Seventy-seven- Hospital hauntings

Eyes shut tightly, Chloe waited for the rumoured white light or the weird feeling of being detached from her body.

She had tried her best, she thought.

It wouldn't hurt to leave the world at that moment, she thought further.

But after some seconds, it occurred to her that something was wrong.

Suddenly, heavy footsteps raided the room and it bothered her that she could hear them.

Chloe could hear Gabriel screaming his 'innocence', she could hear someone call for some medic.

She was surrounded by chaos but she wasn't watching it from a distance as a soul floating above the ground, she could hear it all.

As a very much alive human would.

That pushed her to snap her eyes open.

"Chloe..." Caleb, whose face was barely centimetres away from hers, said her name with relief. "I am glad you are fine."

"Wh-" She smacked her lips together and used the lubricant of her mouth to relieve the organ of its parched state. "What happened?"

"Amir was shot."

"What?" She jumped out of her position, giving no thought to how much unstable she was.

"Hey, calm down."

"Calm down?" she asked almost angrily as her eyes traced the movements of the armed men as they left the library. "Amir was shot because of me..." She faced Caleb, her right hand clutching her chest, the side of her eyes feeling stung with tears incoming with a strong force.

"The bullet inside him is meant to be inside me. I can't calm down Caleb. I can't!"

Caleb, who was not exactly tolerant of sudden situations flinched at the raise of Chloe's voice. "Please..." he begged softly. "Just calm down, please."

"Take me to him. I can't leave him like that."

"I'll drive to the hospital he will be admitted at but please, calm down. I won't let you see him if you are going to be in this disheveled state."

"But-" Chloe's sight was now blurred. The tears that were choking the insides of her throats earlier had found a way to well her eyes. "But, he took that bullet for me. I have to be-"

Caleb held her firmly by the shoulders. "Chloe, the only way you can take care of him is if you are a little relaxed, so please..."

The tears were now trailing down her cheeks and Caleb wiped them.

"Please... Calm down."

A deep sigh was followed by a nod and Chloe finally did as her colleague asked.

"Good girl. Don't worry, I am going to drive you to the hospital. I just need to make sure you are fine."

"I am fine," she replied almost quietly as the situation weighed on her. Guilt overpowered her and she began to blame herself.

She put Amir in danger. Despite knowing that she lied to all of them, Amir still took a bullet for her.

An action she didn't deserve at all.

"Let's go."

"We are going to the hospital, right?" She didn't sound like herself and the look on Caleb's face was enough to tell her that.

"Yes, we are going there now."

"What about Gabriel?"

"He'll be in custody for a while."

"What about-?" She swallowed hard as his blue coloured eyes crept into her head. Her heart squeezed as it all came to her again. The times she spent with him, the battle she had within her as regards how she felt about him, his touch, his kisses.

As she sighed, she thought it would have been better if she had just listened to her head from the get-go. Her head already saw the future but her heart hoped that the future would have some alterations.

"Chloe?" Caleb called.

A sharp intake of breath and she finally asked, "What about Nathaniel? Has he been released?"

"I believe that will be done after some paperwork has been sorted out, you know how it is."

A sad smile on her lips, she nodded understandably. Her eyes scanning the room once last time, she decided to take comfort in the fact that she lived a good life with the NAG brothers.

Her relationship might have ended terribly, but she was grateful for the time spent. The moment she was with them was the most thrilling in her entire life.

"Caleb..." She peeled her eyes off the bloodstain the on rug. "Let's go."

No words uttered, the both of them walked out of the room, and for the last time, Chloe walked the corridors of the NAG brother's mansion.

~

It was a close call to death.

Amir's situation with the gunshot was an ugly experience for both Chloe and the unconscious man.

Recalling how the doctor, through the tone of his voice, failed to promise that Amir would live and how the doctor didn't stop hammering the fact that the bullet almost got his heart, Chloe could not help but be grateful at that moment.

Yet she was strangely prayerful.

Amir was still unconscious.

It had been three days after his successful surgery and he was yet to wake up.

Chloe, being the guilt-tripped fellow she made herself become, refused to leave his side. She was going to stay by him till his eyes finally open, she owed her life, so she owed him that much.

"You should get some sleep," a feminine voice gently suggested.

It was one of the nurses assigned to Amir's bed. Thanks to the woman, who had a very calm and welcoming look, Chloe didn't care much about her hospital fear.

"Oh my," the nurse exclaimed as she stood opposite Chloe.

"You really do need that sleep."

"But-" Chloe played with her fingers. "I don't want to leave him alone."

"Do you think someone is going to steal him from here?" It was a question filled with humour but the look on Chloe's face that answered that joke had the brunette clearing her throat.

"Well, not on my watch. Mr. Cook here is in safe hands. So, please go and wash up. When you are back, I'll get you a bed and a blanket. I promise."

That sounded great to Chloe who found it extremely hard to close her eyes talk less of sleeping. She could feel her energy draining, so, she certainly needed that sleep.

"Please, take care of him," Chloe said as she got up from her seat. After taking a stretch to ease her stiffened body, she flashed an appreciative smile in the nurse's way then walked out the next second.

Once in the bathroom, Chloe went straight to washing her face. As the water hit her face, her nerves felt tortured, they instantly froze and it seemed she could not move.

Perhaps it was some mind play or maybe some after effect of the bullet sound, all Chloe knew was that she felt suffocated for some seconds. All of a sudden, her struggling breath was released, thick panting sounds filled the room.

She had no idea what was going on anymore, so she just closed the tap, released her hair from its bun, and hurried out of the bathroom.

With no explanation coming forth, Chloe had to finally acknowledge the fact that being in the hospital was still haunting her. Ever since that day... ever since the day her brother died in her arms in the hospital, no, ever since his body disappeared from the hospital, she never had a good experience with hospitals.

And since her brother who always had a way of soothing her when facing certain fears was nowhere to be found, she had to face her fears alone.

But it seemed her fears were stronger than she thought.

As her footsteps approached Amir's ward and as she wondered if she would actually be able to sleep, she saw a male figure enter the room.

Her sense of protection fully on, she rushed to the room but all that hurry was drained from her feet when she saw the outline of his back.

Chloe knew she couldn't go in. She didn't have the strength to face him nor talk to him.

At that point, what she had to do was simple.

"Hey, why are you waiting out here? Mr. Cook is awake. You have been waiting for this moment you know," the nurse from earlier snapped Chloe out of her disheveled thoughts.

"Uh..." She peeped through the small glass window in the middle of the door. "That's awesome." Her hands fidgeting, she pointed in a random direction. "I uh, forgot something in the restroom, I will be back."

The nurse said something after but Chloe's legs were already carrying out the plan her mind had worked out.

There was no way she was going to let Nathaniel see her. She wouldn't be able to bear the heavyweight feeling that comes with it.

So, she was going to run, as far as she can from the man that is in her heart.