So Long, and Goodnight

15. The Arrival

Chapter 15
The Arrival

POV - Virgil

Nobody said anything else about what had happened. Instead we just sat playing Monopoly on Jane's bed; Gordon on her lap, Alan on John's, and the rest of us either perched on the bed or on the visitor chairs.

Gordon had wanted to play as a squid so, as there wasn't one; Jane had drawn a quick sketch of one in a top hat and monocle. She named him Sir Squid, and they played as him.

So four games in, and a lot of cheating later, with John and Alan leading with two games, Jane and Gordon with one, and game four still in play, we weren't expecting anything major to happen again.

But in the middle of the game, Jane suddenly looked towards the door; a look of concern on her face.

None of us noticed it until John raised his right hand and, using his index finger, wagged it slightly at her.

She didn't do anything but hold her hand up to him, as if silencing him before he had even said anything.

Carefully, she deposited Gordon from her lap to the bed and, making sure not to hit me in the process, slid from her spot; before padding to the double doors at the end of the ward.

The other residents of the ward also sensed something was wrong, as they all stopped what they were doing to watch Jane as she walked. Nobody asked any questions, or even moved from their positions.

It was eerie how quiet everyone got. No rustle of a book page being turned, no talking, and no movement of any kind. The only noise in the room was the soft pad of Jane's feet, and the breathing of everyone in the room.

When she pushed open the doors, we could hear some muffled shouts coming from somewhere nearby, but when the door closed, the noise got a little clearer. The person shouting had obviously made their way into the corridor.

"What's going on?" I asked nobody in particular.

"Someone she doesn't know is out there." David replied, "She knows all the sounds of the ward, so she knows when something's off."

Suddenly, there was a loud whistle that made everyone in the room jump the metaphorical five-foot in the air.

"But how does she know?"

"It's like when you're at home." Said one of the boys, who's name I couldn't remember, "You get used to all the sounds after a while, so she can sense when something changes."

That made sense. I know that when John first started getting his nightmares, Scott would get up and sit with him. When asked, he said he could just tell that something was wrong.

But when the nightmares became more than once a night, and on a daily basis; he stopped going in. That's when John decided that he would not sleep for a long as he could.

A shout from beyond the door jolted me from my thoughts.

"You're not going into the ward."

That was defiantly Jane. Even though she tried to hide her British accent, when she got annoyed or angry it became more prominent.

"And what authority do you have to stop me from going in?"

There was no mistaking that voice, even if I hadn't heard in person for about two months. And that voice caused John's face, if it was possible, to go even paler then it already was.

"I'm the longest serving patient of this ward." Jane retorted, "No visitor gets into the ward without my say so."

I could almost imagine Jane standing there with her arms folded, staring down her opponent with a look of 'go on, try. I dare you' written over her features.