Monochromatic

Chapter 16

Libia

The door creaked open as I hid my brother behind me. I hope for the impossible.

'Please don't see me...'

I saw a blur of a small shadow peer from the doorway and along with it, a little boy. He looked at me with confusion in his eyes and I smile in relief,

"Oh, it's just your Freedom." I utter quietly, "Look, we need your help, I-I need your help..."

Freedom nodded as the door slowly closed. There was no need to question why he was there, or why he chose to take the stairs, the answers were obvious. Freedom peered out the window. He stood on his toes and closed his eyes, slightly shaking his head giving me the signal that it wasn't safe to go out there. Even so, I knew we had no choice but to.

"Freedom, help me pick Rave up, I want to try something"

He did as he was told. We struggled to lift my unconscious brother up from his chair; his body had grown too heavy for our small bodies to hold. Both of our arms gave out quickly, and we'd only raised him an inch or two, but that alone was enough to create a loud thud. Outside that door I heard people taking notice of the noise we made. There was no way out, we had no choice but to leave, and now!

Freedom rushed to open the door as I pushed Rave through as fast as possible. A different, unceasing smell, a smell I've grown too familiar with over the years, filled my senses. I could hear the adults commanding us to stop, but we refused to comply. They were coming towards us like bullets, some with looks of concern, others with anger. Time seemed to stop.

"Freedom, we run on three"

I said it like we weren't already running, but I knew he understood what I meant.

"One"

A nurse got in our way, forcing us to swerve into another, then another.

"Two"

Another nurse grabbed my shoulder. I kicked her shin and punched her harshly in the stomach before being grabbed by a male nurse. Freedom was still rushing towards the door, paying no mind to the person behind him.

"Freedom look out!"

I bit my capture's arm, but he wasn't fazed. It must have been since he was trained to be around hostile patients like this all the time. He tried to calm me down, reasoning, negotiating, but that didn't work on me. I squirmed, watching as Freedom was thrown over another's shoulder and Rave was taken away.

'No!'

I couldn't, I wouldn't! Rave hated that place, he hated hospitals. If he was conscious, we'd be out by now, but he wasn't. I kicked my attacker as hard as I could, but he didn't budge. Freedom struggled as well, quickly realizing that it was hopeless to try.

"Nurse Daniel, let me speak to these children. I think I know who they are."

A feminine voice saved us from our hopeless escape. Freedom and I sat in the empty lounge, and a doctor in her early to mid-forties smiled in front of us.

"I'm Dr. Sybil, and I've known Rave ever since he was younger than you guys. You see, Rave is pretty ill and injured, he needs to stay here until he has fully recovered," she started, but I cut her off there

"He will be fine on his own with me. He's been through a lot worse than this, I know, and he's still here. He doesn't need you."

"Oh, really now? Well, do you know the real severity of his health? I've been his doctor for all of his life, and not in all of my years with him has it gotten this bad. I can easily infer that he's been through severe abuse, but it has never been this severe."