Never Ending

Operation Pt. 2

Kostas's heart pounded at an agonizingly fast rate as he felt the demon nurse slowly carving into his chest. Tears welled and slid down his face as he felt the, now familiar, sting and burn of the open wound. As the nurse forced her hand into the opening she had created, Kostas felt his consciousness give way to darkness.

When he came to again, Kostas found the nurse facing away from him bent over something on a table. Whatever she was working on seemed to be taking all of her attention. Kostas let out a sigh of relief as he stared up at the hospital ceiling, thankful that his surgery was over. His chest still ached and burned, but it was nothing compared to the pain of someone pulling and tugging at his heart. 

After a few moments of peace, the nurse let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, that took forever."

Curious, Kostas opened his eyes to see what she had been working on so diligently. His eyes widen in horror when he saw the heart in her hands. He also became suddenly aware that he could not detect his own heartbeat. Hoping his suspicion was wrong, he mustered up the courage to ask the question that was burning in his mind. "Is that my heart?"

The nurse looked at him for a second before shaking her head. "This is for the patient in 230."

Kostas let out a sigh of relief; however, his relief did not last long. The Hellions started to laugh manically and even the nurse gave a chuckle. He furrowed his brows as he tried to find the cause of their humor. He had already been through enough to know that whenever they started to laugh, pain typically followed pretty quickly. "What's so funny?" Kostas asked suspiciously.

The nurse turned a sickening smile to him. "I'm playing the role of a nurse in this hospital. Do you think most nurses perform heart surgeries?" She asked humorously.

If Kostas still had a heart in his body, he was sure it would have sunk at her words. "So that's mine." He said dejectedly as he once again glanced at the organ that had caused him so much pain. "Do you have to put it back? I seem to be fine without it."

"Well, you don't really need it for survival anymore, but that doesn't make it unnecessary." She said as she towered over him. "This organ pumps blood throughout your body, so if you don't want your limbs and skin to rot off, I suggest letting me put it back. Besides," The nurse began to carefully place the heart back. "I worked extremely hard fixing all of the damage it sustained. Surely, you don't want all my hard work to go to waste, right? You want to make sure this organ works properly so you can entertain the Hellions for your brother." She said sweetly as she applied more pressure to get the organ positioned correctly.

Kostas gasped and gripped the bedframe at the sudden pressure inside his chest. He could feel her twisting the organ and pulling and pushing on different things within him. Finally, she pulled her hand out and began the process of stitching him back together. Once again, unconsciousness mercifully embraced him shortly after she began.

With a yawn, Kostas sat up and rubbed his eyes. Still drowsy, he looked around for the nurse. Instead of the red headed nurse, he was greeted by a demon with flaming hair. He let out a yelp of surprise as he quickly realized he was no longer in the hospital. "Where am I?" He blurted out.

"Where do you think?" She asked, clearly annoyed. "You're home."

Kostas scrunched his nose in disdain. "Hell is not my home."

"It is for now." She said simply as she looked around before turning back to him with a dark expression. "Now listen, you had best be careful this time. I better not have to come right back to fix you again, got it? I can't afford for you to break yet, and the Hellions won't leave your brother alone if your no fun to play with, do you understand me?" She growled while glaring at him.

Kostas nodded at the irate demon.

"Good." She sighed. "Now, I've set up a game of hide-and-seek for you with the Hellions. This should keep those brats' attention and make them leave me alone for a while as well as your brother. See? Everybody wins when we add more structure to their activities. The rules are simple. You hide or run--I don't care which, just make it entertaining--from the Hellions, and they will hunt you down. It's pretty much the same procedure as before, but this time, I'm going to give you a day to strategize what you want to do. All of the Hellions will be on earth for the day, so you are completely free to plan without worry." She smiled sweetly as she leaned closer. "So be sure you don't get yourself destroyed, okay? I can't promise that I'll be as nice as I was this time when I'm dragged back to fix you."

Kostas sat for a moment as her words slowly sunk in. "So, all of Hell is on earth?"

"This portion at least." She nodded. "It's going to be a bad day to be a human." She let out a short laugh.

"What plan do I use against those things?" He muttered, wanting to make the most of this situation.

"I don't know; figure something out. I had a time talking with the Enactors over unleashing all of the Hellions at once so just make the most of it." She growled before taking a breath. "I need to get back and you need to plan." She cast a quick glance at the sky. Dark purple clouds had started to gather and a distant rumble could be heard. "You also might want to find shelter soon; a storm is approaching."

Kostas let out a short laugh. "Do you honestly think I'm still afraid of weather what with all I've gone through?"

"On earth? No." She shook her head. "But it doesn't rain water in Hell--it rains acid. Of course, the acid doesn't hurt us." She said as she threw a glance at him. "But I can't say the same for humans." With that final warning, Kostas was left alone in Hell.