The Man In Bed Three...

TMIBT...3

HE GOT up. Why hadn't they found him? Granted, he was shrouded in the darkest corner of the carriage, hidden under metal sheeting. The sirens of the ambulances were far off now. The Fire crew were making their way back in. He trudged forwards towards the crumpled front carriage. There was a constant throbbing pain in his shoulder at the base of his skull. He put his hand up and yanked the metre long pole from his back. He roared in pain as he did so and the whole of whatever was left of the carriage was splattered with his blood. He flung the pole down and strided on to the doors. He pulled at the doors and they fell away as if he were breaking something as weak as a twig. Suddenly one of the Fire Crew spotted him.

"Sir! God are you alright?"

He moved forward.

The man from the crew ran to the train doors, but he held out a hand. His dark trench coat was now drenched in his blood. His jet black hair was covered in dust.

The fire fighter stopped when he raised his hand. The man's piercing blue eyes shot straight through the dull minded human. He leaped into his mind, searching through stupid thoughts and weak emotion. He thought, pathetic idiot. The fire fighter just stood there. The man found an image that started to play. This guy was holding a baby and smiling. His wife was lying in bed a weak smile on her face. Even when the gestation period was over, they were still weak. Weak. Weak and easy for the picking. But that wasn't what he was after right now. He took control of the human's memories and rewound through that day. He tried not to throw up when he was forced to watch what some would describe as "the miracle of birth". He, on the other hand, called it a vile mess (made worse by the fact that it was in rewind). It was only the truth. Then he got the part he wanted. They where rushing backwards through two double doors, the stupid wife screaming her bloody head off. Then out into the parking lot to the hospital. That was what he wanted. He paused there and wished that the man had spent less time worrying about the stupid woman, and more time looking at the name of the God Dam place. Royal something. Sussex County Hospital. Only half a mile away. That's all I need to know, so you are good for something.

He had to go to that place where humans die and heal and die and give birth other little humans. The whole shebang. The Circle Of Life. He preferred the circle of death. He shook it off and pulled out of the fire fighter's mind. The man smiled, his sapphire eyes flashing. More blood rushed from his shoulder. It was a wonder he was still upright.

"I was never here." The fire fighter looked confused for a second and then turned around to walk away.

"You...Where. Never. Here."

***

"John?" I watched something I've seen so many times. Catherine stepped forward. John's eyes widened as she stepped in.

"Catherine!" He exclaimed. He tried to push himself up, but only to end up sinking in pain. I picked up the bed remote and smiled.

"Here, I'll prop the bed up for you."

"Yes." I pressed the button and the head started to rise. Catherine came closer. She was dressed in the same hospital gown that her husband was in.

"John, we...We have a son." I glanced to John and let me tell you, if eyes could actually go to the size of dinner plates, he was doing a pretty good job.

"Wha...?" He said, as if he were in a daze.

"When you were in theatre, Mr. Walker-" They both looked at me "-Catherine went into labour."

John turned back to Catherine. She was smiling.

"You know, he really looks like you John. I mean really. He's got your eyes and everything." John sat up.

"Well can I see him?"

"Well, your son was born very prematurely and is, for now, in the infant ICU. As we can't remove him and you are non mobile then I'm afraid there's no chance of you seeing him."

Catherine went up to John and set herself on the bed. "Naomi was really nice you know John?"

John looked at me and smiled. "Thank you," he mouthed before wrapping his arms around his wife. I nodded and silently slipped out of his room.

A chill ran down my spine. What's happening? Why is everything so cold? Everyone has gone dead quiet. Why?

Then suddenly I see him. He walks towards me. I feel strange. Like his eyes are gluing me to the spot. I shiver. I can see a long trail of crimson on the floor behind him. His eyes are a peicing deep electric blue. He's wearing a long dark trench coat, one side of which was covered in blood. Long strands of feathery hair lay over his face. He stumbles as he walks, awkwardly leaning to the left. He comes within three feet from me and stops.

"You're a doctor?" he asks. His voice is strange. It sounds like the angelic harmonising voices of a thousand quires.

"That I am," I say, my voice faltering slightly. Why am I scared?

He takes a step closer. "Then help me." And then without warning, his eyes flutter shut and he collapses.

"Oh my God," I murmur rushing towards the man. Blood's pouring from a deep wound at the base of his skull. His face is grey, his skin white and clammy, his lips tinted blue. "Hold on," I tell him.