If I Go

Chapter 23

I opened my eyes, astonished at what just happened. Calvin killed Chloe. I tilted my head down to look at Chloe and her lifeless body. Tears were still falling down my cheeks as I took in what I was seeing. Calvin just stood there, his gaze fixed on Chloe.

Chloe lay still on the ground, unmoving. Her face lost all of its color it usually had. Blood poured out of her forehead like a waterfall. It dripped from her head down onto her pale face. The bullet wound was atrocious and I averted my eyes away from the monstrosity.

I was suddenly angry. I was angry that Calvin killed her. Angry that she was gone, no longer apart of this world. Seeing her lifeless body next to me, I knew I couldn't just sit here, curl up into a ball, and cry. I had to get out of here, I had to get away before the unthinkable happened before my eyes. Before it was too late do actually do anything.

Calvin clenched his gun in his right hand, his gaze still on Chloe. Assuming he was in a daze, I carefully arose from my bed, and slipped my shoes on. Just as I walked towards the door, I felt his breath on my neck.

"Where do you think you're going?" Calvin whispered, poking his gun into my side. My hand instantly slid off the knob of the door.

 I turned to face him, slowly. I then placed my hand back on the knob behind my back. I tried to stay casual. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom."

Calvin smirked. "Okay. Hurry back."

I flashed him a fake smile and slipped out the door. Heart pounding, I realized there were no nurses, doctors, or receptionists in sight. Did they all go out to dinner? Why is it so dark? I thought.

I heard footsteps coming at the far end of the hall.

Just run. Don't think. Run.

I rushed to the emergency exit door, trying to pry it open. I clutched the door handle firmly with both hands and pushed. It wouldn't budge. Why on earth would they lock the emergency exit? Despite the door not moving, I tried again. And again. And again.

"Come on," I mumbled under my breath. "Please."

I kept pushing and prodding the door to open. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. I let go of the door and hurried into the bathroom. I still heard the faint footsteps nearing me. I quickly looked around the bathroom for an escape route. I heard someone pounding on the bathroom door.

"Hurry up or I'm barging in there," Calvin ordered.

I didn't answer, frantically searching for a window. Just when I thought things would crumble, I saw a small window peeking out near a bathroom stall in a corner. I ran into the stall and closed the toilet lid. Then I stood on the toilet lid, which wobbled under my weight. Luckily I was quite tall, so I had no trouble opening the window. However, the window was slim, and tiny.

I heard another bark from Calvin. "If you don't come out in a minute, I'll—"

I didn't hear the rest of his sentence. I tuned him and his demands out and climbed up onto the stall door. It felt like I was walking on a tightrope as I carefully made it to the window. I then opened the window to its full capacity and started to wedge my head through the opening. Once my head and arms were through, I took a deep breath of fresh air. It was cold and getting dark out. My feet were flailing as I got them through the window just as Calvin marched into the bathroom, gun in hand.

I hurriedly slammed the window and took off down the street. I heard the sound of glass breaking. I heard the grunts and groans as Calvin wedged himself out of the window and scrambled to get up. I was huffing and puffing as I went on a downward slope. The wind started to pick up, giving me a nudge forward.

A gunshot tore through the air, ripping through the sky as the bullet spun in the wind like a football spiraling through the air. My arms were pumping as I ran. Once at the end of the street, I took a sharp right turn and darted into the woods.