Michelle sniffed the air lightly scenting it, smelling the man standing near her. A gurgle escaped her throat and the doctor turned smiling at her. At that moment Dr. Ackerman, having finished with his patient's intubation and sent the patient up to the ICU, looked up at the clock and seeing that it was almost midnight walked over to the nurses station. He could see Juliette who stood next to a man holding a child, who was frantically speaking to her. Ackerman smiled to himself. 'That woman is always getting herself into the center of drama.' A curtain to one of the rooms closest to him opened and he turned to see a woman covered in gauze sitting up in bed as a nurse exited. Dr. Rider turned towards the woman smiling, his graying hair shining in the bright light.
"Michelle?" her boyfriend called, taking notice of her as the nurse drew the curtains open.
However, Michelle's eyes remained fixated on Dr. Rider. Upon seeing Michelle's state her boyfriend's heart plummeted, and he thrusted the crying 3 year old into Juliette's arms as he hurried towards Michelle. The father at that moment ran past Ackerman, obscuring his vision of the scene, for a mere second. Once Ackerman could see, the father almost at the curtains edge, the woman sprang off the bed tackling Dr. Rider to the floor. The father paused, skidding in his tracks, "Michelle what are you doing? Get off that man!" When she looked up blood dripped from her mouth and she sneered like an animal, he thought better of his next action falling backwards, and crawling away from her. The doctor thrashed below her screaming for help. Without a second of hesitation Dr. Ackerman picked up the phone, dialed the operator and told them to call a code gray.
"Code Gray ED bed 9," sounded across the whole hospital and within seconds the sound of security among other hospital staff scurried into the room. Dr. Rider had at this moment managed to get free of the woman; bite marks along his arm and a single one on his shoulder. The woman went after and bit the first security that came within hands reach of her.
"Miss what's wrong with my fiance?" The father had tears in his eyes and scraped at them reaching for his daughter. Juliette gladly handed the toddler back to her father.
"Daddy, don't cry," the little girl snuggled down into the man, running a confusing hand over his arm.
"I am sorry Mr. Turner, I am unaware of why she reacted that way. As soon as we are aware of what caused the episode of psychosis we will call you. I think what's best for you and your daughter is to go home and get some rest. We will call you if anything changes." Juliette laid a hand on the man's arm comfortingly. She felt bad for him but at the same point was frustrated that he had not heeded her advice in the first place and at the fact that the child who wasn't even permitted in the emergency room had witnessed at least part of what had happened before Juliette had turned her head. Mr. Turner, not knowing how truly annoyed Juliette was, turned and left the emergency room, throwing one final glance back at where Michelle was. Leather restraints were now tying her to the stretcher, as she thrashed against them gurgling and letting out awful screeches as she threw her head from side to side.
Doctor Rider and two others had been injured during the attack, Rider sat at the nursing station and Dr. Ackerman made quick work of his injuries. The nurse, who was hurt while restraining the patient, muttered that it wasn't a big deal as she filed an incident report. Juliette had ordered for more blood samples to be sent down to test the patient for any bloodborne pathogens she may have exposed the staff to, as well as any drugs that may be in her system. The security guard sat behind the desk applying pressure to the wound on his arm cursing. One of the residents came over to help the man; a bunch of supplies in hand. A nurse went to both the doctor and the security guard and began to admit them to the ER. Their efficiency even after what may have been seen as a traumatic event was impeccable and about thirty minutes later, around 1250 am, you would not have even known what took place. The only hint of the nights events being the woman's continuous wailing. The rest of the emergency room had begun to empty of most of the more minor conditions as more severe injuries filtered in.
--------------------------7 hours earlier----------------------------------
The sun dipped behind the tall buildings, its orange hues shining off the reflective glass windows on the city streets. People rushed past each other paying no mind to their surroundings as they hurried home from work or out to dinner. Many chatted amongst each other or on their phones, filling the street with sounds. It was a relatively normal Friday; insignificant in any particular way. None of the native New Yorkers noticed the tall thin woman with short cropped red hair and a black dress. No one cast curious glances at her as she carried a heavy, large, black purse walking down the road and then into the Manhattan Mall. Even if someone had noticed her they would not have thought she was different from any other New Yorker.
Someone may have found it odd had they noticed that less than 40 minutes after entering the mall she left without her purse, sporting a new pair of glasses, or the way that her step had quickened since entering the mall as if she were attempting to outrun something or someone. The woman walked down into the subway and entered the closest restroom. She made sure no one was in the bathroom before discarding her wig and her dress, beneath the dress was a pink blouse and tight skirt. After smoothing out her hair and pulling it up into a high ponytail she turned on her heels and fled the bathroom.