I ended the same amazing discussion, (during which I was laughing till my sides hurt) by stating that I would write him a story, where he is the hero.
So here goes.
Chapter 1
Rough Draft.
Author : Me
Eth Way turned the corner of the busy hall at Greenter General Hospital. A cluster of young female nurses stood talking at the corner of the nurses station. Eth smiled at them. They were too busy talking to notice. A silver haired doctor brushed passed him. Eth had just been told by the lead resident (a doctor of 30 years) that Eth had performed the difficult procedure with, "the ease of a seasoned doctor"... He was glowing with pride. It was the first time in a month Eth had been encouraged by a professional in his career. He had been at his job for 5 years and his profession came easily to him. (That is after college; to get where he was going).
He had fallen into a rhythm at work. As most of us do. The mundane walk from task to task rarely surprised his honest hands. He wasn't bored. Just comfortable. The clip board in his hand was the same he'd gripped all year. The plain silver colored clasp with a Red Cross sticker and the dark wooden back board. His trusty companion through the hospital.
"Hey, Eth," He froze. The voice came from behind him. It was her.
"Yes," He said slowly turning to face her. He held the clip board high, careful not to let her see it. Patient information. His eyes trained on the sticker at the top.
"How are you?" She asked coldly.
"Good, how are you?" His voice brightened and he looked at her.
"Terrible. My brother just passed away."
"I'm sorry"... Eth had hated Maria Grace and her family for the entire month that they had been at the hospital. He had never hated a patient before. But the Graces were a pill he couldn't swallow. Morning till night, "I want water, get it for me! Where is this? Why is that? Who do you think you are..." On more than one occasion Mr. and Mrs. Grace had raised there voices, even called him a choice name. One of the trials of his career, not being liked. He didn't care how they had treated him. Not now that there eldest child stood before him in tears. All he wanted to do was to give her a hug. (Although he never would, he was a professional after all). A tear softly ran down her cheek. Her straight blood hair was pulled away from her face... She never wore it down. She had always looked so solemn.
Eth reached out a hand and placed in on her lean shoulder, "everything is gonna be alright."
"No." She got very still. Her bright green eyes meeting his. "No, no it's not."
"I know it doesn't feel like it right now. And I don't know what you're going through... Not really. But it will get better. Give yourself time. I promise." Eth was trying to help, but she looked like she was going to punch him.
"No," her voice was firm and she shrugged off his hand and walked towards the stairwell defiantly.
Eth felt sorry for the girl. But what was he supposed to do now? A quiet voice told him, "follow her."... He knew the voice. But he really didn't want to listen. "No thank-you." He said inwardly. There was only silence. Eth glanced to the door marked Exit. Red. White. Bold against the grey door. Two nurses brushed passed him under the dull flickering lights. He looked around. The hall was empty. Clear of the usual bustle of the E.R...
"Slow night..." Eth was bored, rather than relieved. Eth turned to try and find something to do when he realized he was heading straight for the door. "Might as well see if she's ok." He thought. He had an uneasiness about the look he had seen in her eyes. What did she plan on doing on the roof? It wasn't protocol to allow patients families up there anyway. The night air was cold and he wished it was summer the moment his skin stung with the chill. The roof was a plain grey cement expanse. Except for the red helicopter landing pad directly in front of him. It was lit with small blinking red lights on waist high polls.
"Excuse me," came his timid voice. She was standing at the edge of the roof, up on the lip; balancing in the wind. Her form was thin and the blinking lights cast an eery light.
"What are you doing?" Maybe she hadn't heard him. Still no reply. Her arms outstretched.
Her hair was caught by the wind and danced playfully. He approached the woman slowly.
"What's up?" He tried to remain calm. She was not going to jump. Not on his watch... "Ma'am, miss Grace," he fumbled for her name, "Maria, you don't have to do this."
"Just go away." Her voice finally came. She yelled.
"Don't do this, please." He pleaded. "Can we talk? Look at me. Talk to me."
She turned towards him and the next thing Eth knew he was waking up on the rough cement surface with a harsh ache in his scull. It took him second to take in his surroundings. It was cold, wet, hard, windy. The building. The roof. Eth blinked and looked for the girl. She wasn't standing on the ledge in front of him.
There was a sound, like a yelp and he whirled around. It was her voice. Eth ran headlong toward the buildings opposite edge. He looked down before thinking better of it. Cars whizzed by hundreds of feet beneath his head and he retreated towards the stairwell dizzy. He hated heights. Eth came face to face with the woman as she rushed through the door to the stairs ahead of him. She cut him off.
"What happened. Are you ok?"He asked. He stumbled after her.
"I hit you. It was me. Get away from here or I'll hit you again!" She was frantic.
She pushed him into the well sending shooting pains down his spin. She slammed him against a cold wall. Next she was opening a closed door. Eth wanted to say something, but he was shoved into a closet before he could find the knob. He wondered if he'd had a concussion. He was getting dizzier. And the headache was getting worse. Was this woman mad? Her arms were like steel rods and her hands sharp metal vices... Eth began trying to open the door. He shifted the handle twice before he realized she'd locked him in. "Hello!" He yelled. Pounding on the door.
The supply closet was dark. Where was the switch? Eth fumbled for the wall when he heard a sound. Falling dishes? A cart tumbling? What was that sound? He knew. That sound came from a hand gun. Shots were being fired. His door was being pounded. Eth fell to the ground and heard at least three shots through the door. Hospital equipment clanged behind him as a stray bullet met glass and plastic. He remained perfectly still. Was the blond trying to kill him? Next thing Eth knew he was being pulled by the arm and there she was again.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? This is a hospital ma'am!"His anger got the better of him.
"Shut up!" She yelled yanking him down the hall. Eth glanced around himself taking in his surroundings. Bullets casings lined the floors. Two nurses on duty stood perfectly still. But where were the bodies? Eth saw the man bleeding to death by the exit to the roof. His face and his body soaking in what must have been 2 pints of blood. Eth yanked free of the blond and doubled back to help.
"No!" screamed the blond hitting him where she must have before, his head smarted and the room was spinning; he fought from falling.
"What are you doing? Come on!" She pulled at his arm.
"I'm a nurse." Eth resisted the urge to smack her. He landed beside the lifeless form. He turned over the man before he saw the dozens of bullets in the man trunk. It wouldn't have taken a nurse to know that this man was dead.
"Did you kill him?" For the first time Eth looked at her, really. Tan face, strong jaw, beautiful eyes. But she stoic, removed.
"No," She went still.
"You hit me. You have a gun!" Eth saw the black weapon in her hand for the first time. Where had she hid it? In her sweater? Why hadn't he seen it before? Would she kill him now too. He quickly checked the body for a second weapon. Nothing.
Murder. The dead man was her Dad. He knew the face too well, Mr. Grace. But her gun was pointed at the ground as he looked at her, horror setting in.
"Why don't you go, get out of here. I'll take care of everything here." He reasoned, he slowly stood.
"They already did. We gotta go." Again she clasped his arm. He followed... She had the gun and he didn't want to hurt her. Why didn't he want to hurt her? He didn't know what had happened really. He needed answers. He couldn't control the barrage of questions.
"Where are we going? Who is 'they'? Will they come back? Who are you? Why would someone kill your Dad? I can't just leave! I have a shift!"
The blond didn't speak again until they had traversed three city blocks from the hospital and stood in front of a quaint two story house. All the houses on the block looked more than a hundred years old and pushed together with barely any yard between them. "We should be safe here"... She finally spoke.
"Where are we? I'm not going anywhere with you. You have to tell me what just happened?"
The woman looked at him annoyed and lifted her black barrel, directly aiming for his head. She motioned for him to enter the house. He didn't budge.
"This is a safe house, hence it's being safe for you, at least for now. Now get in here or they'll find you too; trouble."
"Trouble?"
"It's your nickname. Now come on, doctor man."
Eth walked with her up the stairs through the heavy oak door and into a white clean living room furnished with a long antique couch, a small end table and one overstuffed chair. "I'm a nurse," He replied, walking to stand by the window. Eth stared outside when three bodies entered the room.
"What happened?" Asked the first, she had black skin, bright red hair and ridiculously fake nails.
"You don't want to know." Replied the blond wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"Do I?" asked a woman in her forties wearing a professional business outfit and a haircut too short for her face.
"I don't know, you tell me if you want to know." The blond retorted. "My brother just died."
"Do I need to know anything else Am?" This woman was obviously in charge. "I mean...Why is a doctor here? Is there a good reason for that?"
"Nurse." Said Eth. "Nurse."
"Even better..." Replied the dark woman coming to circle him, she looked at him with inquisitive eyes.
"Stop." Said the third body who had been silent till now. A huge white man with broad shoulders approached Eth from the shadows. He had bright blue eyes and towered over Eth by a foot. "He's been through the ringer, look at him." His voice was thundering and smooth as glass.
Eth looked down at his hands. Was he shaking?
"He just needs a little food and water." Cut in the dark woman. "I can take care of that."
"I just need to know what is going on and who all you people are!" Eth said.
"Come," commanded the blond and she sat on the couch at the edge of the room. Eth paused but she hadn't drug him; he followed without complaint. His eyes kept going back to the window.
The man who had come in last stood over them with a small smile. "Hey... Want some water or something?" He asked.
"No." Eth tried at a smile.
The blond woman was touching his arm with concern, or so he thought. "You can't stay here."
"What?"
"She's right," cut in the man. "You have to come with me."
"But, I had nothing to do with this. I'm innocent. I didn't even see anything. I don't understand." Eth found his head in his hands and for the first time in weeks he wanted to cry from exhaustion. He'd worked two doubles in a row and barely flinched after a cup of coffee. Yet he found himself dragging, more than ever. Yet he was awake, his heart racing.. All he'd seen would keep him up for days to come.
"Hey," said the blond. "You're gonna be fine."
Eth looked up and the tall man nodded in agreement. He extended his hand and Eth turned his head to look at the blond. He sought comfort from the woman he hated, of all people. She looked at him almost sadly. Finally, taking the mans hand he hoisted himself out of the low couch. Eth followed the strong figure. The man smirked. For some odd reason he felt comforted by that smile. Eth and the man went down the steps and stopped before the street. A ragged sidewalk full of salt and ice stretched out to either side.
"Here," said the man. Eth found a small gun in his hand. The metal and plastic felt cold and he shook his head.
"I don't want to hurt anybody," Eth said.
"I know. That's why you'll be alright, young man."
"My name is Eth."
"Saul." He afford the hand again. Eth shook it and slipped the gun into the elastic of his scrubs. It weighed down the pants and he laughed nervously retying the elastic cord till it was taught. He pulled his scrubs over the weapon to conceal. He made sure his white-T remained against his skin and the blue scrub was outside the gun.
"Where do I go? What do I do?"
"Just... Don't go back." The man's eyes trained of Eths and he knew what he meant. He was leaving everything and everyone he'd ever known, to run from someone he'd never seen.
"For how long?"
"For as long as it takes."
Eth didn't understand. But Saul walked back into the safehouse and closed the heavy door. Eth felt the finality as he was closed out. He was shut unto the street to fight for his life.
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