Chapter 8

I spent most of the day after that watching the passing paramedics behind the door, trying to pick up on some clues.

But I watched for days at a time and came up empty.

Just as I was sitting on my bed trying to think of a response, there was a sudden commotion outside.

"Somebody give me a hand, that fool has escaped again!"

I didn't think twice about rushing to the door to see.

All that could be seen was a bloated man running down the hallway with a couple of nurses in pursuit behind him.

The corridors in this hospital building are circular.

So it was on the third time the man passed my hospital room that I finally saw something was wrong.

The man ran without the slightest expression of horror and even smiled.

Looking at the hospital gown he was wearing, the blue stripes on it were light in color and seemed to have been washed many times.

He should have been in this hospital for a long time.

It's quite possible that he was the original mental patient in this mental hospital.

Just when I suspected this was a usual exodus, Paul appeared at the opposite stairway.

He looked unsettled and immediately ordered, "A few more people to hold him down!"

"It's a pain in the ass to run for three days!"

As the words fell, paramedics soon appeared on this floor and the man was finally caught.

Paul walked over to the man and kicked him in disgust.

"Take him into surgery, big deal, I don't want this pig!"

"Okay Dr. Hughes."

There was no movement in the hospital other than these medical staff, so I listened to Paul's words word for word.

Paul mentioned "pig" again?

Is this just a description of the man as fat, or does it mean something else?

And talk about taking people to the O.R. What does Paul want?

I hid behind the door and watched as several paramedics took the man away, with Paul following close behind.

My instincts tell me that there is something fishy about this.

But I was locked in a hospital room and couldn't do anything.

With that thought, I went back to bed and sighed deeply.

I've disappeared for so many days. Do Mom and Dad and the others know I've been taken?

And my girlfriends and friends, my coworkers at work.

Will they help me call the police to find me?