Henry Rider: Clown Hunter

Chapter Thirteen

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Chapter Thirteen

Be-deep...Be-deep...Be-deep...

The first thing I realized when I woke up was that...peanut butter jambalaya, everything hurt! I felt like a baked potato that had been put through a car crusher.

"What happened?" I groaned.

Nobody answered. I opened my eyes to find myself lying in a bed with stiff, scratchy sheets. The walls around me were painted a blinding white. The beeping, which was already starting to give me a headache, turned out to be a heart monitor.

And I was alone.

Weird. I'd been in plenty of hospital rooms over the past three years, but this was the first time I'd ever woken up in one all by myself. Usually my family was there, or McGus, or Aesop and Jade. At the very least there should have been a doctor here, right? I looked around for the button to call the nurse, and frowned when I couldn't find it.

"Hello? I'm awake in here!" No response. "A little help? Anybody?"

I laid my head back down with a tired sigh. It's not like I was in a hurry, I guess. What was the harm in lying here for a little while and WHERE WAS ETHAN?

Bedeepbedeepbedeepbedeep! went the heart monitor as my pulse skyrocketed.

I sat up straight, ignoring the pain, and ripped the wires off of me.

Be-dee...Booooooop.

I swung my legs out over the side of the bed and hoisted myself onto my feet. Ouch, ouch, freaking ouch! I clenched my teeth together to keep from whimpering, but when I stood up I felt more or less like I could stay that way. I still had the clothes I'd worn to Feverdream Field on, which was weird. I even had Splatsy hanging from my belt. Why had the doctors not even bothered to dress me in one of those buttless gowns before abandoning me in here? Not that it mattered, I decided, since it just saved me the trouble of having to get dressed. I made my way into the hall, groaning with every step.

I recognized where I was immediately. Saint Bobo's Hospital, on the western side of Mauldibamm. Not that that was any surprise. The council would never let their Hunter be treated anywhere they couldn't stick their noses whenever they wanted.

Farther down the hallway, I saw light shining from another room. It was the only one, the others all as dark as if the hospital had been abandoned. It was creepy enough to send a painful shiver down my spine. Even so, I headed that way, leaning on the wall to keep from falling.

Was Ethan in there? Would they even treat a human at a klaon hospital? I tried to tell myself that he was too valuable for the council to just let die, but I couldn't help but remember how Ichabod had asked if they could cut the laughter out of him. His wellbeing had never been their first priority.

I reached the door, but stopped just outside. Could I bring myself to face Ethan after what I'd done to him? This whole thing was my fault. What would McGus say?

"He would say," I whispered, "to get your butt in there and face the consequences of your actions."

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to go in.

"So, you're awake," my dad said.

I froze, blinking. Everyone I knew — Dad, Mom, McGus, Aesop, Jade, and Grandpa Teddy — were sitting around the hospital bed. Cousin Gumdrop lurked in the corner, leaning against the wall, giving me a smug grin as if she'd been waiting years for this. She was a Red, her hair cut in a way that made her entire head look like a giant gumdrop. Her paintmarks made an X over her face, crossing on her forehead and slashing down over her eyes and cheeks like fresh wounds.