Between The Lines

5.

We ran along Reeling Road. It wasn't like we were going Mach 5 or anything, but I never felt the need to slow down. I wasn't out of breath. I felt completely normal cruising along at Eli's speed. Despite the situation we were in, it was a great feeling. If we'd needed to, we probably could've run all day and not feel tired at all.

Reeling Road turned into Browning Highway that cut through town. During the morning it was full of commuters, but only a few cars trickled by at the moment. I guessed it was already five, maybe six in the morning. The sky was still a little cloudy, but the sun was going to come up soon.

There was much until we hit the hospital. We didn't go through buildings, but going through cars and such wasn't such a big deal-as long as we avoided going through the people inside and out. Eli accidently ran through a man on the phone. By the look on his face, he didn't really like it, and it had made him lose his balance as he ran too. I could see the top of South Hospital down the highway, the top of the capital 'S'. We were a couple of blocks away when we felt it.

Eli felt it first, so he stopped running. "Do you feel that?"

I reluctantly stopped and turned back; I'd actually enjoyed the run. "Feel what exactly?"

"It's like... a pull." He took a couple of steps forward. "It's like something's pulling me towards the hospital."

"Well, yeah, that's where we're going. Come on." We speed-walked, but I felt the small pull too, though I didn't say anything. It was like a rope was tied around my waist.

The automatic doors didn't open for us. I really didn't expect them to; I doubted the sensors on the doors were that sensitive. For five in the morning, the lobby pretty full. All kinds of different people were milling around, some with bleeding limbs-not too severe-and others just looked miserable. There weren't many kids around. Adults, and mostly women filled the room, not including the nurses and such running around and behind the front desk. In the light of the hospital, I could see Eli much more clearly. He had dark brown hair, almost black, and light blue eyes. It was the five o'clock shadow that made him look a little bummy.

"I'm guessing the pulls are coming from us," I said, "since we can't ask the receptionist what rooms we're in." The pull I felt wasn't so much forward then so much as it went... well, it went sort of upwards, more specifically to my left.

Eli led the way down the hall when he stopped before it and I bumped into him.

I quickly got over the fact I'd bounced off and hadn't gone through; that might've been awkward. "What is it?"

He didn't answer, but nodded down the hall.

There were two patients-both male and in nightgowns-walking in opposite directions with an IV pole each. A couple of people in different colored scrubs went in and out of rooms, leaving and picking up charts and folders. But one man stood out, since he just stood in the middle of the hallway, not moving at all. He was in a nightgown too, and he was staring right at us.

I looked behind us, but no one was paying attention to the man down the hall. "Does he really see us?" I whispered... for some reason.

"Maybe.... Let's go another way. I think coma patients are on the top floors." Eli pushed me back, blocking me from the man, and I led the way around the receptionists' desk and to another hall that connected to the lobby.

The man was there too. He was olive-skinned, had peppered hair, and a very serious expression on his face. He was closer than he had been before.