Hospital of Hell

Forty

Grab y'all's popcorn & strap in. Everything is about to fall in place and then fall apart again. Y'all are going to hate me, I'm sorry.

Scarlett's POV

It's a fucking madhouse in hell today. Casualty after casualty. Every time a new patient is brought in my heart drops, praying that it isn't any of the people I love. I'm not sure what's going on, but from what I have picked up on there's a war beginning.

If this is just the beginning, I fear for what happens next.

It's mainly men, occasionally a woman will be brought in. There hasn't been any children thus far, other than a seventeen year old. I'm thankful for that, at least.

A doctor storms out of one of the trauma bays, throwing his stethoscope against the wall. Another one is dead. It's impossible to focus. There's too many patients and not enough staff. We can't keep up, and patient care is failing because of it. We've called everyone in, yet it still isn't enough.

"I know this isn't the right time, Star," a nurse comes up to me as I walk towards the storage room. "The baby box went off, you want me to go?"

"I've got it. I need a break from in here anyway," I sigh, the thought of holding a baby in this sea of chaos actually brings me comfort.

I take my time walking towards the office that contains the baby box. Doctors and nurses push past me, rushing frantically. I feel guilty for taking a breather, I'm sure everyone wants too. Unfortunately, I've seen more death and blood today than I ever have here in hell. It's draining. Every part of my soul wants to curl up in an on call room and go to sleep, forgetting the world around me for just a couple of hours. I don't have that luxury.

I sigh as I walk into the room, shutting the door quietly. This is the most silence I've been in since I first clocked in, I'm going to bathe in it while I can. I put in my code, opening the box. My face scrunches in confusion, seeing as it's not a baby. It's a bundle of wires, a timer set in the middle of it all.

4 min 32 sec

The time ticks by as I stare at it, my heart beginning to race faster than it ever has. I try and pull it from the box, but the bottom of it is glued in. "Holy shit," I whimper, unsure of what to do. It's a fucking bomb. The hospital is full top to fucking bottom, and now there's a bomb. There's no telling how big the explosion will be.

My eyes well with tears as I turn to run towards the door, but it swings open before I can grab the handle. Sobs begin to rack through my body as I take a small step back.

"Sweet Scarlett," Tao hums, his gun aiming at my head. There's an insanity in his eyes that lets me know he plans to do unthinkable thing to me while a bomb ticks away only a couple feet beside us.

"Tao, please," I plead, my back reaching the wall. He shuts the door behind him, shaking his head in disappointment

"It's time to cash in on our deal, baby." His words make me cry harder. Everything around me is crumbling, and I have no way to fix it. I'm always the one with answers, the one everyone runs to when something needs fixing. I can't fix this, any of it. I glance to the timer, seeing that it now reads just a little over three minutes.

"It doesn't have to be like this, let's get everyone evacuated and I'll leave with you. Willingly, I promise!" My words fall on deaf ears as he caresses my cheek with his pistol.

"The bomb is apart of the plan, don't you see? We put it there. After I have you one last time, there's nothing else to live for." Gunfire sounds off in the distance, and I assume the war has been brought here. We're innocent. We save lives, we don't take them. I don't understand what reason Tao and whoever else would have for coming through here and killing us, too.