Knight Casefiles Book 1: Revelations

Revelations [Chapter 17]

Chapter 17

I never liked hospitals that much. I hated getting brought there for monthly check-ups where the good doctors would stick me with their cold, heartless apparatus. I hated the sudden surprise of one of them pulling out a huge syringe filled with something that was supposed to be good for me. I’d normally end up cradled against my mother’s chest as they got the job done. Then again, it was one of the few moments she held me like that. Whether it was out of love or exasperation, I didn’t care. At least she was holding me.

When you get right down to it, all hospitals are the same. Clean, white, sterile: an obsessive compulsive’s heaven. But then you remember that those traits have a purpose. They’re made to hide the death that stains every wall and crevice of the entire institution. After the long hours I’d spent facing that very same stain, sitting in the hallways with my sister and waiting for the verdict on my parents’ lives, I promised myself I’d never go back. Of course, that promise was broken the night I met Sigrun but that’s another story.

Right now though, I really wished I was in a hospital.

“One freaking clinic in this entire god-forsaken town and it’s closed,” Elaine seethed as she pounded on the wooden door that supposedly led to the town’s clinic.

“Maybe you should put down the rock,” I said, my voice more than a little thin as I tried to block out the pain in my leg. “I’m pretty sure that’s illegal.”

Elaine glared at me, but dropped the fist-sized stone she was about to throw. “Goddamn it. This doesn’t make any sense. Why did they close the clinic this time of day?”

Indeed, it was a bit of a mystery. Our watches still said it was three in the afternoon, despite the relative lack of sun shining on our particular part of the world.

“There’s no point in us staying here, Ms. Hartley,” Sigrun said, rising from where she sat on our car’s hood. She made her way to where I sat – on a barrel that was conveniently placed near the clinic’s door – and helped me to my feet. “If it’s closed, it’s closed.”

“How could you even say that?” Elaine said, aghast. “Your boss is going to die.”

Sigrun sighed and made a show of inspecting my wound. “I’ve seen worse. I’m sure Mr. Pierce can survive a ride back to the Lodge where I’m certain Mr. Whistler will have more appropriate tools.”

Elaine continued to glare, unconvinced. I gave her a weak smile. “She’s right, Elaine. I’ve been through worse. I’ll live.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” she muttered, shaking her head. But she returned the smile and made Sigrun hand me over. I was pretty sure she was nowhere near as strong as Sigrun but Elaine was never one to show weakness. It was one of the traits I loved about her. She pulled one of my arms over her shoulder and helped me back to our car.

Elaine and I sat in the backseat while Sigrun slid next to Margaret, who had immediately fallen asleep when we got back. She stirred slightly when the car revved and muttered something in Latin before adjusting herself and snoring again. It’s always the little ones who have the loudest snores.

“How can she even sleep after everything that happened?” Elaine said quietly, mostly to herself but I answered anyway.

“It was a pretty exciting day. She must be tired,” I said, trying to be as a vague as I could.

I didn’t want to lie to Elaine, not after the promise I made her. So I had let Margaret do it. She’d done it convincingly too; quickly making up a story about how I’d gone to pee and when I didn’t return soon enough, she’d gone after me only to find an animal she couldn’t quite make out attempting to maul me. She’d thrown a rock its way and we’d apparently attempted to run deeper into the woods in a lame attempt to escape. Elaine’s face was passive through the entire story, but she seemed to buy it well enough.