A Rush of Blood to the Head

Chapter 27

"Out of my way", Rachel screamed at the nurses and guards climbing down the stairs. Guy followed her close behind.

They had just been informed that Jonny escaped from his room and a code had been called on the seventh floor. It didn't take them much time to put two and two together.

The people on the staircase cleared up a path for the angry doctor and her associate, immediately. Some of them looked rather terrified on seeing Rachel so enraged. She climbed up the stairs quickly and Guy followed suit.

Amidst all the commotion about two missing high profile patients, the elevators had stopped working only for about a few minutes or so. Just when it was needed the most.

"Charlie's behind this", Rachel mumbled angrily, "I know she is"

Guy didn't say anything. His memory was still blurry about his encounter with the woman who was presumably Rachel's sister. He wanted to be completely sure of the mysterious woman's identity before making any claims. At least that's what he told himself. The woman said she'd save Chris and Guy didn't want her to end up not being able to do that because of him. And besides that he had far more concerning things on his mind at the moment.

The duo sprinted up the flights of stairs one by one. Guy's legs hurt like hell but he didn't stop. Two of his friends went from being hospitalised to being missing and each time he failed to act fast enough to save them. He increased his pace to match Rachel's, but the woman was running like an athlete on steroids. He felt old on not being able to keep up.

Jesus Christ...

They finally made it to the seventh floor.

"This way", Rachel motioned for Guy to follow her.

They ran towards the opposite end of the hallway. A commotion could be heard which seemed like a bunch of children screaming along with a few adult voices shouting orders at each other.

Kids??

When they finally reached to the end of the hallway Rachel came to an abrupt stop. There was a group of children blocking the way to room with a frosted glass door. Being a few steps behind her Guy didn't notice the commotion at first.

"What room is that", Guy asked absentmindedly.

Rachel stood looking at the door, just as perplexed as him.

"A music room, for terminal oncology patients... Mostly children", she replied

The realisation hit Guy like a bolt of lightning.

"You didn't mention this hospital had a music room..", Guy said in a slightly hostile tone.

"What does that have anyth--", Rachel paused as realisation hit her as well, "Shit..."

The entire conversation took place in a span of 20 seconds yet it felt like an eternity. Rachel shouted orders at the crowd and cleared up a path in the hallway for them to investigate the cause of the commotion. Guy's vision turned slightly blurry and for a moment he felt like he couldn't hear. The physical exertion of sprinting up eight flights of stairs while coming off of a paralytic drug was dazing to say the least. When they reached the door, he was met with a scene he'd couldn't quite comprehend. The room was too dimly lit for his already blurry vision to adjust in time.

An unconscious man lay on the floor in the arms of another. He had a guitar around his neck. The other man unfastened the strap and removed it off the unconscious man and held him tighter. A few nurses were frantically trying to move the man to a gurney. A doctor was monitoring his heartbeat. They screamed at the other man to move away and he did. What he didn't realise in his stupor that he was still holding onto one hand of the unconscious man. One nurse quickly tore him apart and moved him away but he didn't want to go.