Game of Patience

Chapter 41

Chapter 41

She needed to move. She gathered every bit of energy she had and threw the covers off of herself, still keeping eye contact with the figure. But as she started to move, they walked closer.

She forced her legs over the side of the bed and pushed herself over the edge. She fell onto the floor. She could see the figure moving closer and then they ran off to the side. Towards the entrance.

She started to panic, tears clouding her vision. She tried to move, to crawl anywhere, but wires tied her to the machines. She tried to disconnect her IV drip, but her fingers wouldn't work. They wouldn't hold anything. She lay in a heap on the floor, crying, trying desperately to move.

She heard someone fiddling with the handle. There was meant to be an officer outside, but what if they used the same drugs that they used on her to put them to sleep? Nothing stood in their way.

She started to scream and the handle moved more and more. She heard the door swing open. She closed her eyes and screamed as loudly as she could, hoping someone, anyone would hear her.

"Brooke. It's okay, sweetie, it's okay. It's me."

Phillips pulled her towards his chest. She tried to move closer, pulling her limbs as close as she could. She wept in his arms. Then she remembered the figure. She tried to look out the window, moving her head around to check everywhere. But she couldn't see near the entrance.

"They're coming. They found me, they've come for me." She repeated her words over and over, speaking faster and faster.

"Hey, you're safe. Shhhh you're safe. I'm here, it's okay." He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her gently. "Sweetheart you're trembling. We need to get you back into bed."

Brooke shook her head. "Please. I saw one of them. Outside my window."

"We have them all. No one is coming for you."

"Please."

The door opened again and Pierce walked in holding a tray of food.

"What happened?" He asked when he saw Phillips cradling Brooke on the floor.

"Where the hell were you?"

"She was hungry. I've been gone ten minutes if that. What happened?"

"They've found me." She said through sobs.

"Brooke thought she saw someone watching her through her window."

"Someone was watching me!"

Phillips kissed Brooke's head and held onto her hands to stop her pulling at the wires.

"I want you to grab some officers and check everywhere."

"The person was wearing a large black hoodie."

Pierce placed the tray of food onto the table and walked over to Brooke and Phillips. Together they helped her back into the bed. Pierce left the room.

"You should eat something." Phillips said as he bought the tray over for her.

"What if they come back?"

"Pierce will find them if there is anyone there. But we got them all, you're safe. There is an officer outside the door at all times and someone will be here with you at all times."

She looked at Phillips for a while and then to the window. She knew what she saw, or at least she thought she did.

She looked at the food in front of her and her stomach cheered. She was hungry. At first she picked at her food and then slowly she started eating steadily until the plate was empty. Phillips smiled and moved the tray off of the bed.

Peirce walked back into the room.

"We didn't find anyone. You're safe."

Brooke nodded, but she didn't exactly feel very safe.

They both spent the day with her until Phillips had to go back to the office. Howell came and sat with her and Pierce. They played a few games but Brooke was still tired. She took a nap and woke up to them both still with her, playing a game between the pair of them.

She looked out of the window. The trees were blowing in the breeze. She wondered what the temperature was outside. In here it was always the same. The same sounds, the same smells, the same amount of heat. She couldn't wait for something different.

Then she saw them. Standing by a tree in the distance, head down, same hoodie. Same figure.

She wanted to call out. But she was frozen in bed. She started moving her arm, hitting the mattress over and over, trying to grab either Pierce or Howell's attention.

"What is it?" Howell asked as they stood up. They looked out of the window and saw the figure.

"Pierce. You're gonna wanna see this." They said quietly, as if afraid they would alert the person by the trees.

Pierce stood up and looked. "Impossible. You said there were three of them and we got three. Spencer was organising it, why would he have one person on the outside? We got them all."

Brooke laid in bed and turned to Peirce.

"Who did you get?" Her voice was shaky, afraid of the answer.

"Spencer Perry, Mark Twin and Simon Black."

Brooke looked at Pierce. "Simon was like me, he wasn't one of the bad guys, the other guy was called Andrew."

Pierce took out his phone and made a call.

"Simon is innocent. The guy we are looking for is called Andrew. Brooke was right, there was someone watching her. We have visual on them now."He hung up and turned to Brooke.

"We're going to bring the officer from outside into the room. Me and Howell are going to arrest Andrew, we won't be long at all. Any issues and the officer will call us,okay?"

Brooke nodded. She didn't want them to leave, but she knew together they would have a better chance of catching him. Backup would arrive soon and then she knew she would be safe. She watched as the figure looked up, straight at them. Andrew knew she was here.

Pierce and Howell left the room and sent the officer in. She watched as they ran down the hospital hallway and the officer walked into the room. The door clicked shut behind them.

The officer turned around and smiled at Brooke.

"Hello, sleeping beauty."