Previously…
He smiled ruefully. “Actually, he’s a surgeon.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“There’s no need to apologise.” He sounded amused. “Now, sleep. I’m going off to see if the Boss needs help.”
And now…
Happy birthday, boonny and yongie!
Here’s your belated/early present:
-
The room was really dark. Or rather, the only source of light was the pale, silvery moonlight coming from the open window. Outside, a pale shimmering crescent moon hung motionless against the backdrop of night. It made the walls seem like smooth blue silk. Or fresh snow viewed at night.
Snow?
The girl looked over her shoulder. She sped down the hill as fast as she dared. So far, the grey man didn’t seem to be catching up. He still looked like a blob of grey paint on the snow.
She concentrated on the path before her. It was littered with some branches from the nearby trees. She swerved away from them, sending powder flying all over as she plunged into a pile of fresh snow. Then she heard a shout behind her. It didn’t sound like the grey man, she thought as she chanced a glance behind her.
It was then that the accident happened.
For a moment, she was disoriented as her world turned white and gravity went haywire. Then everything became still. She wiped her snow goggles and sat up hesitantly. Nothing seemed to be broken. Why did she feel so much pain then?
“Ow!”
The voice came from beneath her. She shifted slightly, and the voice responded again.
“Hey!”
Someone was trapped underneath her. She executed a backward roll and got to her feet clumsily. A boy stared back at her, eyes flashing.
“You just steamrolled me,” he accused.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that…”
Someone shouted behind her. Her eyes widened. “Great,” she muttered, pulling the protesting boy up.
“I’m really sorry, but…”
Then a giant hand clamped down on her arm. She yelled.
Pain exploded somewhere on my left arm. I gasped, jolting upwards and looking around the room in confusion. My eyes locked onto a shadow cast on the double doors: someone was crouching in the open window. I whipped my head around.
The silhouette was gone.
I blinked. Had I been dreaming? Was this whole episode a dream? Rubbing my face, I looked at the clock. 02:58. Bloody hell. How’d four hours gone past so fast? And why hadn’t Chris gone home yet? I frowned as I noticed him dozing beside the bed. His face was pallid, almost white – or rather, pale blue – in the moonlight, and his fair hair was a slight shade darker. Curled up on his chair as he was at present, he seemed so still that I had an insane urge to touch his face, to make sure that he was still alive. That thought made me shudder – but was it in disgust or delight? I gritted my teeth.
Then something dark flashed in my peripheral vision.
I tensed. Throwing off the covers, I crept out of bed and looked out of the window. The ward was five floors above the ground, and the person wasn’t anywhere in sight. I turned back to clamber back into bed, rubbing my eyes. Had I been dreaming about the silhouette?
Then the window behind me closed with a loud thud.
I whirled around just in time to see a shadow hurtling downwards. What the… Frantically, I crossed over to the window and tried to open it. Heck. It was jammed shut. I tugged harder; pain blossomed in my hand. Then I heard a slight creak behind me.
“What are you doing?” Chris’s voice was pitched low, calm and soothing. A hand reached for the edge of the window and jerked it up. Cold air invaded the room.
“If you need fresh air…” he began. Then he gasped, leaning out of the window. There was a dark stain on the windowsill. He looked back at me, frowning.
My mind was still reeling from what I had just seen. “There was…” I whispered, gesturing out of the window.
His eyes widened immediately. “What did you do?”
He crossed the room in a few strides, reaching the door a few seconds later. I stared at his back in confusion.
Then bright light seared my eyes. I turned away from the source and towards the window. Through narrowed eyes, I saw that the dark patch on the windowsill was deep red.
“Why did you pull out your catheter?” He demanded, almost tearing a cupboard door apart as he reached for its contents. He slammed it shut a moment later. Thankfully there weren’t any other patients in the ward, else they’d all have woken up. “Sit down.”
I stared dumbly at a large bloody gash on the back of my left hand. How the hell…?
“Will you just sit down, please” he exclaimed, exasperated. He dragged me over to the bed and scrambled to apply some liquid to the back of my hand. I winced slightly. Then I opened my eyes wide as I saw that blood was pooling in the metal basin under my wrist.
“Where’s your catheter?” He asked.
When I didn’t answer straightaway, he jiggled the basin slightly. “Katherine? Where is it?”
I quailed slightly under his steely gaze. “I don’t know.”
“Didn’t you pull it out?”
“No.” I stared at my wrist in horrified fascination. A bruise was starting to form around the place where the catheter had been inserted.
“Look at me, Katherine.”
I stared into his clear blue eyes and felt my face heat up. Heck. “I’ll ask again. Did you pull out your catheter?” He looked dead serious.
“No, I didn’t.”
He stared back at me in confusion. “Then how did… Are you a sleepwalker?”
“No.” Now I was the one who was confused.
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
He stared back at me incredulously.
“How’d you know if you’re a sleepwalker if you sleep like a log?” I retorted.
“Well, I’d…”
“Is everything alright…” A nurse poked her head into the room, then gasped and closed the door. Mere seconds later, the Boss strode into the room, demanding, “What happened?”
“Wanda, her catheter…”
“Let me tend to her,” she said tersely. Chris passed the basin to the nurse. He hovered around her for a moment, and then went to examine the stain on the windowsill. After a few seconds, he closed the window and began to scour my bed for the missing catheter.
“It’s not here.”
The Boss frowned slightly, pressing a wad of gauze over my hand. “Search under the bed.”
Chris complied, but the search drew a blank as well.
“Do you know where your catheter is, dearie?”
I frowned, staring at my hand. “No.”
I felt her glance up at Chris. “That’s alright, dear. Now come over here and rest.” She led me to another bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. “Just rest. You’ll be alright in a while.”
Chris followed her out of the room.
After about ten minutes, when I was finally about to doze off, he entered the room. I began to sit up, then winced, hissing softly as pain registered in my hand. He hurried over and examined the gauze. Then he placed my hand gently on the bed.
He hesitated. Then, solemnly, he asked, “Why were you at the window?”
“I… there was someone there.”
He frowned. “Were you sleepwalking?”
“Um, I suppose so.”
He looked at my gauze-wrapped hand, mulling over my answer. Then his eyes flicked over to mine.
“So what were you dreaming about?” He asked as he dragged the chair that he had previously been sitting on towards the bed.
“I forgot.”
He arched an eyebrow coolly, studying me intently.
“Well… I dreamt that someone… fell.” I shuddered, reining in my imagination. That was surprisingly easy to do when I was looking into his piercing blue eyes. They narrowed slightly as he spoke.
“Then you must have been dreaming. There’s no one down there. But we did find your catheter downstairs. The Boss thinks that you’re a sleepwalker and you somehow ripped your catheter out from your wrist at the window. And slammed it down loud enough that I woke up.”
I closed my eyes, feeling confused and sleepy. Loud enough that I woke up? Did that mean that he slept like a log too?
“But there were bloodstains on your sheets and on the floor,” Chris murmured. “So the catheter must have been pulled out there. But why did you pull out your catheter? Katherine?”
When I didn’t answer, he sighed and adjusted my covers. Then I heard a sharp grating sound as he went over to lock the window.
*
Yelling, the girl tried to pull away from the hand. It let her go abruptly, and she fell into the snow at an awkward angle.
When she looked up, the strangers were gone. Even the boy.
All that was left was pure white snow all around her.
-
I shall not be evil, I shall not be evil, I shall not be evil…
Muahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
I shall just stop here. (:
(Sorry. Going through a bit of… well never mind.)
woah, an OOC xinhui is one not to be messed around with ><
MEANIE! wth happened? *confusion*
evil!
and the part;
Outside, a pale shimmering crescent moon hung motionless against the backdrop of night.
shimmering doesn’t really give off the ‘feel’ of motionless.
you make me think a ninja crept into her room and tried to make her bleed to death by pulling out whatever that was. and it seems impossible that the nurse could search the whole building PLUS the outside in such a short period of time, and why can’t they just get a new one?!
agree with yongiee
it’s really really oddd.
and you evil person.
you better get the next chapter out.
anyway, is the catheter the dian3 di1 thing?
and why will you bleed if you pull it out?
o__o
and how in the world did the stranger get in through the window at the FIFTH floor without being noticed or whatever?
anyway im utterly confused.
kat always gets injured.
Phearsa:
It’s the dian3 di1 thing… well, not exactly. usually, it’s called Peripheral Venous Access or IV line.
It’s a piece of equipment which nurses use to administer drugs with relative ease. With a catheter, theyt won’t need to keep poking a needle into your arm to get blood.
The nurse sort of inserts a certain length of tubing into your bloodstream, and that’s connected to a piece of plastic which acts like a tap. The whole contraption (the catheter) is taped to the arm/back of the hand/wrist.
Yong:
Of course they can get a new one. But they’d want to find out where the catheter went, for curiosity’s sake.
And yeah, 10 minutes is a very short period of time… I didn’t realise till you pointed that out. Will change it soon…
I sort of meant that the moon was shimmering. But motionless as well. Ah, never mind.
nooboet:
what’s OOC?
And this chapter’s supposed to be confusing. The whole episode can be interpreted two ways, actually.
OOC = out of character.
really you have to read more fanfics.
moss.
I’m amused.
Whoever said that I read fanfics in the first place? O_o
i just assumed that you did. anyway i think the only danger in leaving a stray catheter around is that people may step on it /: sounds dubious though.
i can’t believe mrs tan comment on my photos /: that’s so not-supposed-to-happen! she’s not even supposed to see it till school reopens!!!! GWARGH!
yo
my bro’s one looked like a needle poking his hand :O with a lot of stuff taping it to his hand…so did dad’s.
and dad slipped in the bathroom…thing went “crash”!
luckily nothing was damaged, i think. just his pride.
i want to know who i am /:< i shall fore it out of phearsa when school reopens.
do you think the 25th thingum will be postponed?like funfair was. i'm typing without glasses so forgive typos. because i'm waiting for my troublesometotakecareof hair to dry.
i'm lucky to never be admitted into hospital! and i haven't fainted yet. or gotten a nosebleed. but yes olenty of injuries.
interesting fact: loose joints increase chances of getting sprains, but also reduces it. eg when your foot slips sideways on a curb, a normal person will get a sprain but a loose-jointed person amy not because the joints can accomodate the change. which also means that while i don't get sprains from falling down, i do from walking on perfectly flat surfaces |:
XDD hahaha! (EDIT:) xinboon why is your name weirdish?
and okay so i sorta get it.
but i sorta dont get it.
Why would a IV get blood from you o__0
i mean i’ve had dian3 di1 before, so then i know it’s just a tube with a needle that you insert into the back of your hand, and it doesnt hurt much, and my hand doesnt bleed aft i take it out o__0
so then that’s the part i understood.
the getting blood part…huh?
and hahaha noobet! i’ve slipped before and just got a great big bruise XD
What do you mean, weirdish?
Why’d I want to get blood from an IV?
I really have no idea. For blood tests, I suppose, but that’s not feasible for the type of IV that Katherine has. that’s more for the administration of drugs.
If it’s taken out properly, it shouldn’t bleed at all. If. In this case, the IV line was, as I imagine it, RIPPED OFF. And cos it’s a rigid tube inserted in a vein… and hmm, let’s just say that the angle at which it was ripped off was really bad… There’ll be lots of blood.
I’ve never fainted either. But I’ve had tons of nosebleeds. they’re less frequent now, but when I was younger I had at least 5 per year. I think.
“interesting fact: loose joints increase chances of getting sprains, but also reduces it. eg when your foot slips sideways on a curb, a normal person will get a sprain but a loose-jointed person amy not because the joints can accomodate the change. which also means that while i don’t get sprains from falling down, i do from walking on perfectly flat surfaces |:”
Ahh. Is your ankle better now anyway?
Perfect!