Finding Maggie (Remade)

The Devil Taketh Away

Mikhail paced outside the hospital, frustrated and fuming. With his hands clasped behind his back, he stomped one way and then the other; the automatic doors leading into the hospital opened and shut rhythmically each time he passed. The rain outside had subsided down to a dull drizzle leaving everything, including Mikhail, damp like an unwrung sponge.  All he wanted to do was go in and see Maggie. Time was running out for both of them. But there he was, stuck outside in the rain like an unwanted mutt waiting for Corvino to chase off the witch woman. He couldn't risk running into her; the night before had been too close of a call as it was. And now the woman was onto him, keeping Maggie in her sights day and night. He waited the agreed upon ten minute head start, giving Corvino time to lure the witch away from Maggie's bedside, took a deep breath, and walked through the sliding glass doors. The smell of lemon cleaner enveloped him, astringent and overwhelmingly powerful. White florescent lights bathed him in their stark, garish light.

Mikhail walked past the nurses' station in the ICU. The nurses on staff failed to see him, however, as one swiveled in her chair to answer the phone, another got up to check on a patient across the hall, the third was too busy digging in her purse to find her lipstick. A doctor, who had been approaching from further down the hallway, suddenly stopped in his tracks, patted his pockets, then turned back to retrace his steps in search of a lost pen. (It was his favorite, after all.)  He approached Maggie's room hesitantly. Her reaction to his presence the night before had left him less than confident. But he had to try. Just once more. If she pushed him away again then he would respect her choice and leave her in the capable hands of Corvino, upsetting as that would be. With the decision made, Mikhail squared his shoulders and opened the door.

The room was dark and empty. Mikhail closed his eyes and held in a scream of frustration that would no doubt bring the staff running. The witch woman had probably moved her for just this reason. But there was no time to waste. He silently slipped out of the ICU and began the hunt. After searching the first floor and not finding her, Mikhail quickly located a stairwell which would lead him upwards. He was halfway up the first flight when Corvino darted past him in a blur of black and shadow. "She's up on the third floor, room three hundred!" he called out, already out of sight and gaining distance. "But watch it! The Voodoo woman is right on my tail!"

Sure enough, Mikhail barely had time to glance up the stairwell before a pair of white sneakers hit the top step above him. He whipped around and turned his back square to the woman racing down the steps. With his nose pressed up against the wall, Mikhail flattened himself out as much as he could so that she wouldn't bump into him on her way down. Constance huffed and puffed right past him. But she couldn't see him.

"Slave to d'e devil d'is boy be," Constance grumbled as she went by, "but may d'e Lord have mercy on 'is soul non' d'e less." The witch woman could pray for Corvino's soul all she liked. All three of them knew it wouldn't make a bit of difference anyway.  Mikhail rolled his eyes at the thought and finished taking the stairs two at a time in his race to find Maggie.

Maggie sat up in her bed when the door to her room opened and Mikhail let himself in. She tucked her hair in behind her ears and gave him a weak smile. "Hey," she began, feeling foolish.  Mikhail silently took up the chair beside her bed.  He seemed tense, nervous almost. Although she couldn't exactly blame him. The last time he had been in to see her she had cried, called him a monster, and begged him to leave.  Which begged the question, why was he back now?  "How are you, Margret?" he asked softly, resting his elbows on his knees and steepling his fingers under his chin.

"I feel fine . . . better, thank you. I want to apologize for last night; I shouldn't have said those things to you, I didn't mean it. I'd just had a bad dream and when I woke up you were there and I was confused and-"