"I can't believe you're sneaking out of a hospital again." Jill grumbled as the pair shuffled slowly out of the door of their room and into the hallway. At just after eight o' clock in the evening, visitors hours were over and the normally busy hallway was starting to thin out. Still, though, there were enough people milling about that two women walking down the hall wouldn't draw too much attention as long as they kept their stumbling to a minimum.
Now free from restricting IV's and dressed in the clothes that Bosley had left for them earlier, Jill and Kelly slowly made their way down the hallway, heads down and keeping close, both for balance and just in case one of their nurses or someone who would recognize them walked by.
"Do you remember what I told you last time you pulled a stunt like this?" Jill asked in a hushed whisper.
Kelly nodded. "You said if I ever did something that stupid again, you'd shoot me yourself." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh, yeah. And to remember that you have better aim than a little kid."
"Exactly." Jill mumbled. "And now here you are doing the exact same thing only my gun is lost and I'm actually helping you do it."
"Well, your gun is lost. You have to do something."
Jill shook her head. It was clearly a bigger issue to Kelly than it was to her. The events of the previous night and the relatively eventful day left Jill lacking for further argument. "Okay, stop talking and help me walk. I feel like my legs are melting."
"I know." Kelly whispered sympathetically. "We'll get to Bri's car and it won't be so bad. You just have to make it to the elevator."
"Ugh, don't say that word."
Kelly smiled. "You mean Bri?"
The joke, right now in the midst of what was going on, made Jill groan.
"Or that word either. Forget about anyone else getting to us, she'll kill us first. I can't believe we're doing this to her."
"We can apologize afterwards." Kelly said quickly. "Let's just hope we don't run into her on the way."
Jill shook her head. "Or Max. Or Kris. Is that why you helped me get rid of her?"
"Maybe."
The two women trudged carefully down the hall, Jill a bit shakier on her feet than Kelly, but managed to make it to the little hallway with the row of three elevator doors that ran perpendicular to the rest of the wing. Undetected so far, both knew there was a long way to go from their floor to the parking lot outside and many chances that they'd run into Sabrina, Max, Alan, or Kris and be stopped before they could even start.
Kelly kept her head down as she carefully pressed the big orange "down" button on the elevator wall. Each of the three elevators were in use though and, forced to wait for a car to arrive on their floor, Kelly stared at the floor and fidgeted impatiently. There weren't many people waiting for an elevator but their presence was nerve-wracking nonetheless. Finally, the set of doors in the middle opened with a cheerful ding. Kelly looked up, but was immediately disappointed. It was going up and thus useless to them, making her seriously contemplate if the stairs could be an option. But, that idea was off the table, she knew. Jill was doing well just to stand upright, she was far too unsteady for stairs.
Restless now, Kelly rocked up and down on her heels until finally, the door in front of them dinged and the double doors slid open, ready to take them down. Kelly sighed her relief and would have rushed right inside, had it not been occupied. She felt Jill tug her backwards and reluctantly took a few steps aside to allow two nurses, a custodian, a sleepy faced mother with a baby, and two men step off of the elevator and into the hallway. As the last man passed, Kelly, unable to wait a second longer, hurried forward and, to both women's surprise, nearly crashed into the final straggling occupant: A young man weighed down with three bags of chips, a large blueberry muffin, and two bottles of soda.
"Whoa!" he cried, just barely managing to sidestep Kelly. "Pardon me," Max stopped cold and did a double take. His features contorted in both surprise and confusion when he realized who had just nearly barreled right into him. "Kelly? What are you - Jill!?"
"Oh, hey!" Kelly yelped, her blood running cold. She tried to sound cheery, as if she had a story for him already planned. But she didn't. "We... uh... we were-"
Max looked horrified. "What? What are you two doing? Where are you going?"
Jill and Kelly shared a quick look. Max watched their unspoken yet heated exchange and decided that there was no way he'd be kept out of the loop this time. Jill huffed and folded her arms as Max laid a hand on Kelly's shoulder. "You shouldn't be out of bed. Tell me what you need and I'll get it for you."
That just wasn't good enough for Kelly.
"Listen," Kelly said quietly, grabbing hold of Max's sleeve and tugging him into the open elevator. Dumbfounded by her force, he let her herd him back inside. Jill stumbled in after them and, ignoring the protest of an approaching hospital visitor, Kelly quickly punched the door close and the lobby button in succession. "-you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you." She whispered to Max as the elevator gave a jerk and began moving down.
Max made a face, annoyed by his question being avoided. "What is it? What's going on?"
"Please, please promise me you won't say anything first. You have to."
"What? Keep a secret?" he started. There was a million questions to ask, no, demand she answer. After what she put him through he was in the clear to not allow bargaining on her terms. Instead, he looked into her pleading eyes and feel his heart flutter. Max's shoulders sank, and, resolved, he looked between both women. Jill was slumped against the elevator wall, looking appropriately distressed and bit upset, leaving him to wonder just what exactly he was in for.
"Alright, fine." he sighed. He bent down and let his armful of snacks pile gently on floor. No serious discussion could be had while he was loaded down with Pepsi and Funions. "Go ahead and tell me."
Kelly pulled him close - closer than they had been since that night, but he wasn't getting the same romantic feeling. Right now he knew by her tone that this was leading to trouble.
"Bri is calling her ex and if he buys our story, there's going to be cops swarming that hospital."
Max pulled another face, lost for a moment. "What? Who's Bri?"
"Sabrina!" Kelly snapped. "She's calling-"
"Oh. Well, that's good, they can get it sorted out."
"No, no it's not good! We need to get there before anyone else does, especially the police." The word left a sour taste in her mouth.
Max kept silent, waiting for the bomb to drop and was a bit confused when Kelly's expectant look suggested that she was finished talking. He looked to Jill for clarification but she seemed to have found something absolutely captivating about the wall to her left. "I... why is that a problem-"
Kelly grabbed his arm a little harder. "Because, they have Jill's gun! And our ID with where we live, who we work for, our phone numbers... you name it. They might already be snooping around our houses and we haven't been home yet to realize it." Her once cool demeanor began to unravel as she spoke, panic returning and her voice breaking at the very thought of whatever disturbing scenario was playing out in her head. Max had not known Kelly as long he'd known Jill, but he knew her well enough to know that this was not her normal behavior. She was beginning to look nothing like herself, the terror of last night and the hassle of today leaving her porcelain features drawn and sick looking.
"Okay, okay." he said quickly. He might not see things the way she did, but whatever she was working herself up over was not good for her or the baby. In a calming gesture, he gently touched the bandage on her forehead and slid his fingers down her cheek, then pulled her in close for a hug. Max felt her sigh into his chest, and a part of him hoped she felt a little bit safer in his embrace. "Kelly, calm down and tell me where you two were going."
She lifted her head and slightly leaned back, meeting his gaze. If he was going to help, then he would need to hear the entire story.
"Okay." she started reluctantly. "They killed someone with Jill's gun. I killed someone. We can't let any cops get there before we do. We won't-"
The elevator jarred as it stopped and the double doors slid open to a waiting crowd of about four of five chattering people
"You killed... you killed someone?" Max echoed, looking horrified as he released her. Jill snatched his arm to quiet him, but the damage was done. The forward momentum of the waiting crowd came to a halt and very much aware of the strange looks she was getting, Kelly swore under her breath and jammed in the close button.
"Sorry. All full." She said snidely as the doors closed, returning their privacy.
Max had hardly noticed. "You killed someone?" he repeated, a little louder. He took a step back and shook his head, not wanting to believe what he'd heard. "What are you talking about?!"
Kelly sighed. She couldn't believe she was explaining it again. "It was an accident. He was trying to kill us. He climbed up on the elevator roof and I panicked and started pressing buttons. I thought if the elevator was moving, he wouldn't be able to get to us. But-"
"You killed him with an elevator?!" Max echoed stupidly. He looked around and then leaned heavily against the elevator doors. Of all places to be in as this was revealed.
"Splat." Jill offered helpfully. "But trust me, he deserved it."
Max stared at Jill in bewilderment before returning his worried gaze to Kelly. "Kelly… this sounds..." He wanted to say how bad it was, but Kelly was already doing it for him.
"I know exactly how it sounds!" Kelly strangled a cry, grabbing his arm again. "And how do you think the cops will react to that? I..." she looked to Jill, who was of no help. "I have a record too. From before, when I was younger. They won't believe me and they won't believe Jill. We have to go back and we have to make sure no one knows we were there."
Max stared hard at her. The realization nearly took his legs out from under him. That's where she was going. "W-what? Go back... go back?" He kept repeating, his voice getting louder and more frantic as he spoke. "Go back to that hospital? No! Are you crazy?!"
"Yes." Jill muttered.
Kelly chose to ignore her. "We have to!" She pleaded.
"Who's we?" Max asked her, fixing worried blue eyes on Jill. They instantly narrowed. "You're in on this too? You're gonna let your pregnant friend go-"
"Hey! I'm going so she doesn't get herself killed! This is not my idea." Jill snapped back at him.
Max shook his head, clearly shocked. "No." he said quietly. "No. I won't let you risk yourself like this."
"Let me? I don't need your permission." Kelly replied heatedly.
But if Kelly was hellbent on being a risk taker, she was going to have to fight for it.
"I don't care. I won't let you go."
"I wasn't asking you. This isn't your call, Max."
"No, but that-" Max snapped, pointing a finger at Kelly's stomach. "That is my son or my daughter and I won't let you endanger them!"
Kelly shoved his hand away. Long gone was the warmth in either of their faces for each other. "Would you have your son or daughter born in a prison then?"
"Do you want it not to be born at all?" Max countered. He looked up as the elevator dinged, signaling its arrival to the first floor. The double doors slid open to an empty lobby and, determined, Max moved to block the opening. "I'm sorry. I can't let you go, Kelly."
Kelly stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "Max, move."
"No." He answered her simply. "No. I can't let you." Still blocking the door, he reached over and pressed the fourth floor button and the doors began to close.
Before they got too far, Kelly slapped the open button and reversed their movement. The doors shuddered and began to open. "I'm not asking you again. Let us go."
"I'm not moving."
He pressed a button and the closed the doors again. Kelly let out a frustrated sigh and let her arms flop to her side. Max was no body builder, but even if she was perfectly healthy, there'd be no way even she and Jill working together could move him, let alone in the condition they were both in now. She glanced over at Jill, leaning in the corner, a smug expression on her face.
Not that Jill would be of any help at all.
"Why are you doing this?" Kelly asked desperately. "We're wasting time!"
"No, we're not. We're going back upstairs."
Kelly groaned, her tone sounding weaker than just moments ago. She put her one good hand up to her head and let out a deep breath. "I'm trying to keep us out of trouble. Do you really think those people would stay there after letting us get away with everything we saw? I just want to go get the gun and get out of there. I know exactly where Jill left it. In and out."
"No, Kelly. You need to stay here." Max said patiently. "Look, I wouldn't try stop you... but you're pregnant. And you're hurt and Jill is sick"
"Max, please."
But, Max shook his head. "No. I can't let you run off and do something that dangerous. Like it or not, I'm responsible for you now. I'm sorry."
A strange sound came from Kelly's lips, and then her words dripped like acid. "You're not responsible for me."
From her spot in the corner, Jill laughed. "Wow, Bill and Sabrina's honeymoon was longer than that." She joked. "Can we go back to the room now?"
Kelly turned and shot her a dirty look before giving Max her attention. Her story had scared him, she knew it had. It was written all over his face and there was no way, he was going to let her put herself in danger. He wasn't going to move, she knew. And she couldn't move him.
"Fine." She whispered, breaking their stare down. She leaned forward and to Max's surprise, hit the fourth floor button. The elevator came to life and began drifting upward.
"You win." Kelly continued, leaning back against the wall beside Jill.
"Thank you." Max replied, looking relieved. He bent over to pick up the snacks he'd dropped and while he was distracted, Kelly cast a sideways look toward Jill.
"This is why I wanted to get out of here before anyone saw us." Kelly whispered, just loud enough to where Max could hear. "I knew we couldn't trust him."
Max's head snapped toward her. "What did you say?" He heard every word, but wanted clarification.
Kelly's expression was unreadable. She shrugged. "Nothing, just coming to an understanding with Jill about you-"
Jill made a face at her. "With Jill-?"
"-with Jill about you obviously not being the kind of man I can trust." She frowned. "But no. No, we'll just do as you say since you're responsible for me, and if something bad happens because you didn't listen to me... well, then you can be responsible for that too."
Max looked floored. Was this woman hearing herself? "What!? No, no, no. I'm doing this because I care so much about you. About all of you!"
"Sure you do. If you trusted me in the slightest you would listen instead of writing me off so quickly. But, fine. You win. I'm going back to bed like a good little girl."
"Kelly-"
"Don't. You win, alright? I'm doing what you're telling me to do. Just back off."
A tense silence filled the air until the elevator door pinged and the doors opened. Not ready to move quite yet, Max leaned forward on the exit with one hand, stopping the doors from shutting. The idea forming in his head made him want to bang his head against the metal until he blacked out, then maybe he would wake up later and learn this was all a terrible dream. That Kelly didn't really mean any of those things she had just said, and that he could win her trust without doing something so reckless and stupid for her. But Kelly had just taken all his forward progress right out from under him and right now, he had no idea where they stood.
He looked to Jill for help. She didn't agree with Kelly, he knew. He'd seen her roll her eyes so many times as Kelly spoke, he was sure she'd get a headache. There was a shake of her head as she met his pleading gaze. "Kelly," she muttered. "He makes sense. You're the one being ridiculous. Let's ju-"
"I'm not being ridiculous, I'm stating facts here. My idea gets us out of trouble, his idea keeps us sitting ducks. Anyway, you're getting your wish."
Max growled his frustration into a clenched fist. Kelly was twisting his feelings for her and winning. Dammit, she was winning. He knew it and Jill knew it. If something happened to her because he didn't listen he would never forgive himself. Even if she was wrong, which there was a high probability of, she would never know it because he didn't give her a chance. That would be something to hold against him for as long as she desired.
Damn her.
Shutting his eyes, he stepped back into the elevator and jabbed the lobby button. "This only happens on one condition. I go with you."
Jill's loud groan almost muffled out Kelly's surprised reply. "Go with me? No-"
"I'm going with you or you two aren't going! You having another extra set of eyes isn't going to do any harm. Now do we have a deal?"
Kelly shot Jill a look, which went ignored. That was as good as it was going to get, she realized. "Deal. Thank you, Max."
"Yes, thank you, Max." Came Jill's sarcastically cheerful reply.
Astounded that he was doing something so stupid, Max rubbed his eyes. "And I'm driving." That was not up for debate and thankfully neither one said a word. "Are we taking a cab to Jill's place? I don't have my car with me, I came with Sabrina."
Kelly jingled Sabrina's keys in front of her. "We're uh… borrowing Sabrina's car."
Max blinked. "Borrowing without her permission, right?"
"Stealing Sabrina's car, yes." Jill piped up from her spot against the wall. She leaned across the elevator car, snatched the blueberry muffin out of Max's arms and began angrily tearing open the wrapper. She didn't look at all happy about this turn of events
Kelly shot her a look. "Borrowing. We'll call her, don't worry."
"Don't worry." Max replied wearily. "Yeah, what's to worry about?" He rubbed his stubbly cheeks with both hands. "Oh man, I can't believe I'm doing this."
"You don't have to." Jill chanced hopefully around a mouthful of blueberry muffin.
Max made a strange noise in the back of his throat. "No, I don't." He said quietly. The elevator dinged a final time and finally opened up to the hospital lobby. He turned and looked expectantly towards Jill and Kelly before realizing that he was still blocking the door. Still shaking his head, he stepped aside and gestured toward the empty hallway.
"Lead the way."
The foul mood Kris had been in upon leaving her sister's hospital room had not at all dissipated by the time she stepped off of the elevator and onto the fourth floor. Still feeling insulted, belittled and double crossed, she made her way through a small crowd of people and slowly limped towards the hallway to Jill and Kelly's room, Kelly's coffee clutched in one hand.
Her leg was starting to hurt again, she noted glumly. She could take a pain pill that had been prescribed to her, only she'd never bothered to leave the hospital to get the prescription filled. So, she'd just have to deal with. On top of that, she was tired, cranky, freshly single, and more than likely soon to be unemployed.
Overall, it had not been a good day.
"So up on your feet. Up on your feet. Somewhere there's music playing." She sang softly to herself. Don't you worry none. We'll just take it like it comes."
Still holding Kelly's coffee, Kris painfully made her way down the hall muttering her comforting song under her breath. It wasn't helping very much. She was still very angry with Kelly and had her friend not currently been sharing what she ate with a growing baby, might have considered spitting in the beverage. Her own fault though, Kris admitted to herself. Had she been honest with Jill, her sister would know she was more than capable of taking care of herself.
Later, she promised herself. Later. Once this situation had been resolved.
She arrived at her sister's door just as she ran out of words to sing and pushed the door open with her shoulder.
"So are the grown ups done talking now?" She grumbled sarcastically, as she backed into the room. "Am I allowed to come in n-"
She finally looked up and the rest of her sentence trailed off. Her sarcasm was being wasted, she realized with a start. The room was empty.
Confused, she set down the coffee cup on the nightstand and looked around the room. The beds were empty, unmade. The end of the IV tube was courteously feeding into the brown plastic pitcher on the nightstand to prevent it from dripping all over the bed. A doctor or a nurse surely wouldn't have done that.
"Jill? Kelly?" Kris called, though it was obvious that it was in vain. She checked the restroom and the impossibly tiny closet, before rushing out of the room and, her chest starting to tighten with dread, making a sweep of the nearby hallway.
"What the hell-?" She muttered to herself, still looking around. They couldn't have been discharged. Had the three of them left? Sent her out on a scavenger hunt to distract her while they took off without her knowledge?
Starting to panic, she jogged around the entire fourth floor, checking every bathroom, before coming to halt in front of their room again and, not knowing what else to do, standing helplessly in front of the door.
"You can go in, you know." A tired voice from behind her called.
Kris whirled around to see Sabrina approaching, her hands stuffed in her pockets, looking tired and irritated. She slowed the moment she noticed Kris's face and her brows furrowed in concern. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked.
No, she most definitely was not okay.
"Where'd they go?" Kris blurted out without bothering to greet her friend.
Her confusion intensified when Sabrina pulled a puzzled face.
"Where did who go?"
"Jill and Kelly!" Kris answered, flipping her hand towards the door. "They're not in there!"
Sabrina's rushed toward her and took her arm to move her aside. "What do you mean, they're not in there?" She yelled, pushing open the door.
Kris followed her inside. "I mean they aren't in there. They didn't tell you where they were going?"
"Jill! Kelly!" Sabrina cried, looking around the empty room in disbelief.
"They're not here." Kris insisted. "I checked the whole floor. They're gone."
Sabrina wasn't listening and Kris watched as she went through the same motions she'd gone through earlier, ripping open both the bathroom and closet doors before pausing in the middle of the room, both hands pressed against the sides of her head in distress.
"Wha-" Sabrina sputtered. "Where in the hell could they ha-" She stopped and whirled on Kris, startling the younger Munroe by snatching her shoulders. "When did you get here?" she demanded.
Kris blinked. "I… I just got here. A few minutes ago. They… how could they not tell you?!"
Sabrina released her and swore under her breath. "She went back." She said to herself, puzzling Kris even more. "Goddammit, she went back. I know she did."
"What are you talking about?" Kris asked in frustration.
As she watched, Sabrina began to pace around the little room, her brown eyes taking in every little detail that they could.
"Sabrina-"
"Kelly wanted to go back and get Jill's gun. She was going on about how that nurse you shot at killed someone with it and she was afraid of the police finding it and linking it to Jill. I know she went back and for some reason your stupid sister went with her."
Kris's jaw dropped. "Why in the hell..." She stammered before shaking her head. "But… but they couldn't have gone far, right? I mean they don't have a car. Or any money for a taxi."
A horrible thought suddenly flashed through her mind and she let out a frightened gasp.
"What if… what if those people, those nurses, came back for them?!" She cried.
She waited for Sabrina to respond to that before noticing that her friend's eyes were fixed on the nightstand between the two beds. She swore loudly and stomped over to it, sweeping aside everything on it in her desperate search for something. Suddenly, she slammed an angry fist on the flimsy table, upsetting the brown plastic pitcher. A bit of IV fluid dripped out of it and pooled on the flat, wooden surface.
"My keys." Sabrina explained when Kris wouldn't dare to ask. "They do have a car. They took my keys." She righted the pitcher and barked a sarcastic laugh. "And no one forced them to leave. Look at that." She said, gingerly lifting the IV tube. "You think some psycho would stop to make sure they didn't make a mess?"
Kris sunk onto her sister's bed, unconvinced. "Are you sure?" She asked weakly. "Maybe they-"
"No, I'm sure." Sabrina cut her off. She spotted something and crossed the room in a few strides. As Kris watched, Sabrina bent over, snatched up the black duffel bag that was on the floor and dumped its contents onto the bed.
Two light green hospital gowns were the first things to tumble out, followed by an assortment of both men and women's clothes.
Sabrina grabbed one of the hospital gowns and held it up high just in case Kris hadn't worked out what it was. "Any other questions?" She asked sarcastically.
Kris dropped her head in her hands in frustration. While, it was a relief that they hadn't been kidnapped, this outcome wasn't much better for her mental well-being. Why did Jill have to be so stupid?
"They can't be far." Sabrina continued, balling up the gown and tossing it aside. "I wasn't gone any longer than twenty minutes. Even if they left right after I did, they can't be moving very fast. C'mon, maybe we can catch up to them."
Kris wordlessly followed as Sabrina rushed out of the room and ran towards the elevator doors. Ignoring the stares of the hospital employees and visitors in the hallway, the two women ran towards the elevators and were lucky enough to secure one immediately. Without stopping, they pair rode in tense silence to the first floor and spilled out into the lobby where their run picked up again toward the front entrance.
Kris's face pulled into a grimace as she struggled to keep up with Sabrina's pace. Her foot was starting to go numb and she wished desperately that her injured leg would do the same. It was throbbing now and that extra bit of discomfort did nothing to help the already fluttery, panicky feeling in her gut that had her too scared to even come up with a song to sing to calm herself down. With Sabrina pulling out in front of her, she followed her out through the front entrance doors and into the parking lot.
It was dark outside now, the parking lot lit up only by the bright street lamps. Sabrina's quick pace and uninjured legs were putting some distance between them and Kris was glad when she saw her friend began to slow.
As she hobbled toward her, she saw Sabrina turn, looking suddenly exhausted, a strange expression on her face. She stood quietly, panting, until Kris closed the distance between them.
"My car is gone." Sabrina announced quietly as soon as Kris slowed to a halt.
Kris looked up at her, having doubled over to rest. "Shit!" She managed through her ragged breathing. "Now what?"
Sabrina placed a hand on her back. "You have the keys to that police car on you, right?" she asked hastily, and Kris knew without asking what their next course of action would be.
"In my pocket."
She felt Sabrina take her arm and didn't protest when her friend pulled her upright. Kris looked at Sabrina's face and saw an odd mixture of anger and determination written all over it.
"Then let's go. Where's your car? We need to hurry."
Kris looked around the parking lot, trying to orient herself in the dark. "I think I parked somewhere over there-"
"Alright." Sabrina wasted no time in herding her in the direction she'd pointed in. "Lead the way."