Organ - Chapter 8

ORGAN

Chapter Eight

Cast in concrete slum the car park sat resting, the weather was still on the darker side, the clouds held the sunshine at bay and every murky ray threatened to dowse the pavement in rain. Oscar took the opportunity of brief freedom offered to him by Nurse Beverly to take a walk around the floor, under her supervision of course, Beverly lingered around keeping herself in eye shot of the patient who dreamt up ideas staring desperately out the window at the free world. Oscar took the chance to spot the exits, last time he made a break for it he found himself caught out by the confusing signage looking for an exit into the car park, with time at hand he was carving mental notes of the various roads in and out onto the fleshy wrinkled walls of his brain. 

“Bev, how often does that bus pass through?” Oscar asked inquisitively.

His tone was light enough and Beverly’s interest minimal enough to not leave this question with any suspicion. Beverly put down her tea on the counter nearby the vacant work station and made her way over slowly, pulling out a small watch from her apron as she did, Oscar noted the time catching a glimpse of the face, it was 10:25am, early in the day. 

“Well, I did take it a couple of times last year, when the car wouldn’t start. It runs every half hour, something like that, goes into the main high street and down to the bus terminal” Bev divulged as she joined Oscar in day dreaming of the outside world for a moment. 

“Why do you ask?” Bev followed up with. 

“Just curious, I don’t drive so was thinking of taking it home whenever they let me leave” he replied thinking quickly on his feet, his answer being so sly clearly brought some pride to the surface and Oscar dared to let out a small smile in the corner of his mouth. 

“I wouldn’t bother with it. Towns got much rougher since I took it last, too many vagrants and drug heads loitering about, need to bring back the national service” Bev continued. 

Oscar was now sure she was drifting off into her own memories. 

“Although” she paused, and his heart stopped for a moment “I hardly know you; you might be one of those druggy vagrants” Bev joked nudging Oscar with her elbow in the ribs. 

It caused a brief moment of pain that made him let out a light gasp, but he caught himself enough to leave Bev only slightly concerned. 

“Do you want me to take you back to your room?” Bev asked lovingly, her hand now resting between Oscars shoulder blades. 

It was warm through his shirt, and it did numb the hurting that was receding somewhere internal. 

“No, I think I will take a bit of wander up and down for a bit if that’s okay?” he asked Bev with obviously pleading in his voice, 

“Okay, but I will be at the station, don’t go anywhere else or they will have my head….and don’t leave this floor” Bev ordered dropping her hand back to her side. 

Oscar nodded and smiled, he did mean to keep his word, Bev was good people, and he had almost caused Katies job to meet the guillotine, he knew it was not worth risking Beverly’s also by making some foolhardy attempt to bulrush the exit again. The floor was quiet, hardly any other patience about and the few that did contained lurking in their rooms seemed far too bed ridden to move let alone notice him, but the final room on his window side stroll caused him to pause, the blinds where drawn, the room had a frigid air blowing softly out the door and down the hall. Oscar poked his head in the room slowly to confirm if it was occupied, the bed was empty, the bathroom door open and vacant, no lights on throughout. 

Oscar tiptoed inside, feeling like a burglar despite there really being nothing wrong with wandering into an empty room. The blinds seemed to be thicker than the ones he had in his first room, almost black outs, obviously his new room lacked any windows that faced the outside world so his blinds where thin and let some light in from the hallway through in the night. Oscar looked around satiating his curiosity, it had all the knickknacks and crappy amenities that his room possessed, outdated TV hung up in the corner, same cheap laminate furniture and the same mattress that presented its springs directly into your vertebrae at every rest, it was all unassuming and boring him. Oscar turned to leave still subconsciously trying to keep his noise down, but a smell caught his attention, it wafted with the air that swirled around the floor and crept out the door frame, it was familiar but bitter and it burned the inside of his nostrils. Still playing the intruder he scanned the room but could see no perfume bottle, floral display or air freshener plugged in, it was gaining his interest with every invading inhale. 

Oscar dropped slowly to his hands and knees, ignoring the cold floor that made his knees pinch for a second upon contact, pulling up the bed covers that hung over, he stared squinting under the frame but again found nothing. 

“Weird” he mumbled to himself, “I know that smell” he continued narrating to comfort himself in the empty dark room. 

The silence was suddenly broken, a low wheeze crawled agonisingly across the room from above his head, it was a rattling breath that was now repeating itself and creating a haunting backing track to his interference. Oscar froze looking at the floor, his posture pinched his core and the unwelcome aching in his stomach began to gurgle, always picking the best times he thought for a moment, but the situation was awkward enough for him to put those usual pains aside, wondering what he could say if he had genuinely missed a poor fading person in the bed above him, his rumination was stopped, the bed springs pang and pinged, someone was settling into the bed and shifting their body weight. 

“I am so sorry” Oscar whispered, hoping to make peace with his victim of invasion. 

“I didn’t think anyone was in here, I didn’t mean any harm” he continued still facing the floor, but something odd was itching at his mind, telling him not to look up, it paralysed his hands in place spread on the cold vinyl floor. 

That wheezing death rattle was repeating itself; the bed silent as the occupant had ceased its movement. 

“I’m sorry, I am going to go okay.” Oscar explained as he found the momentum to slowly crawl out the room and bring himself to his feet after passing the safety of the doors edge, the breeze had sank into a pinching ice, like being sprayed with flurries of snow. 

Oscar stood up, stared across the room, and saw the same empty bed vacant, the freezing breeze stopped blowing at his ankles, the smell faded and turned to the same medicinal ammonia smell he had become accustomed too at Greenwood Heart. But this mirage was not over, Oscar watched on in horror as the sheets began to rise, the pillow became compressed as though suddenly feeling the weight of some phantom skull, the springs creaked in metallic strain, before his eyes the bed covers took the outlining shape of a human body, covered from head to top but still breathing slow raspy breaths. This unknown amassing body let out a loud empty wheezing lungful, the chest rose and sank with every scratching grab for air through the cloth covering its face. Oscar summoned strength, from somewhere deep in that angry pit inside every young man. These spectres gaining hold of his mind became tiring and though every fibre of his skeletal frame was pulling against his strides into the room. He reached the bedside and stood watching the body breath and exist as a physical reality in front of him. Reaching a slow tentatively placed hand across the body, Oscar let his hand hover and then fall to land on the chest of this breathing ghost, it was cold to touch, like a headstone in the open air, even beneath the duvet he could feel the rib cage bones had become frozen icicles of organic weaponry.

The bed lurched forward, it slid away from the wall a foot into the centre of the room barely avoiding running over Oscars feet, then slammed hard into the wall that held the headboard in place, the violence of the rearrangement sent Oscar retreating back and shook the glass in the window with enough force to crack the corners. His bravery escaped him, that tank had now run empty, the door behind him left his mind, the room was holding him still in macabre embrace. Oscar gurgled a word from his tightening throat, 

“Who are you?” he asked with a fear induced stutter, he got no answer but another smoky shaking breath from the phantom. “Who..” he began again with more conviction, but his sentence was cut short, the body sucked in a long inhale unlike the others, it seemed never ending.

 The covers became suctioned beneath the shape, vacuum sealing themselves to the figure, a thin human male was present beneath the sheet, Oscar saw the unmistakable sign of a naked male before him now suffocating under a skin tight wrapping bed set. Flung into the air lifelessly, limp, and floated above the bed upright and loose limbed, Oscar looked away in horror for a moment as the person hurled into hovering space, enough time to miss the sheet slipping away from the covered apparition. When the young man turned back, he saw its face, this floating ghoul, the skin was desecrated, shrivelled and dry, the veins visible through its cheeks, a ghastly vision of almost human kind. Something struck him as he gazed hypnotised staring up at the figures lifeless face, the hollow eyes staring right through him, he recognised the features, not from recent memory but Oscar knew that face, it was the beige mummified image of his father in pain, gasping at air. 

“Dad” Oscar asked fighting back tears or screams, he really could not tell. 

Hearing the word this figure appearing as Thomas snapped with a jerk to face Oscar with its entire body, he recoiled in fear, now feeling the door frame behind him with the palms of his hands. The lips twitched and cracked as this ghost attempted to speak, but it was interrupted before any words found the air, the figure slammed twice into the ceiling with a violence so gruesome that Oscar winced and shrunk, the second slam took the figure disappearing into the roof tiles and out of vision. Silence returned home, the room was empty, Oscar closed the door behind him. Walked back to his room, shaking, and wept quietly to himself. 

“I need to get out” he mumbled through sobbing inhales.

Watching Bev stroll over minutes later to lock the door of his room, she shot him a wry smile and shrugged as she did.

“Not safe” the voice called back to him in agreement.

Oscar had seemingly slept after the encounter with that shrivelled mockery of his father, attaching a therapeutic shield between his remnants of a surviving sane mind and whatever has hold of his waking nightmares he did all he could to carry on. He woke in his room with a trail of spit going from the corner of his mouth and falling in a stretching web of drool to his shoulder, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, wiped that hand onto his gown bottoms and searched around for his phone. The time was just past four in the early evening, Oscar felt at his stomach that was unsurprisingly causing him pain, it was low and numb, the tolerance he could ignore to survive without being constantly knocked out or medicated. Today’s events had shaken him, the nightmares thus far had stuck to his dreams, or the induced hallucinations, as far as he could tell, but today he experienced a living terror in the bright of day, Oscar was determining that this location, the hospital itself was becoming a safe space for these manifestations to track him down in the darkness of his suffering and pounce upon him feeding on the remaining well parts of his brain, it was time for him to leave and the young man would not change his mind this time, fail or flee. Oscar leaned across his bed and reached for the dangling button which called medical attention to the room, normally a nurse but once or twice it had been Boothe himself much to the patients dismay, but he took the risk and sounded the call. Moments later Beverly came hurrying into the room, red faced and already out of breath puffing her cheeks out. 

“What’s wrong?” she got out through short shallow breaths, Oscar felt bad, she was clearly not a young woman and having her come hustling up because the rota was awash was unfortunate for everyone. 

“I am okay, could you see if Nurse Katie is still around?” Oscar asked with a plead to his request. Beverly furrowed her brow and moved her hand from the door handle that steadied her to her hip to scold. 

“You could have just walked over to the desk!” Bev moaned across the room, “I don’t enjoy sprinting from here to there, you know” she continued. Oscar nodded and scrunched his face in apologetic offering. 

“Sorry Bev but they still lock my door, Is Katie here?” he asked again insisting on getting this question answered. 

“Yes, she is, I saw her about half hour ago getting some food from the canteen” Bev answered, still incredibly angry and still very red faced. “Could you ask her to come talk to me please?” Oscar asked, now risking raising alarm bells, “Fine, but no more buzzing unless you are dying, maybe not even then!” Bev barked back, half joking and leaving with a careless wave of the hand dismissing Oscars annoying antics. 

“Thank you Bev!” Oscar shouted out as he watched the senior nurse wander off back to her desk. 

It was an hour later that he heard Katies voice marching down the corridor towards his room, Bev was walking beside her and gave Oscar a firm point of the index finger through the window before storming back off into the ward. Katie stepped in and shut the door behind her, took a seat and put her feet upon the bed, kicking off her shoes as she did revealing worn out holey yellow socks. 

“Well, that was a long day” she joked, looking around the bed for the TV remote. 

Oscar smiled at her and sat back against his headboard, her company made him forget what he called her up to his room for, the moment was almost normal.

“So, what’s today been like?” Oscar asked distracting Katie from her tired stare at the TV, it played the weather channel, and the presenter was exaggerating the recent rain we have had into some potential flood. 

“Well, I have avoided management, but I have to report in for probationary meetings a couple of days a week. Not my first choice but I still have a job” Katie answered, cracking a smile that was thrown in his direction to disarm her clear unhappiness in the circumstance. 

Oscar tapped away at the surface of the atmosphere, sensing around for his perfect moment to approach the topic he was itching to display, but the lingering doubt of Katies reaction was giving him a knot in his stomach, and not the monstrous knot he was now used to. 

“Well, it could be worse right?” Oscar asked trying to lighten the room, Katie shrugged playfully and kicked at the bed toying with Oscars perhaps lingering guilt. 

“You could have tried not to suffocate yourself sir” she joked and immediately sensed how inappropriate her comment could have sounded. “I’m sorry, I was just playing around” she quickly added without waiting for Oscars reaction, he sat wide eyed, shocked staring into the nurses eyes.

“Not my proudest moment, I’ll give you that” he replied, diffusing the situation, and causing Katie to burst into a shallow belly laugh, her smile was back, and Oscar gave himself freedom to join in, forgetting his plan momentarily once again, in fact you could be mistaken for believing they had both forgotten their troubles for at least a conversation. 

They shared a laugh, and the mood lifted, Katie relaxed further into her chair and Oscar could have sworn she had closed her eyes at least once as they watched the ever-changing channels on the box,

“So, what’s Oscar Rubens like when he’s not the subject of experimentation?” she asked with a jesters grin dancing across her lips. 

“I don’t know, normal I guess, probably a bit boring” he replied laughing to cover his uncomfortableness. 

Oscar was not adverse to girls speaking to him, but pretty ones such as Katie showing interest in his personal life felt alien, despite the lies to his friends and relatives, he was not well-versed in the arts of the opposite sex. 

“Oh, I don’t believe that for a second, I have just met you and you are already more unpredictable than most people that come through here” she said with encouragement. 

“I wanted to travel, my Dad taught me all about planes and I was hoping to one day leave the country” Oscar replied trying to find some goals in the back of his mind that could make him appear less tedious to be around, her face lit up looking back at him as he shared. 

“That’s cool, anywhere in mind?” she asked with genuine interest,

“I always liked the idea of visiting Africa, I know they have some cool football stadiums there that can get lively, yeah maybe somewhere in Africa” he explained losing himself in normality and for a second allowing his old mindset to waltz back in like it still owned the place between his ears. 

“Well, I really hope you can go when you are out of here and all cleared, sounds exciting, I am sure the ladies will be all over you” she joked again kicking at his legs again with her socked foot.

Oscar was becoming embarrassed for the second time and sought to change the subject of himself for a reprieve. 

“What about you? Any interesting adventures waiting for you outside” he asked throwing the obligation of storytelling back at his guest. 

Katies face looked vacant for a second, as though lost in memory. 

“Well, I have been to Germany, which was incredible, but that was years ago and since I split up with my old boyfriend I have been pretty much doing the exact same thing every day, just coming to work and getting on with life” the air between them went silent and flat, “Mood killer?” she asked jokingly laughing as she did.

“Just a tad, that’s meant to be my job” Oscar replied lifting the tension. 

Oscar sensed his moment to engage in the situation hanging above his head like a dangling safe in those old violent cartoons. 

“Katie, can I ask you something?” he gently posed. 

“Sure” she replied quickly turning her head once again to face him rested against his bedframe.

“Well,” he paused as the funnel of words became stifled by timidness.

“I need to get home; I can’t stay here anymore” he said looking everywhere but Katies eyes before she could respond he added “This place is making everything worse. I am not myself here, something is happening to me, and the hospital is making it worse.” Thick baron gaps appeared and grew between the two, Oscars heart raced in his chest.

Katie took a long time to respond, she was clearly mulling over every reply and how it would make them both feel, the silence was dragging on for an eternity and Oscar shifted in place more than once in impatience. Katie grabbed the remote from the bed and turned the volume up a few more bars to drown out their conversation for anyone passing by the room. 

“What do you mean? They haven’t signed off on your treatment or diagnosis yet, unless I’ve missed something” she paused deciding on her next words carefully, “they don’t even know if they are keeping you here as far as rumours go, you will just be brought back when you collapse again, which likely will happen if you don’t stay and get treated or at the very least get the fluids they are giving you” Katie explained, her voice was almost disappearing in the volume of the TV’s weather man hurling out his report. 

“I have been here for over a week already, and they are no closer to finding out what is wrong with me, the only thing that has changed is that Boothe now thinks I am crazy and a flight risk” Oscar replied with some back-upped venom to his answer. 

“Well, you are clearly a flight risk” Katie kidded back at him, as she held her palms up and poured some ice over Oscars building temper. 

“I know, but if you can honestly tell me that you trust Boothe to find out what is wrong with me, without putting me in a looney bin for the rest of my life, I will forget all about it. But if you have any doubt, you need to help me get home” he begged and posed a quandary for Katie to mull over. 

In all reality she did not trust Boothe, but telling this frankly to Oscar who was scrambling for an exit like some home invading petrified Squirrel, it could be doing more harm than good. 

“I think Doctor Boothe is doing his best to treat you” Katie finally replied with false conviction to her delivery, Oscar shook his head and looked down at the bed sheets in disbelief as she returned to work mode before his eyes and ears, “You have had some real serious situations here Oscar, thanks to me and thanks to that lump in your stomach, you are showing signs of something developing that could be debilitating. I don’t want to see you hurt or suffering, what else can we do except try and find out what’s wrong?” Katie explained with a softness that was again muffled by the screeching TV.

 “I can’t stay here, it’s not safe” Oscar mumbled into his lap, “I can’t” he repeated. Katie sat up and pulled her feet off the bed, leaned closer to Oscar, and tried to find his arm above the covers to comfort him sensing his shift. 

“Do you think I want to see you hurt?” she asked kindly, “I don’t want you to be hear any more than you do, any more than your Mum does, but this is not something to be playing around with. Plus, how can I enjoy anymore of these little hang outs if you are gone?” Katie said. 

Her argument was logical and appealing, but Oscar was not living in a logical world, he was sinking into a fun-house of spectres, unrelenting nightmares, and phantom writhing skin. 

“Please just think about it, because one way or another, I am leaving this hospital, soon, and it won’t be in a strait jacket, chains or a body bag” Oscar declared, his voice becoming harsh with anger. Katie was shocked and saw her sign to leave. 

The nurse swept up her shoes into her hand and plodded with tired slapping feet and a worn-out mind down the corridor, unleashing the familiar locking sound of the door. Oscar switched off the TV and hurled the remote across the room, his anger would last the night as a bedfellow. It was a full day passed that Oscar saw Katie again, he had been taking another slow, time burning, Boothe and Beverly sanctioned saunter around the ward and once more observed the window facing the car park, spotted the bus arriving right on time according to the clock he discovered endlessly ticking away behind the nurses station. Katie was filling out paperwork and chatting with a nurse Oscar recognised but never learnt the name of, not all of the staff felt as talkative with the strange patient as Katie or Beverly. Oscar kept checking if his would-be-saviour was looking in his direction as he gazed with empty uncoordinated dreams out of the window, watching the bus peel away from the curb, a drowning man watching the last life boat gently ease away from arms reach.

“What’s cooking, good looking?” Katie toyed as she crept up on the patient staring blankly through the glass, “how are we today?” she asked with care in her voice, seemingly ignoring the awkwardness that tailed their previous conversation. 

“Can’t complain, well I could but I won’t” Oscar said without turning to face her, his shoulders stiffened in defence of his ego that was still wounded from being denied his request for assistance.

 “You still being moody?” Katie asked again now being blunt enough to pry his head from the pane, “You want to go talk somewhere more private?” she asked, Oscar nodded. 

They began walking side by side along the designated exercise route. Katie pretended to be asking him various questions of his condition as they passed other nurses, they paid no mind, but he understood the pageantry that made her feel safer with the watchful eyes everywhere feeding notes back to Boothe. When it was safe the mask was dropped, and they could speak freely.

“Are you still planning on running away?” Katie asked, there was no emotion in her voice but for the lightest touch of worry, she needed an answer. 

“Maybe, why? You reconsidered helping me?” Oscar asked, he was lying, but since she declined his initial request for aid, he was now reassessing whether she could be trusted with any details on his ideas. 

“Because I need to know if I should be worried about finding you on the street outside the hospital dead, believe it or not Oscar some people do care about you” Katie replied, she was visibly becoming angry. 

Oscar heard it in her footsteps that now slammed down into the shiny floors with a clouting frustration. 

“Well, I would rather die on the street than wither away in my cage up here, none of you lot seem to know what is really going on with me so what benefit is there for me to stay here while Boothe pretends he can fix me” Oscar unleashed with an outburst that froze their stride to a sudden halt.

“Don’t shout at me Oscar, I am likely your only friend here, I would have turned you in if that wasn’t the case” Katie demanded in a harsh warranted whisper.

“You are right, I am sorry, I don’t mean to be like this” Oscar said but Katie began pushing him into a nearby room. 

Oscar noticed the room number and put his hands on the frame to stop her forcing him. 

“What now?” she asked, anger still evident, 

“I don’t want to go in that room” Oscar pleaded leaning back to put his body weight into Katie stopping her push. 

“Why not? Whatever lets go back to your room” Katie contemplated digging in, but the irritation was overwhelming her senses. 

They both marched trying to seem calm back to Oscars room at the far end of the hall away from eyes, ears, and ghosts that Oscar sought to avoid awakening from their hellish rest in the walls of Greenwood.

Katie closed the door behind her, and Oscar took a few steps in until he was standing behind his bed that cut the room in half. 

“What exactly was that? Oscar there are things you aren’t telling me, and I don’t like it” Katie asked foaming over with annoyance for the sulking patient that was becoming, in her immediate mind, far too problematic to deserve her vulnerability. 

“I’m sorry” Oscar said sitting down on his bed, shoulders lurched like a scolded child. 

“I don’t want to hear another apology Oscar; I want to know what the hell is happening with you. You have been flying off the handle lately and you might think we don’t notice, but we see the expressions, the winces, the leaning over to cover your pain. How do you expect us to help you get through whatever this is, if you are constantly looking to run away from your problems” Katie berated him, 

but Oscar paused and looked up at her as the last words left her lips.

 “What did you say?” Oscar asked feeling his body heating up. 

“I said how can we help you with your pain, that you are obviously in, if you are looking to run away again” she answered, her voice now lowering as she regained control of her composure. 

“No, the bit about my Dads problems” Oscar asked, his voice raising in opposition of Katies, her faced curled into a confused expression. 

“What, I didn’t say anything about your Dad? Oscar are you okay? You are really frightening me” Katie asked as she stared in horror at the patient opposite her. 

“What…I don’t know what’s happening to me, but I know it is getting worse staying here” Oscar moaned in response. 

Katie listened to what Oscar was saying, the misheard pieces, her body shivering with worry. 

“Oscar, why didn’t you want to go into that room?” Katie asked hesitantly recalling the reason they had arrived back at his bed.

“What room?” Oscar asked in pretend confusion to buy himself time to formulate a better lie. 

“You know what damn room!” Katie snapped back, 

“I….saw something in there the other day. It was my Dad, but it wasn’t. He was wrong, he looked horrible and then he disappeared in front of me” Oscar explained now staring intently at his hands, they still wore the scars of his finger nails. 

Oscar wondered for a split second if it would be a permanent scar reminding him of the close encounter with the afterlife. 

“Oscar” Katie said, letting out a huge exhale and turning to see if anyone were nearby to hear this conversation, the coast was clear, “we need to tell Boothe about this, I know we both heard that voice that night, but it could have been anything. If you are seeing and hearing things, especially violent things that are affecting your health, we absolutely need to look into it. It could be something wrong with your brain, like an aneurism or a tumour, something triggering this that we can address before it escalates further” Katie said, having snapped back into her professional duties.

Oscar was momentarily her patient once again. 

“Well, you heard it as well, you told me so and you told my Mum that you did, so are we both crazy?” Oscar sharply reminded her of that first encounter between the two of them.

“I don’t know what I heard” she replied quickly at the questioning of her belief in this looming bodiless voice. 

“Oh, come on! You know what you heard” Oscar whispered to himself; Katie heard that voice but acknowledging the reality was not something she thought could help in this moment he danced on a knifes edge.

Oscar looked up at her again and forgot about his hands, his stomach began seething in torment, Katie saw the frown on his face and although he was learning the muscle memory to automatically contort his expression to hide the ongoing hurt, this time it failed, perhaps he was distracted. 

“Right there! Oscar, right there. I saw you in pain again!” Katie declared in victory of her previous argument. 

“I am always in pain!” he shouted back; it paused her. 

The room died in silence, and Oscar felt himself shaking. 

Emptiness filled the room as they both lost their words. 

“I need to tell your Doctor, I am sorry, but if you are going to be hiding any discomfort or hiding things that are happening to you, then you ARE a danger to yourself Oscar, maybe even a danger to me” Katie said with conviction, her face was solemn and red, as though she was holding back tears. 

“I know I can’t stop you, but I really hope you won’t, I need you to help me leave. Just distract Boothe, leave me some clothes and some change for the bus. I need you Katie” Oscar explained his lazily planned out scheme of escape. 

Katie shook her head and looked everywhere other than Oscar seeking some salvation of sensibility from this obscene request. 

“Oscar, I am not going to help you. You are going to get yourself killed, I have already caused you to suffer once, I won’t do it again” Katie replied. 

Her answer was given, and Oscar stood up sharply to his feet sensing his moment of freedom shrinking and disappearing into abyss before his eyes. 

“Please, Katie please. You are going to leave me here to die?” Oscar begged, he was pacing towards her and stopped a foot in-front of her face to keep his voice quiet. 

“You would do the same for me, the right thing Oscar, You aren’t going to die here, you WILL die outside on the streets, I guarantee that.” 

Katie described a grisly picture; Oscar dropped his brow in disappointment at the harsh words from such an otherwise friendly face. Pain struck again, his body seized as he stood, his arms lunged out on impulse grabbing Katie by the shoulders, he squeezed hard between his fingers, and she let out a squeal.

“Oscar, you are hurting me, what’s wrong?” Katie said in panic.

Oscar gasped for air and Katie felt his grip weaken then his arms fall to his side. 

“What’s wrong?” Katie asked again, propping Oscar up with her arms that still ached from his pinching. 

Oscar clearly opened his mouth to speak but his voice choked, no words crept out, a trickle of blood dripped and then streamed down his nose and onto his lips before falling to his chest, His legs buckled beneath him, and the young man hit the floor with a  sickening thud, head clashing with the bed frame behind him. Katie let out a sudden scream as she attempted to steady him, his weight too much for her to maintain, she could only watch in stumbling horror as he slammed to the floor. Katie leapt over the patient and onto the bed, grabbing the buzzer and calling for help. It arrived as Oscar closed his eyes, his last image a passing blurry visage of Katies face and her soft hands holding his head “Pain” he whispered exhaling into the forced slumber.