"Sh*t! Why are there security guards around his room?!"
Carl had an angry and crestfallen expression on his face when he saw the security guards standing in front of Joseph's room.
Constantine also tensed his body at this scene.
"The Head Physician must have realized you're spying on him," Constantine grit his teeth saying this.
He had a mission to fulfill, no matter how many security guards blocked his way he was determined to complete it. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak, Constantine himself knew that he had no way of breaking through the guards himself, he would have to rely on the nurse next to him.
Constantine felt defeated just thinking about it.
At that moment a familiar face appeared.
The Head Physician was leading a group of unfamiliar men towards Jospeh's room. At the front walked a man pushing a wheelchair, he was the only one out of the group of five to wear casual clothes.
"It's not even 9pm yet, what are they doing here?!"
Both their faces grew paler as they watched the group approach the room, before finally entering it.
Constantine was about to rush towards them but halted in his step when he heard an exclamation.
"Why isn't he here! Find him immediately!"
Their hope got rekindled hearing this.
So, Joseph was still safe somewhere in the hospital.
They had no idea where he was, but they had to find him before the group of men!
Maybe they would even be able to go through with their original plan...
The two of them swiftly seperated, their search would be a lot safer and faster that way. Agreeing to meet again at their designated spot in an hour.
***
Januar had no idea where he was. He sat here watching night break, not quite sure how long it had been. Despite Januar's best ambitions to gather more information he was unable to leave this place for some reason. But at least he found a way outside.
It was locked, but still.
He looked around, this hallway was a lot warmer in appearance compared to his ward. Some paintings hung on the wall, they showed abstract renditions of human antonomy and flowers. The bright colors were very beautiful in Januar's eyes after he was forced to only look at white and pink the last few weeks.
But he had to admit, he was pretty sure that he wasn't supposed to find this ward.
It was only a feeling, but he *did* pass through a door with a supposedly forgotten key.
Still he was glad that he found this place.
He watched snowflakes falling to ground, coating the huge courtyard with a layer of white. Despite the falling snow, it was very bright outside. The snow looked like it came directly from the moon as it reflected its light, even sparkling from time to time.
Januar felt the urge to go outside.
He knew that it must be very cold but he still wanted to leave and feel the nature around him.
Unfortunately, this time there was no forgotten key around, so Januar had to find another way to open the door.
Soon he spotted a statue not very far from him. It was a very pretty sculpture of a woman, the bust was designd to look realistic, as if the woman could awaken at any moment. Her eyes were closed and her hair was styled into an ellaborate up-do, fortunately there were some actual hairpins in her hair.
Januar plucked one out and returned to the door.
He started to slowly and carefully pick the lock. He wasn't very good at this, everyone in his class mostly suceeded in their first few tries, this made him nervous so he messed up a lot and took much longer. But he had time now, there was no need to hurry. This was something Kay told him, better slow and steady than sloppy and unsucessful.
Ocassionally pushing the door to see if he had already done it or not, he succeeded after what felt like half an hour. Picking a lock was really hard without being able to hear.
Finally he pushed the door open and stepped out. As soon as his foot touched the cold ground, Januar felt strangely refreshed and at peace.
The serenity of the place invited him to walk some more.
Even though he only wore a thin patient's garments and socks, Januar didn't even feel cold as he wandered the lonely plaza surrounded by brick walls. When he reached the middle of the field where a fountain in form of the same woman from earlier stood, he halted.
This time her entire body was exposed. She was clothed in a simple dress as it was common in ancient times. But she wore some accessoires, a wreath of twigs, a necklace, bracelets on both her wrists and ankles and a cape blowing in the wind.
The Cape was probably used to balance the stone bowl which the woman streched towards the moon, Januar assumed that it was the place from which the fountain's water usually emerged.
He brushed some of the snow off the fountain's edge and sat down underneath the bowl, looking at the moon standing high in the sky.
It was strange, he felt a sense of farmiliarity at this moment.
The peace was destroyed when he noticed people walking in his direction. After realizing that it was Ink and the nurse, he smiled guitily and waved at them.
They had probably been searching for him, why else would the both them be here.
He stood up, wanting to hobble over to them, but before he even got the chance, Ink ran towards him and hugged him tightly.
He must have really worried them... Januar felt very guilty and hugged Ink back. The nurse watched them with a relieved expression on his face. It looked as if a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. He suddenly opened his mouth, as response to his words, Ink seperated from Januar, he took his hand while pointing in direction of the walls, urging Januar to follow him.
Januar obeyed them, even though he didn't know what this was about.
They soon reached a wall with a thick stonetablet in the middle. Januar was unable to read the writing on the tablet.
The nurse stood in front of the stone tablet, he turned towards Januar and made gesture after gesture of lifting something up. Januar looked around but didn't find anything that would need to be lifted. But when Ink joined the nurse's charade, Januar finally caught on.
'You want to lift me?'
Januar tried to gesture back, and the two hastily nodded. Then they pointed at the stone tablet and finally at the top the wall.
They wanted him to climb over the wall?! But why...
They wanted him to escape! That's it!
Something really did happen and now they're helping him leave!
This was probably the olive branch this 'Realm' threw him, after realizing his plight of not hearing anything. To take the risk or stay in the hospital?
Considering Januar's trust in the two natives in front of him, the choice was easy.
He nodded with a determined expression on his face. Stepping forward he handed Ink his crutch and waited for the nurse to lift him up.
This was the moment for his climbing experience to shine, despite being weakened due to his accident. Januar still climbed on top of the stone tablet before continuing towards the edge of the wall.
Standing on top of the wall he realized that it was pretty broad, at least one meter thick.
He was just considering how he would be able to reach the bottom when he saw Ink waving at him from the ground.
The other boy was also being lifted up by the nurse, but he was only able to barely climb on the stone tablet. He looked at the slighter large gap between tablet and edge with an awkward gaze.
Januar decided to help the other out, as the more knowledgable of the two. He streched out his arm after kneeling down on the edge.
Ink hesitantly took his hand, Januar nodded his head in sync with his counting.
1, 2, 3!
At three he pulled Ink up. The pale boy was lighter than expected and reached the top smoothly with Januar's help.
Januar held the other's hand until he had regained his balance, before turning towards the nurse and waving at him with a grateful expression on his face. He would have really liked to hug the other one last time as goodbye.
The nurse also waved with a somewhat sad expression but there was also an encouraging smile on his face.
Januar then turned around and looked at ground on the other side.
Having decided on his form of descend, he gestured at Ink to carefully observe, before grabbing the edge and using his healthy leg to find his chosen brick, testing it for potential risks. Finally using it as support and nudging his other leg of edge. After his left leg was hanging down, Januar abandoned the brick, now only holding onto the edge. At that point he let go, landing on the ground with his injured leg almost completely unharmed. Using the wall to straighten his posture again, he looked at Ink.
Seeing the other boy was watching in awe, made Januar very proud, Ink was truly his most faithful fan!
Januar told the boy to try and recreate his actions. But soon regretted it as he watched the other very clumsily reach down his foot, find a brick (but not nearly as secure as Januar's) and immediately letting down his other foot. As expected, he slipped, abruptly hanging only onto the edge with his hands, the boy was startled to let go of the edge.
Januar scrambled to catch him, thankfully he was able to prevent any injury but now they were covered in snow.
Still, they both made it!
This was something to rejoice!
Januar helped Ink up and started hopping in the direction of the street lights he had spotted earlier.
A searing pain pierced his chest.
He pressed his hands onto his chest a shocked expression on his face, dark blood seeped through the patient's garment he wore, wetting his hands.
He wasn't able to remain standing, falling towards the pure white snow while clutching his painfully burning chest. Before he reached the ground an arm wrapped around his upper body and forced him to lean on the person behind him.
A mournful face appeared in his field of vision.
Utter betrayal welled up in Januar's pierced heart. Tears started dripping from his eyes, asking why.
Why did he stab him? Why did he kill him only after helping him escape and giving him this great hope?
And why did the other look so sad when he was the one dying?
Januar felt the familiar feeling of dying, something he would have much rather not experienced again. The disgustingly sweet taste of blood filled his mouth and nose, as it gurgled up his throat. With every drop of live leaving his body, a bit more heat was lost until he only felt a freezing cold from his entire body.
Only the searing in his chest was left.
As he cried his final tear, Januar felt his numb body being hugged a bit tighter.
He then lost all his remaining consciousness.