Fuzzy Images; Forced Apart (Book two)

Chapter Seven / Good girl, or monster?

[AN: Yes, it is November sixth, and yes, I am eating Easter candy as I edit this. That's not the bad part... We haven't done Easter baskets for the last couple of years, and yes, this is my candy from my last Easter basket... Mmmm candy... The peeps are just about ready for eating, too! I like mine hard and almost crunchy, lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, please feel free to comment, vote, message, or just read!]

Kerri was sitting at the nurse's station at work, studying for end of terms, since they were coming up fast, and she wanted to graduate.

She looked at the clock on the desk, it was time to do rounds again. It was hard to study when you had to go take care of something every five minutes, or like now, had to make rounds every fifteen minutes.

She finished the paragraph as she stood up, then tried to memorize it as she walked down the hall.

Niki ignored her when she passed, pretending she hadn't seen her as she went into Mr. Sabastion's room.

Kerri went into Mrs. Emillo's room, and found that she was still awake.

"You look so much better, dear. Would you like a cookie?" She looked around for the plate of cookies, but there wasn't one. "Oh, I've forgotten to bake anything for your visit. I'm sorry."

Kerri smiled. "It's ok, Mrs. Emillo, I just wanted to check and make sure you're ok." She stepped back into the doorway and saw Niki in the doorway next to her's.

"You stole it! You little hussy! She stole my watch, police!" Mr. Sabastion's voice echoed into the hall.

Kerri stuck her head out into the hall and looked over at the two people. "I didn't steal anything, Mr. Sabastion," Niki said on a sigh, sounding like she was fed up with him already. Kerri could see the numbered light above his door flashing, meaning he'd paged the nurses, and she heard feet distantly down the hall heading their way.

The steps got closer as three nurses arrived, one of them Beth, the head of the department. They were still too far away to help when the situation burst open.

"You think I'm going to put up with this?" Mr. Sabastion demanded. "I don't have to deal with a hussy thief who stole my watch!" Kerri saw Niki take a step back as Mr. Sabastion brandished a knife at her.

Kerri quickly said, "Stay here," and pulled Mrs. Emillo's door closed, then grabbed Niki's shoulder and half pushed half pulled her out of the way, she over balanced and fell to the ground in front of two of the nurses who had come to check on Mr. Sabastion's page and check IVs, as the old man himself stepped into the hall, holding a steak knife in his hand and looking down at Niki on the ground.

"That's the last time you steal from me!" He shouted, getting ready to use the knife.

Chaos is what would have happened any other time, but it was dark, and most of the residents fell asleep when the sun went down. Also on their side; Mrs. Emillo's door was closed, so she was safe, the nurses were too far away to run into the fight blindly, Niki had stayed on the ground, and Kerri was there. Behind the old man with the knife and dementia.

Time seemed to slow down as adrenaline pumped through Kerri's veins. She was trained, and battle tested. An old man with a knife and a disadvantage was not going to take her down. Even though Mrs. Domingo had just walked out of her room having her own episode of dementia, riling up Mr. Sabastion further.

In a flash, Kerri stepped closer to him and wrapped an arm up, under his shoulder and around so she could put her hand on the back of his head, her other hand grabbed his wrist and straightened out so she didn't accidentally get stabbed.

Mrs. Domingo was at it, now. Her shouts echoed in the corridor, still egging Mr. Sabastion on. She was heading right toward Beth, intent on harming her, for sure.