Burlap

23 - Bat Country

“I know! Peter and Harold stopped by his house to check on him and he wasn’t there either. It’s like he just disappeared into thin air.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. Ernie was a strange man. Something was always off kilter about him. He probably packed a bag and took off just because.”

“But, who leaves ground beef out to thaw if they’re leaving for so long? He didn’t plan on going anywhere. I still say something happened to him. He’s probably in a ditch, dead, somewhere.”

I stood, ramrod straight against the wall of the adjoining hallway as the nurses’ voices drifted into my ears from where they stood, gossiping at their station about Ernie. His disappearance had finally been noticed, and that did not bode well for us. Fear ran a marathon through my limbs and I began to shake, the adrenaline commanding I flee the scene.

Run, run, run, Sane. It’s what you’re good at.

I wasn’t sure why that particular comment hurt when I’d heard her say variations of it so many times before, but for whatever reason, a bolt of pain shot through my chest and I winced, biting my lip against it. Power caught onto it and held fast, taking the opportunity to add more jabs in hopes of tearing me even further down. Why she wanted to protect me, but destroy me at the same time, I didn’t know. But I wouldn’t satisfy her by taking the time to dwell on it, so I swallowed down the lump in my throat and blocked her out the best I could.

With a renewed vigor due to my desperation to run, I peeled myself off the wall and hurried down the corridor. I needed to talk to someone, anyone, from my ward. We had to be prepared for the coming storm.

As if on some cosmic, ironic cue, the downpour that had descended and stayed on top of us since the early morning hours released a deafening clap of thunder. The lights flickered, emitting a faint buzzing sound before winning the fight against the storm and brightening back up.

I quickened my pace, nearly running on the freshly waxed floor, sliding on my socks as my body rounded corners too rapidly. The absolute last thing I wanted was to be caught in Rosenton, alone, in a pitch black hallway. Finding even one of my ward mates to cling with until the threat of losing electricity passed would boost my confidence and kill off the fear.

My luck paid out as I passed by the stairwell. The door opened, revealing Ed, most likely coming back from his daily outing. Without a second thought, my legs pumped harder to carry me closer to him, needing the security of another trustworthy friend. He saw me coming and his eyes widened when I tried to come to a stop two feet away from him. Unfortunately, between the momentum I’d built up running down the corridors and the new wax on the floor, I failed and careened into his chest, unknowingly inhaling the aroma of thick, burning smoke off his clothes.

He steadied me by my shoulders and set me back on my feet while I hacked and coughed at the way the smoke choked my lungs.

“You okay?” he asked, scratching the back of his head and flicking his eyes all around. I would have laughed at how much like an awkward, teenage boy he seemed had I not been trying to expel the offending odor from my body through my burning airway.

“Yeah,” I wheezed, flicking the tear that had gathered at the outer corner of my eye away. “I had… I was near the nurses’ station…Th-they figured out… They know Ernie’s missing.” The words tumbled out haphazardly between bouts of coughing.

Ed frowned, his massive hands clenching into fists the size of sledge hammers. The wave of unease rolling off him felt tangible as the implications of my discovery sank in.

He looked down at me, his jaw clenched. “We need to get to the lounge so we can let them know.”

I nodded, my throat finally clearing of the sharp smoke, and followed him to the lounge. I couldn’t bring myself to let more than a foot or two come between us, just in case the electricity went out and I needed to reach out to find him. The ability to just keep that contact, that touch, if we were cast into complete darkness, would keep me on the safe side of panic.