RED DIAMOND

Chapter Nine - Sam

I sat on a chair beside Harmon in one of the Red Diamond hospital rooms. Harmon lay in a bed, with a bandage wrapped around his abdomen. Thankfully due to special treatment he would be out of the hospital in less than ten days. In another room, Avi was staying with Fiona who had fainted just before medical help showed up. I had a laptop on my lap, and was writing a story called 'Natumans'. I had been going through all my chapters and rewriting certain parts for about two hours now, and the sun was setting, turning the cloudy sky a light shade of purple. Finishing a paragraph, I laid back in my chair, letting out a long sigh.

I turned to Harmon, who had begun muttering quietly, rustling around in his covers. I closed the laptop and set it down, getting up from my chair. Harmon rolled onto his side, breathing heavily. I creased my brow, "He must be having a dream." I thought. Harmon rolled onto his back, sweating visibly.

"Harmon?" I asked, not quite sure of what I should do at that moment.

"No... no..." Harmon responded.

He must be having a nightmare...

Harmon gripped the sheets, "No! Get out! Stay out of my head!"

I backed away as he began shaking and rolling around. His breathing was labored and he kept muttering things I couldn't understand. Suddenly, he shot up, screaming. He rolled off the bed, his head on a swivel and his eyes darting around the room. His fists were clenched like he was watching out for someone to come and attack him. And then, out of nowhere, he ran and smashed through the glass door exit and into the hallway. The sound of shattering glass echoed in the room. Stunned, I couldn't think of anything to do but watch.

Harmon held his hands tightly over his ears, fumbling his way into the hallway, occasionally swinging his fists at the air as if fighting off an invisible enemy. He dropped to the floor, onto the glass. Yelling, he got to his feet again and ran down the hall and out of view, clutching his bullet wound as he went. I bolted towards the door and burst through to find Harmon still running down the hallway, past confused nurses and doctors. I chased after him at full speed, but was still losing him - being that he was faster than me. Once he got to the end of the hall, he stopped, looking at the wall with a confused expression. He turned, his face full of fear now, and stared at me, fists raised.

"What was that?" Avi called from behind me.

I turned slightly, still keeping an eye on Harmon. "Harmon's acting .... really strange."

Avi jogged up beside me, "Isn't he always?"

I bumped Avi's shoulder, "Different than that."

"Stay back..." Harmon whispered, he sounded terrified.

"Harmon, a-are you alright?" Avi asked.

Harmon backed up into the wall, "I said stay back!"

Avi and I backed away, slightly surprised at his sudden hostility. And then Harmon lunged forward, "Get away from her!"

Avi and I almost ran away in fear that he was going to attack, but Harmon rushed past us, reaching for something, and then he fell to the floor as if he had been punched in the face. He groaned, clutching his head, crying. Avi and I stared at him, confused and somewhat in shock. A moment later Harmon calmed down and stopped crying, slipping from consciousness again.

"What was that!?" Avi asked.

I shrugged, "I don't know. And there's no way that was not the doing of a dream!"

"What could make him act like this all of a sudden?"

"I don't know, so stop it with the questions. Maybe you can ask Fiona or Harmon when they wake up."

"Okay fine, I'll wait and ask them."

"Good. Now help me drag him," I pointed at Harmon, "back to his room."

Avi and I dragged Harmon back to his room with the help of another nurse, Miranda. Once we made our way over the mess of shattered glass and got Harmon back on his bed, I helped Miranda tie him to the mattress while Avi cleaned up the glass. The janitor, Lia, came and kindly helped Avi, but left afterwards. I was glad she didn't bother helping me because she could be pretty annoying sometimes.

"Okie-dokie," Miranda said, "That should keep him there. Thanks for helping me out Sam."

"Yeah, no problem." I replied.

Miranda brushed the purple streak in her blonde hair behind her ear, "I'm a... my shift is going to end in about two hours. If you want to hang out or something, dot dot question-mark?"

I coughed and groaned nervously, "Uh-umm... sure, we could... yeah, okay we could hang out."

Miranda flashed me a smile and left. I'm scared now!