bridge Grove.
It was time to find a pay phone and have a few words with Sabrina.
Kelly's foot slipped in the gruesome puddle of vomit, propelling her even faster to the back of the elevator. Her back hit the wall, and though her legs were rubbery and weak, she managed to catch herself before she fell on her backside. She panted rapidly, trying to absorb the images that were flooding into her mind. It was nothing she could comprehend. What her eyes had seen was something straight out of a nightmare.
This was not a hospital.
Maybe it was veiled to appear as one, but that's where the similarities ended.
She scrambled over to Jill's unconscious body and grabbed her arms, hoisting her upper body in the air. She grunted with the effort, the dead weight of her friend heavier than expected. "Come on!" Kelly screamed, now startlingly aware this was a life or death situation. "We have to go! I can't leave you here!"
Her efforts appeared to be useless. Despite her yelling, Jill's head dangled lifelessly, making Kelly scream even louder. She shook her friend violently, throwing out various pleas then threats. Anything she could think of that would make Jill come to. After pleading for what felt like hours, Kelly let go of Jill and let her friend fall gently into her arms. She hugged her close, fighting the urge to be sick again.
The day had started out so differently.
Useless to stop the tears from burning her eyes, she quickly patted them dry, knowing she didn't have much time to try to wake her friend. The elevator was no longer in between floors, meaning anybody could press the button to open it. She was in no hurry for Anna or Nurse Stone to find the grisly mess on top of the elevator or to find them sitting here trapped inside of it.
"Why are you crying?"
A croaked whisper disappeared into the air, and Kelly felt the light touch of fingertips against her arm. Watery, green eyes lowered to meet the half lidded blue that had finally reappeared.
It took a beat for Kelly to register what she was seeing and then the previously hopeless detective let out a cry of joy that startled her friend.
"Jill!" Kelly threw her arms around the woman's neck, her brunette hair slipping around Jill's shoulders. Feeling her move beneath the hug made Kelly lose her breath once more. For minutes she had begun to think about a life without her dear companion, how she could possibly explain to her future child there had been a woman who had died to protect them. But, thank God, that reality was no longer true.
"Wh-what are you doing? Get off me."
"Oh God," Kelly continued to breathe deeply. "I thought you weren't coming back."
Jill blinked groggily, Kelly's desperate show of affection confusing her. "From… from where?" she murmured.
And though their situation was grave, Jill's confused remark drew a genuine, relieved giggle from Kelly's throat. "Nowhere, Jill." She answered with an amused smile. Swiping away a tear of relief, she pulled away from her friend and quickly slipped an arm behind her shoulders.
Jill saw her friend's face sober and slowly the memories of the past few hours began resurfacing back from the haze in her head. If only it had been a nightmare.
"Look, we have to get out of here. Right now. Can you walk?" Kelly asked, pulling her up to a sitting position.
"Uh," Jill screwed her eyes shut, even that slight movement bringing back some of her earlier nausea. "- if… if you help me."
"I'll drag you out if I have to." Kelly said quickly.
With Jill giving her all the help she was capable of, Kelly hooked one of her friend's arms around her neck and with a grunt of effort, managed to heave her to her feet and take a few unsure, stumbling steps out of the elevator and into the dark hallway. Much to Kelly's relief, Jill's eyes were closed, her head lolled against her chest, completely blind to the gory scene they'd just passed through to escape.
And it would stay that way, Kelly decided. She pulled Jill as far from the elevator as fast as she could and already tired and sore, the extra exertion quickly took its toll on Kelly.
But despite the splitting pain in her head and the tickling sensation on her cheek that was most certainly her head wound bleeding with renewed vigor, she was able to half carry, half drag Jill several feet down the darkened hallway before her trembling arms and legs could take no more.
"Dammit!" Kelly panted her frustration. She stubbornly took one more step before sagging against the wall and lowering Jill ungracefully to the floor.
Jill groaned her own frustration as she scrambled out of the way to keep Kelly from collapsing right on top of her. Instead, both women slid down the hallway wall and to the cold tile floor below them, both panting and out of breath.
"Sorry," Jill managed in a weak, strained voice. "I'm so sorr-"
"Quit." Kelly cut her off breathlessly. "We can do this. Just..." She took a quick look around the hallway, desperate for something, anything she could use to make hauling Jill more than a few feet at a time possible. But to her dismay, there was nothing.
White walls. Locked doors. One window at the far end of the hall, enough to let in a some moonlight but much too high to have any hopes of breaking through and escaping in their condition.
And then the entrance to the hallway with that door.
The thought of the horrors beyond that door sent a wave of panic through Kelly's over taxed body. No, they weren't going that way.
"Fuck!" She breathed angrily, the mixture of fear and disgust spurring her to action. Still trembling, she lunged forward, wrapped both arms around Jill's middle and again hauled her to her feet, ignoring her friend's strangled grunt of surprise.
"Kelly, what th-"
"Just keep moving, Jill. Come on. Atta girl, try to move your feet."
And though Kelly's tight grip around her waist was hurting her, Jill gritted her teeth and focused everything she had on doing just that.
This time though, instead of taking her full weight, Kelly let her back rest against the wall, hoping the extra support would make it easier to slide herself and her incapacitated friend farther down the hall before exhaustion once again demanded she stop.
She was right but still that bit of resourcefulness didn't get them far.
This time instead of exhaustion halting their progress, a sudden bright light from the end of the hallway, only a few yards away, made both girls heart's skip a beat in their chests.
"Doctor?" A puzzled female voice called out from beyond their sight.
Kelly and Jill shared a look, eyes wide with panic. It didn't take words to know both girls were thinking the same thing.
This was it.
Or it least it was for her, Jill realized.
"Run!" She whispered quickly, squirming in Kelly's grasp. "Just go!"
In response, Kelly's grip only tightened. The light grew brighter as a door squeaked beyond their sight and light, hesitant footsteps came clipping their way towards them.
Jill grappled wildly at Kelly's arm. "Your baby! You have to save your ba-"
"Shut up! I'm not leaving you!" Her pleas were cut off.
"Doctor, is everything alright?"
The voice was louder this time, the footsteps steadily approaching and with nowhere left to run, Kelly lowered Jill to the floor, released her and pushed herself up to her knees. Every instinct in her was screaming for her to protect her child, to run, to hide, to do everything she could to get out of sight so this nurse didn't see her and make her and her unborn baby one of the nightmares in the next hall. But there was no way she could leave her best friend.
Sensing this, Jill squeezed her eyes shut and when she felt Kelly's fingers slide around her wrist, instinctively turned her hand to take hold of Kelly's.
But to her confusion, Kelly jerked away and snatched at her wrist again. It wasn't comfort she wanted. It was Jill's watch.
"Wha-" Jill started.
She watched Kelly roughly paw at the clasp of her watch and yank it off before her friend's green eyes met hers, a glint of determination in them that scared her.
"We're all getting out of here." Kelly promised and in her tone was all the reassurance Jill needed.
"Doctor Ru-" The voice came again, so close that both girls jumped. And suddenly she was there, blocking the bright hallway light. Another young woman, about Anna's age, shorter, curvier, clad in the same stark white nurse's uniform the others had been, her blonde hair pulled back tight and hidden by a nurse's cap.
As the girls stared helplessly, the young nurse gasped in fright, the sudden sight of two unexpected people startling her into taking a step back.
"I.. what?" She stammered, one hand pressed against her heart. "How did you...?"
Kelly swallowed hard and made a show of leaning over Jill's half sitting half lying form. She could feel hot, sticky blood trickling down her neck now, soaking into the collar of her shirt. Her head was pounding and her vision hazy. She was in no condition for a fight and Jill was even worse. She'd get one chance. Just one and it had to count. Three lives depended on it.
"Please," Kelly whimpered, finding it all too easy to force tears into both her eyes and voice. "My friend… we got into a wreck and …and she's hurt bad. You have to help us. Please."
The nurse blinked before finally shaking herself free of her spell and coming forward. "I don't understand," She said calmly. "How did you get up here?"
"I don't know." Kelly answered in a quavering voice. "No one was downstairs so... so I thought I'd look for someone and it's dark and we're lost and please… please you have to help her."
Kelly made herself stay calm as the nurse knelt beside her and laid a hand on Jill's knee. Her right hand, partially hidden by Jill's arm and the darkness, flexed experimentally around the ends of Jill's watchband, stretching the solid little watch tightly across the knuckles of her fist. Her muscles tensed, waiting and ready for the exact right moment.
"No one downstairs?" the nurse echoed in confusion. She reached around and pressed two fingers against Jill's throat to check for her vital signs. It wasn't a surprising move. Jill was now playing opossum, but her pale complexion and battered face made it look all too real. "Look, I don't know how you got up here, but we can't move your friend anymore. Come downstairs with me and I'll page the head nurse."
Kelly sniffled and wiped at her eyes as she eyed the young nurse's face. She was beautiful, just like Anna, she noted absently. It was almost a shame she had to do what she was about to do. "Is she…is she gonna be ok?"
"I don't know." The nurse said curtly, sitting up and brushing her hands together. Her cold, impassive blue eyes glared at Kelly in annoyance. "But you need to-"
The silver of Jill's watch caught the hallway light and the quick flash of metal was all the warning the young nurse would get. With a cry of rage, Kelly suddenly lunged forward, swinging her right fist out in a wide, desperate arc, smashing into the side of the young woman's face so hard the impact knocked both of them off balance. There was a scream and a loud crack. Something had broken, Kelly knew as she toppled over onto her side, and whether it was the watch, her hand or the woman's face was yet to be determined.
No sooner had Kelly hit the floor than she was scrambling up and around, her free hand clawing for the nurse's body, determined that this fight would be over before it started. She snatched a handful of the woman's uniform and used it to pull herself over the woman's body, straddling her in an attempt to keep the upper hand.
Even through the rush of adrenaline, Kelly knew it was over as soon as she'd pulled herself up. The woman was out cold before she'd hit the ground, blood already trickling from the gash by her eye, dotting her stark white nurse's uniform, but Kelly wasn't done. Cursing shrilly, she sent three more quick, hard punches to the unconscious woman's face and head before shoving herself away and rolling to the wall, letting the now cracked and dented watch clatter to floor. She clutched her right hand to her chest and let out a guttural scream of agony that had Jill immediately crawling towards her.
"Holy shit!" She gasped. "Are you okay?"
"Son of a bitch!" Kelly cried through gritted teeth. "Oh Goddammit, I broke my fucking hand!"
Jill crawled right over the fallen nurse to get to her friend, no doubt in her mind that the young woman was no longer a threat. "Lemme see." She said quickly.
But Kelly pulled away and pushed herself to her knees. "No... it's fine. It's just… fuck, let's get out of here before she wakes up." She cast one more glance at the nurse. Her face sure wasn't pretty anymore. Kelly stared at her and felt nothing. "C'mon," She said, grabbing Jill's arm with her good hand. "If we get out of here alive, I'll buy you a new watch."
Jill grinned. "Hey, I wrecked your car. Even Steven, right?"
Kelly stared at her, too relieved to have her friend back to muster up the energy to argue about the logic of insurance premiums on cars versus wristwatches. Instead, she smiled back.
"Even Steven."
Jill winced as Kelly grabbed her again around the middle and the two girls slid down the hallway and back into the protective cover of darkness.