Unhinged [Rafe Cameron]

[the bell tower pt.1]

My senses tingle with the urge to burst into movement. Alarms are ringing in my head, screaming at me to evacuate as soon as possible.

Luckily, I have my clothes on underneath my hospital gown and my phone is still stored in the back pocket of my shorts. The only thing left to do now is to beat it and get the hell out of here.

The question is, how exactly am I going to do that?

I mull over my options. I have no idea what the layout of this hospital is, much less where the nearest exits are located. Plus, my chances of getting seen by staff are pretty high, considering the fact that they're swarming the place.

Unless...

I look to my right and spot a white lab coat draped over a chair. Right next to it on the table sits a clipboard and a pair of glasses.

I pull my hair in a quick high bun, throw on the lab coat and glasses, and grab the clip board. By now, the two nurses outside my room have gone.

I take a deep calming breath, and slip out of the room.

Immediately after leaving, I take a sharp turn right and cast my gaze downwards in hopes that I just look like a shy intern finding my way around. Multiple people pass me but I don't dare to look up and face them, so I keep staring intently at the shiny hospital floor.

I'm white-knuckling my clipboard at this point, but I force my legs to keep taking step after step. I lift my head, trying to look for an exit sign, but it's nowhere to be seen. I pass by multiple patient rooms, and a nursery with babies that blast my eardrums off with their cries.

Finally, when I'm about to lose hope and turn myself in, the green shining exit sign appears after a left turn. Thank god. As I near the door, my heart rate climbs a level with each step I get closer.

Then, when I can't take it any longer, I burst forward into a run and fling the door open, launching myself out of the hospital.

The bright sun hits me square in the face; I've never felt more alive. My adrenaline is swirling in my veins.

I just escaped a hospital.

My eyes zero in on a familiar van concealed in the bushes lining the parking lot of the hospital. Speaking of, why is the parking lot so crowded with people?

The van, which I now realize is the Twinkie, starts pulling deeper into the brambles. Immediately, I start running full force at the van, making sure not to draw any attention to myself in doing so. When I reach it, I start tapping frantically at the glass.

Inside, I can see most of the gang, but they're ducking as if they're hiding from something. What is going on?

At first, they look at me like they've seen a ghost, but the recognition settles in as they realize it's me and not some nerdy (hot) looking doctor smushed up against the window.

JJ, who's the closest to me, whips forward and swings the door of the van open for me to scramble inside. A bombardment of questions meets me as I drop into a seat.

"Yo, what are you wearing?"

"Are those glasses?"

"Why are you dressed like a slutty doctor?"

"Shut up, Pope!"

"What?? It's not Halloween, Kie!"

"I had to wear this to not get caught sneaking out of the hospital, okay?" I rush out, ripping the glasses off and chucking them on the floor of the car.

"Roger that, Dr. Brington." JJ mocks, gesturing to the name embroidered on the lapel of the lab coat.

I stare at him with a straight face. His smirk drops. I rip off the coat and it joins the glasses on the floor.