Prey.

09.

The cold, fall air bit at Ryan's skin. He shakily pulled out his cell phone and dialed Caleb's number--he's the only one that Ryan can trust at this moment in time. Caleb answered the phone after two times of Ryan trying. "I'm sorry, I just got alone. What's wrong?"

"I'm at the hospital, I wanna see her." Ryan paused as he let out a puff of air; his breath turned into a visible gas. "I can't do it alone. I need you to come here," Ryan began to pace up and down the sidewalk, occasionally pulling at his hair or holding the bridge of his nose. "Is she still at the same hospital?"

Ryan threw his right arm in the air, "I don't know, I-I-I'm pretty sure. Just try to get here quickly, it's freezing." Ryan hung up the phone after that and walked into the hospital.

The first place he looked at was the directory. She was placed in the ICU upon arrival, Ryan is guessing. After a few weeks, she must be better. Which unit could she be in? Ryan walked over to the front desk and smiled at the unfamiliar man, "Hello, could you point me in the direction of Neela Oh's room?"

"Are you immediate family?" The man's speaking was plummy. He sounded high-class, he spoke with an attitude in his voice. His voice was annoying. "Yes, I'm her brother." Ryan lied, mimicking the receptionist's plummy tone of voice. "Third floor and she's in room 206." Ryan gave a forced smile and started to walk, "you'll have to leave soon." The man calls to Ryan, "visiting hours are ending soon!"

Just as Caleb is about to exit the house, Landon stops him, "where are you going?"Caleb sighs, "he thinks she's still in the hospital, he wants to see her." He speaks in a breathy manner.

Landon looks away as if he's about to walk away, but he doesn't. "You know it's going to end badly if he does get a hold of her. Do you not care about the human girl?" Landon says in a manner that makes Caleb feel like a bad person.

"I do! But I don't know what to do." The poor boy is torn between his brothers. "I want to help Ryan and his condition, but I want to do the right thing and keep the girl safe."

"Okay, you stay here. I'll go to the hospital to bring him home." Landon gripped his youngest brothers shoulder, squeezing it as if it was reassuring him. "This is doing the right thing. No one will be mad at you." He pauses for a few seconds, "the only way someone would be mad was if you let him near her."

"Can someone tell me about his condition?!" Caleb yelled. "You've all tried to keep me concealed from it, but I'm tired of it! Tell me!"

"Okay, I'll talk about it with Ryan, but I'm not promising anything." Landon didn't allow any other words to be exchanged of the both of them and walked out the door, his car keys in hand.

~~

A few nurses came to Neela's room throughout the day to wish her a happy birthday, she felt like it was endearing. Her heart was filled with a type of euphoria from the attention and welcoming she felt.

Neela met with Austin for the first time in awhile that day, also. Even he knew it was her birthday. From this second meeting, she was definitely able to get a clear description of his personality.

His face always shows him being sullen, he's a very whimsical boy; very reliable. Some people may say he is daft, atypical; but Neela knows he's just different. His voice is always brittle, almost like he's going to break down in tears at any moment. His voice also sounds disembodied at moments, like it's far away; but he's right there. His presence is comforting overall. He's an innocent boy; it seems like nothing is wrong with him. However, he wears the same hospital gown as the one Neela had.

Neela woke up with the feeling of the hospital bed shaking. She cracked her right eye open just a tiny bit and saw Austin, he was playing with Ryder; just bouncing the object in his lap. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry," Austin said in a soft voice. "No, don't worry about it, honey," Neela glanced out the immense window and the sun was dazzling; it must've been late in the day. "It looks like it's about time for me to get up anyway."

"Happy birthday," the two sat in silence before Austin said those words. Neela smiled, remembering that yes, today is her birthday. "How'd you know today is my birthday, Austin?" His face wore another transfixed smile of happiness, "mother said that whenever someone is glowing like how you are, it shows that they have a birthday on that day." Neela's eyes twinkled at the endearing words. "Thank you, Austin."

Austin stayed there for only a little bit longer. During his visit, nurses walked in and out of the room but paid no mind to Austin sitting right there. Neela couldn't really decipher if he was offended or okay with it. When Neela asked about it, all he said was; "they're not supposed to pay attention to me anymore," that statement left Neela really confused.

She waited all day for her dad to come visit her, but he never came. That made her upset; the nurses tried to make her feel better, but Neela wasn't having it. She went to sleep very aggravated that night.

~~

It didn't take very long for Landon to make it to the hospital, he ran in and talked to the same man that Ryan talked to; "hi, have you seen a man walk in here not too long ago? He was wearing a plain, grey shirt, khaki pants. His hair is black, his skin is tan." The man nodded, "yeah, he went up on the second floor to talk to his sister. Are you family?"

"Neither of us are family! If he gets close to the girl he's looking for, he's going to touch her and kill her. Tell me, what is the fastest way to get to her room." The man ignored Landon and his yelling and called for security, the man's voice rung throughout the whole hospital. Everyone heard it, including Ryan. The man spoke these words; "security, we need rounds on the second floor. Tanned skin, black hair, male, grey shirt, khaki pants." Poor Neela wasn't able to hear the words, because she was peacefully sleeping.

Ryan knew the description matched him perfectly; he knew he should've just surrendered. He couldn't though, this would've been his only chance, he thought. But no, he had more chance in the past, this chance is just more accessible. Once he heard his exact description, his feet moved faster until he saw her room number. He looked through the plexiglass window and saw her sleeping.

There were two beds in the room, but hers was the only one that was occupied. Neela was sleeping on her back, her right arm faced to ceiling, due to the IV in her veins. He slowly walked in, being as quiet as he could. He pulled up a chair on her left side, so he wouldn't disturb the IV. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for this day to come?" When his voice reaches her eardrums, her lips form into a tiny pout. "What's wrong, Neela?" Her breathing began to labor, "are you nervous about seeing me? Well, that's okay, I'm nervous too."

Three security personnel and Landon appear in the doorway, "come here, don't touch her." Landon whispered while making motions towards him and the personnel. Ryan slowly stood to his feet, raising his hands. When he got to the foot of her bed, the urge to feel her warmth got stronger with each step. He had to. He froze, put his hands down and ran back to the bed of the bed and pressed one of his hands to her flushed cheek.

"DON'T-"

~~

Neela woke with a lurch forward. New questions are raised for her. She was able to see his face, does that mean he's getting close to actually hurting her? Why was his friend so grave about him touching her? Is Ryan his real name, "please," Neela sobbed quietly, "please make it stop."