Run

Chapter 31

Beep... Beep... Beep...

I felt like I was sleeping on a cloud. Or on thin air. The world around me almost felt non-existent.

Am I dead? Was my first thought.

I opened my eyes, only to be blinded by whiteness.

Oh no, I'm dead.

As my eyes focused, I found myself staring at a ceiling. Of some sort of building, obviously.

Good, so I'm not dead.

I was lying on a really soft mattress, my head on a feathered pillow. It's been so long since I laid down in a bed, seems like an eternity away. And the soft warm blanket felt so nice against my skin. I didn't want to get out of it.

I sit up and stretched when I felt something attached to my right arm. There were exactly thirty-five stitches in my arm, at least, that's what it seemed like from first glance. An IV tube was attached to it.

The Institute. It's just like the Institute.

I kept looking around. There was a single window and an armchair beside it, black if you were wondering. A heart monitor was beeping and wires were attached to my chest. It was then that I realized I was wearing a pale blue hospital gown, which felt cold against my bare skin.

I'm at a hospital. I thought. Spencer brought me to a hospital.

Then I gasped. What if he brought me back to the Institute?

I started breathing heavily. The Institute. It can't be. I can't be back there. The blankets felt like they were tightening around me, not letting me escape. 

I close my eyes. Not the Institute. I am not in the Institute. The doctors, the same ones from the Institute started approaching me. They held different needles and syringes in their hands.

Then someone grabbed me by the shoulders.

"Let go of me!" I shrieked. "Get your hands off of me."

"Lauren," His voice said. "Lauren, it's alright. Open your eyes, it's me."

Cautiously, I peeled my eyes open. Spencer wore a worried smile on his face. One of his hands are on my shoulder, the other touches my face.

"Is everything alright in here?" A voice asked. Spencer turned around to face the door. I leaned over to see where the voice was coming from.

A woman, probably a doctor or a nurse I've never seen before, stands at the doorway. She looks worried, probably because she heard me shriek. "Oh, you're awake." She said, looking at me. "What a pleasant surprise.

I didn't say anything. She works for the Institute.

"Everything's fine. I can handle it." Spencer replies. The woman doesn't look satisfied with the answer. "Really, I'll call if I need you, Doctor."

The doctor nods and walks away. Spencer turns to look at me again.

"I leave you for five minutes and you're awake and screaming," He said with a smile.

I didn't smile back nor did I say anything. I just stared at him with wide, scared eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, moving a strand of hair away from my face. He was frowning now. I noticed the faint stitching below his lips and some on his forehead, where he was cut.

"The - the Institute," I stuttered. "Did you take me back?" Tears started filling my eyes either because of Spencer's betrayal or because I was biting my lip too hard.