The Deadly (Part 3 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 22- Hospitals

Allegra:

I didn't dream of Forte. Most of the time, even if it wasn't a nightmare, I usually remembered him as I came to my senses at which point he would start to fade away. That was the first thing to alert me that something was abnormal as I woke up.

The second thing to make me realize something was wrong was the smell. Antiseptics burned my nose, and I immediately knew it was never this strong unless I was in a hospital. I didn't remember going to a hospital, but when my eyes opened it was all too clear that I was in some sort of medical ward. The glaring fluorescent lights, the tube laying on my lip to push air up through my nose, and the scratchy hospital blankets.It was obvious where I was, but I didn't entirely remember how I ended up there.

The deep breath only hurt my ribs more, and I knew that feeling all too well. There were definitely a couple that were broken, most of the pain was centered around the right side of my body.

Stairs.

That would explain it. Every instinct was telling me to get back onto my feet and figure out exactly what was going on and how long I'd been unconscious, but my limbs were taking a while to respond. For a moment, I decided, I could let myself stay still and breathe.

A familiar voice rang out in the hallway, "he's in the waiting room, calling her family. He'll be able to ask them for her medical records."

Christopher. If someone was calling my team, the odds were that the initial injury wasn't too long ago and I hadn't been unconscious too long. I cursed myself in my mind, knowing that if I had managed to wake up a little bit earlier, I could have stopped Aldrich from calling them. I was obviously fine other than a couple of bruises. Now my team would be unnecessarily worried when nothing was truly wrong with me.

That was unacceptable. They didn't need to worry about me.

I heaved my legs over the side of the bed, using the momentum to swing myself into a sitting position. Damn whatever human being, or staircase for that matter, had done this to me. This was by far the most pain I'd been in for a long time, but now wasn't the time to compare pain levels.

Standing almost sent me to the ground. The wave of dizziness that accompanied being upright was unexpected, and I wondered just how hard I must've hit my head. Based on the throbbing feeling near the base of my skull, the answer was very.

The voices outside the door were still talking about calling my friends. If I had the chance to stop the hospital from contacting them, I was going to. I barely made it ten steps before the world was tilting on its axis, but I merely shook my head and threw the door open, hoping I could stop them from notifying my family.

Christopher gave a start, jumping back from my sudden appearance at the door with an expression that told me the doctors hadn't expected me to be on my feet for a while. "Allegra-"

"You didn't call them yet, did you?"

"What are you talking-"

"The girls, you haven't called them yet, right?"

He gestured down the hallway, to a glass encased room with a sign that read 'waiting room' before stumbling over the rest of his words. "Aldrich just left to go and-"

I didn't wait for his full response. To the best of my abilities with a ruined leg, I ran towards the room. After the third step, it gave out beneath me. Using a nearby nurse's cart, I heaved myself back up and kept going, no longer attempting to sprint, but moving as quickly as I could. Christopher, protesting loudly behind me, went unheard. So did the doctor yelling about strained injuries.