Hey Bartender, Love me (book 2)

Chapter 13

The nurse walked into the hospital room with the food they prepared for the ward. The patient was sleeping, so she just set down the tray on the small table in his room.

    She checked the monitors, making sure everything was okay with the man. It was very unfortunate, his situation, and even though it was his fault, she still felt bad for him. She walked out of the room, nodded to the security guards that made sure no one entered or left without permission, and was met by one of the younger, new nurses.

    "What's going on with all this?" She asked, not knowing why there would be so much security outside a room.

    The nurse sighed.

    "Unfortunate situation here, we've got a kid here from prison; he's doing better now but he was a real case when he first arrived last week."

    "Oh wow," the young nurse gasped, always willing to listen to a good story. "What happened?"

    She sighed dramatically.

    "Well, he thought shooting up in the yard would be a good idea. And then he took all sorts of pills back in his room. He had a huge stash hoarded and took a lot of it before someone caught on. He passed out and they brought him here to try and save him." She looked back at the closed door to the room, then back to the young nurse. "And we saved him."

    "Why would you try so hard to save a criminal?" She didn't say it to be mean, she was honestly just innocent and curious. The older nurse sighed, remembering a time when she was that naive.

    "It's our job, hon. No matter who walks through these doors, on their own feet or on a stretcher, we promise to do our very best to save them. Even if we don't feel their lives are worth saving, every life is precious."

    With that the older nurse patted the youngers shoulder and walked away, leaving her alone. She thought about what her mentor had said as she continued on with her day.

    Later on in the week, the man was much more lively. He was able to stay awake long enough to hold a conversation and he looked less horrible. His face had returned to a normal hue, his eyes, though there were bags underneath them looked brighter and focused, and he wasn't so twitchy.

    When he'd first woken up in the hospital a day after being admitted, he'd been going through horrible withdrawals. He'd taken so much of so many different drugs, it had put his body through a lot. Thankfully, the nurses were able to help him get better so he could get back to where he needed to be.

    "We're going to be taking him back this afternoon," One of the prison guards told the Nurse Manager of the unit. "As soon as the paperwork is done, we'll get him out of your hair,"

    "That's fine, we'll get the discharge papers going then," she told him as they walked down the hallway.

    The door to the patient's room had been open, and he heard the conversation.

    It was now time for part 2 of his plan.

    He waited until the guard in front of his door switched with the other guy. Now that they were about to take him home, there was only one guy outside and the one-to-one (the nursing aide that sat inside the room to watch him) was removed, and it was time to cut off his ankle bracelet. First he changed his clothes so he was wearing regular outfit. Then he took the scissors he'd swiped from the nurses' station during one of his walks around the floor (he needed a bit of physical therapy because he was weak from lying in bed so long; another phase of his plan) and snipped the bracelet. He knew he needed to act quickly, so he ran to the window and started working on pushing the bars out. One of his buddies had worked as a "window washer" and unscrewed the bars on his windows earlier in the week. They pushed out quite easily. 

    He peered over his shoulder, making sure no one was attracted to the sound of the bars clattering to the floor beneath his second-story window.

After ensuring no one was coming, he hopped up onto the ledge, taking a deep breath before dropping into the bush underneath him. He was stunned for a moment, jarred by the impact but quickly got up, brushing off the clothes he'd been given and casually walking away. He checked his surroundings casually. He couldn't get caught. He had to make it to the car.

Down the walkway, turn left, keep going to the parking lot.

Those were his instructions. He followed them.

The only problem was there was a man dressed in scrubs leaning against a wall, smoking.

Think fast.

"Hey mate, mind if I bum a smoke?"

The employee exhaled a puff of smoke, looking over the brown-haired man lazily before nodding, reaching into his pocket and grabbing his pack. He tipped one out, handing it to the stranger before lighting it up for him.

The man took a deep breath, doing his best not to cough at the smoke filtering though his lungs. After a second he exhaled and took another breath, then another. After waiting a polite amount of time, he thanked the man and scurried off. The second he could he threw the cigarette to the ground and stomped it out before continuing to the meet-up location.

    His guy was supposed to be waiting for him in a car just outside the hospital. Beach Street was where he said he'd be in a silver BMW. The man headed over there, wanting nothing more than to run and be in the clear, but knowing that would make him look more suspicious. He had to be casual.

    Finally after what felt like an hour, he made it to the car.

    The doors unlocked, and the man ducked inside. They sped off into the bright afternoon, grinning at what they'd pulled off.

    Back in the hospital room, the guards walked back in.

    "Right, Mr Clifford, it's time for you to—" He stopped once he realized he was speaking to an empty room. "Fuck."

    They reviewed the security tapes, watched him jump out of the window, walk across campus, get a cigarette from Craig on his break, and get into a car.

    "I didn't know he was a criminal," Craig pleaded when they asked him for a statement. "He was dressed like a regular guy, asked for a cig, so I gave him one. He seemed chill, didn't say much of anything."

    The officers let it go. He'd either show up again or he wasn't their problem. Either way, something would work out.

***

So much of my writing comes from real life. This story comes from the hospital my aunt works at. Some guy escaped the cops by jumping out a second-story window (the windows were different for covid. Usually they don't open, but they happened to in this case) and escaped in a BMW. The employee he met and asked for a cigarette was real, too. What a get away. Hilarious.

And now I work at that place. What am I doing with my life lol

~ashtonfortherwin