Until the End

Chapter One: Life as we know it.

"Dr. Marr, could you give me your thoughts about the O'Hurley case?" Stacie Barns, one of Kirby's interns asked as the rest of the group waited in silence.

"The O'Hurley case? Barns, this isn't Trauma. Now you and Morris are assigned to SCUT duty." Kirby said, giving the young intern an arm full of unfinished work.

"Nice going, Stacie." Jack Morris, other one of Kirby's interns, hissed in Stacie's ear as the rest of the group followed after Kirby.

Kirby knocked on the door to room 305, before entering. With the chart in her hands, she smiled at the young girl that sat up in her hospital bed.

"Johnson, what can you tell us about Ms. Bridge?" Kirby asked, as the group filled in around the room.

"Mallorie Bridge. Age three. She's in for treatment of a closed fracture, caused from falling down the stairs. There are also signs of bruising on her lower abdomen. We will be keeping her overnight for observations." Issac Johnson read aloud from memory.

Kirby nodded and smiled again at the young girl whom seemed scared. The mother was holding on to Mallorie's hand as the father remained quiet. Going back to flipping through Mallorie's chart, Kirby spoke.

"Do you have any questions?" Kirby asked.

"Yes, how long does it take to have x-rays done? You said that we would be out of here hours ago." Mr. Bridge said, agitated.

Kirby's mouth set in a straight line as she looked up at the father.

"Mr. Bridge, I understand your frustration, but we have to be cautions. Mallorie fell down the stairs and with her lower abdomen bruised, I want to be certain that there is not internal bleeding." Kirby explained.

Mrs. Bridge went to speak, but was cut off by her husband placing a hand on her shoulder. Kirby didn't miss Mrs. Bridge's flinch of pain as Mr. Bridge squeezed her shoulder.

"I'm going to go check on the results of the x-rays and be back in a few." Kirby said and left the room.

As soon as the last of her interns left and shut the door, Kirby pulled Issac to the side.

"I want you to call Child Services here and also get security. Be discreet." Kirby ordered quietly.

Issac nodded and left with little to no hesitation. He saw what happened in there.

"Dr. Marr....is Mallorie being abused? If so, then she didn't really fall down the stairs did she?" Hannah James questioned, her eyes wide.

"Abuse isn't an uncommon thing around here, James. You'll be safer not forgetting that." Kirby stated as she went over to one of the nursing stations.

Kirby sat Mallorie's chart on the counter and grabbed another, only to place it on top of Mallorie's and flip through it.

"James, Carter, run down to the lab and rush that blood sample I asked for. Make sure to give them my name." Kirby said, putting both Mallorie's chart and the other chart up.

"You mean the blood you took from Daniel Clinton, the ten year old boy that came in right after the O'Hurley's?" Raymond Carter, asked Kirby.

Kirby nodded.

"Daniel was running an extremely high fever when he was brought in. Now he's in a coma. I want to know what's making his body sick and why it's doing so, so quickly." Kirby said.

As Hannah and Raymond walked away, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge exited Mallorie's room and disappeared down the hallway and into the elevator. Not a second later, security showed up already informed. Kirby entered Mallorie's room to see her cheeks damp with tears and she was curled up into a tiny ball, facing the door.

Kirby immediately went over to the small child and brushed her hair back. She pulled away when Mallorie flinched from her touch.

"Ssh, everything is going to be alright. Did your daddy hit you again?" Kirby asked, speaking softly as she grabbed a tissue from the side table.

She used it to dry Mallorie's face.

"N-no." Mallorie said, her voice shaky from fear.

"Listen, Mallorie, you don't have to be afraid anymore. Your daddy isn't going to hurt you ever again. I promise." Kirby whispered.

Mallorie blinked up at Kirby with her big blue eyes as her bottom lip trembled. Kirby felt the stir of anger in the pit of her stomach.

'How can someone be so cruel to a child?' Kirby thought, biting back the anger from reaching her eyes.

"You p-promise?" Mallorie asked brokenly.

"Yes. So go to sleep. You need your rest." Kirby said and went to get up.

She was stopped by small fingers gripping her white doctor's coat.

"D-on't leave me alone. I hate being alone." Mallorie said, beginning to cry again.

"Alright. I'll stay with you until you fall asleep." Kirby said and positioned herself on the bed so that she could bring Mallorie into her arms.

It was late and none of her interns came back. Confused on what's keeping them and upset that they would take their time with some important information, Kirby gently moved Mallorie off of her lap, before tucking the blanket around her small figure.

Sighing, Kirby pulled out her pen from her scrub top for when she would add some new information to Mallorie's chart. As she opened the door, she could hear nothing from her floor.

"Claudia, where is everyone?" Kirby asked, taking Mallorie's chart and writing her new information down.

"Claudia?" Kirby asked and looked up.

Her eyes went wide at the sight of a large amount of blood that was behind the nursing station. Standing up straight, Kirby looked around her and was shocked by the blood splatters and blood trails that lined the hallways and walls of the Pediatric ward.

"What in the hell...." Kirby trailed off as she caught movement from her peripheral vision.

"D-Dr. Ma-arr....you have t-to ge-get out."

"Issac, what happened?" Kirby asked, running over to her injured intern to help him.

"No!" Issac shouted, but winced from the force. "Don't touch me. Everyone is d-dead, but th-they're not."

"What are you talking about, Issac. You're not making any sense." Kirby said, reaching out to stop the bleeding that was pouring from his shoulder.

"D-don't touch me. One of them b-bit me. Took a chunk clean o-off." Issac said, ending in a bloody cough.

"Issac, if I don't stop the bleeding, you are going to die." Kirby said, matter-of-fact.

Issac shook his head, but the small effort caused him a great deal of pain.

"I'll die anyway. The bites...don't let anyone of th-these monsters bite yo-you. Get out now! Go!" Issac said, his voice growing weaker.

"I can't just leave you here. It's not in my nature." Kirby argued.

"You don't....have much time. The.....the horde is coming. Run." Issac said right before his body went lax and his chest stopped rising.

Trying to steady herself, Kirby stood on her shaky legs, before sprinting to one of the supply rooms. Moving quickly and with purpose, she shoved gauze and other medical essentials into a medium sized bag that was kept in the room. Not stopping to take a breather, Kirby raced back to Mallorie's room and gathered the sleeping child into her arms, hospital gown and all.