Shut In

A Story by Bands666

Hospitals are not always a safe place

"Is he still breathing?"
"Yes, Doctor," said nurse Sarah
"His heart rate is slowing again," said nurse Linda
"We need to get him to the fourth floor," Dr.Rick said with urgency.
Nurse Sarah nodded. "We can use the elevators; they seem to be working correctly today."
"Careful. Careful. I SAID CAREFUL! Can't you see this man is about to . . .”
The lights went out. The elevator doors immediately slammed shut with loud shouts and screams following it.

I awoke on the gurney again.
"I must've blacked out." I muttered. "Where am I? What happened?"
My wife, Mary, squeezed tightly on my hand letting out a sobbing sigh. “I thought you . . .”
Before she could finish I said, “I know, I know. But I’m here now, don’t worry.”
“You almost . . .” A warm tear fell down her cheek.
I squeezed her hand. “I’ll never leave you...I promise.”
Mary tackled me with a hug that took my breath. I started to gasp and choke, so she stopped hugging me.
“Sorry,” she muttered, still sobbing.
The doctor rushed over to me. “Are you alright?”
I looked around. “Where am I?”
“In an elevator,” he said quickly. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, just peachy. What happened?”
Dr. Rick sighed, “Well, if you haven’t noticed, there’s a knife in your chest, and it’s pretty bad. You were bleeding to death."
"Yeah, well, what's new, Doc?" My voice dripped with sarcasm.
Dr. Rick chuckled, “Glad you can still crack jokes, Jim. Anyway, the generators went out and we are stuck in this elevator."
"Oh, great. Glad to know I have a knife in my chest and we’re stuck. Nice."
That was the last thing I said before I had blacked out once more.

CRASH!
"HELP! HELP ME!"
"Huh? Mary is that you? Where are you? Doctor? Doc? RICK? Where are you? Where's Mary?!"
I heard my wife’s piercing scream echo through my head
"Mary? I'm here, where are you?" I shouted.
"Jim, help me!"
"Huh?”
I snapped awake, gasping and breathing fast.
"You're okay." Mary's gentle voice was always soothing. She calmed me down enough to talk.
"You were dead," I muttered.
She brushed hair out of my eyes. "You had a bad dream after you blacked out. You're fine now. The doctor got us out of the elevator."
I peered around. "Where's the Doc?"
"He is going to find the generators, but for right-”
We hear the doctor’s blood curdling shouts bounce off the walls from all around us.
"Doc . . . Doctor what's wrong? Where are you?!?!" I shouted.
Silence was all we heard for five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes.
"I-I can't this," Linda began laughing like a maniac, "Were all gonna die," Linda mumbled to herself.
I tried to get off the gurney but just fell back down. I tried again, but couldn't with the damn knife in my chest. Mary saw my struggle to get up and came to help me.
"We . . . need to . . . find the doc," I said struggling to catch a breath
I looked around making sure everyone was okay. Linda was now no help, just a looney; and Sarah . . .
"God, where's Sarah?"
I doubled check to make sure she wasn't hiding. She must've went with Rick.

We started walking down dark hallways, checking room after room. Everything was eerie, yet almost normal. We found a door to a stairwell. A little light was flickering through the small square in the door.
When we opened the door it was a grotesque sight to see. A blood trail was leading down the stairs. Severed arms, legs, and heads were everywhere.
"Oh, God! Who could do this?" Mary gasped, and began to sob again.
I, on the other hand, was puking my guts out. My wife came over and patted me on the back a few times, while walking me out the door.
"Mary, I'm . . . sorry you had to see that. I didn't know," I said, wiping the remains of the puke off my mouth. "We need to find another way to the generators. Linda, do you know another way?"
Linda furrowed her eyebrows. "No...maybe? I DON'T KNOW! I have only been here for a few months. God, this place is messed up."
"It’s okay,” I assured them. “We will just have to go through, close our eyes, and feel our way around."
Linda looked teary-eyed. "I'm sorry … this place is just getting to me. I just wanted a job here and . . . “
I stopped her before she had a mental breakdown. "I understand you didn't know. Let's just get this over with, please."
Mary took my arm and we ran back in. The smell was so putrid, I could taste it. I tried to keep my eyes glued shut, but I couldn't help to want to see what else was in here. Blood was all. On the walls on the floor everywhere words written in blood like “help” and “you can’t escape”. I almost threw up again, but kept it in this time. I looked up to something that had fallen on my face and of course to my horror dead lifeless bodies hanging off the ceiling. I wanted to leave. Leave the Doc and Sarah. I know I sound like a horrible person, but I swear when I first walked in here I saw the Doctor's severed head. I've lost all hope and it's just beginning. Linda’s become useless. We might as well as leave her behind or use her as bait. She was in the corner on the floor talking to herself when we got out of the stairwell.
"Psst … psst." I tried to get Mary's attention without Linda noticing.
Mary turned around. "What is it?!"
“Shhh,” I said pointing to Linda.
She nodded, then said more quietly, “What’s wrong?”
“I think we need to kill Linda.” I cringed as soon as I said it.
Mary gasped. “WHAT?! I was thinking of just leaving her! You don’t have to go that far!”
“She’s totally useless! She just mumbles to herself. It’s kind of creeping me out, you know?”
Mary pursed her lips and nodded. “Earlier, Linda said something about someone coming. I think we should just run and hope the thing you know…”
“Kills her,” I finish.
“I’m gonna feel so guilty after this. You know that, right?”
“Yeah,” I said. We better go before she understands what’s going on.”

I took Mary’s hand and ran. We ran desperately, stopping and going, stopping and going. I couldn’t take the knife in my chest any longer. I wasn’t going to let this knife get me and Mary killed. I told her to stop when we stumbled upon an operating room. I asked her if she knew how to sew.
“Um, yes … why?” Suddenly it was like she read my mind. “Don’t tell me you’re ripping that out. You could die.”
“I know I could, but what choice do we have? If I don’t take this out now, I’m just going to get us killed. I don’t want you to die because of me.”
“I can’t! I’d rather die with you then have to watch you…” She paused, searching for the right word. “Suffer.”
Her eyes had a glossy look in them. A tear escaped its prison racing down her cheek and she turned away. I didn’t want to do it either, but I didn’t want to see her die just because I have a knife in my chest. The only other option was . . .
“Leave.”
She turned towards me. “What?”
“I said leave,” I repeated.
“But your- “
“GO! Just leave! I’m not having you die because of me.”
She began to shake. “I told you! I’d rather-”
“Yes, but I can’t help to know that you could die.”
She suddenly became frustrated, tears forming two streams down her face. “SHUT UP, alright? I’m staying and that’s that!”
I just stared at her, completely shocked. Mary rarely yelled, unless I had bothered her. “ I -”
“We’ll take that knife out if that’s what you truly want.”
“Uhhh you sure? We can just go on.”
“YES!!! You want that so let us just finish this.”
“All right we will need some bandages, antiseptic, needle, and . . .
“I know what we need.”

I didn't talk to Mary the whole time. She kept giving me glares of regret. When she was finished I swear I saw a tear run down her cheek, but I never said anything.
"Thank you," I finally said.
"Yup," she said rolling her eyes at me.
"Um I think we should get going."
"Yup," she stared blankly at the wall.
"What's wrong with you,"
She turned around vigorously. Her eyes were red with tear tracks on her cheeks.
"What do you expect me to say? What if you bleed out what am I supposed to do just watch you die is that how you want it? I told you I'd rather die with you and now I'm gonna have to watch you die slowly. . ."
I stared slack-jawed. Not at her but what I had caught out of the corner of my eye.
"Run."
"No I'm not finished."
"Run," I said with a tense voice.
She turned to see what I was looking at. Her jaw had become unhinged, her eyes had begun to bulge out of her head. She became very still. I grabbed her hand and began to drag her. The thing that was sprinting toward us was unbelievable. It was what looked like five feet tall on all four legs. It had grey matted fur with what looked like blood in it. Each of its teeth bigger than my ring finger. There was blood and bits of flesh hanging from the beast's mouth.Its claws scraping off the floor sounding like a teacher scraping her nails off a chalkboard.
I turned around to make sure Mary was all right. She was still staring at the beast not believing she's really seeing it.
"Mary, come on Mary snap out of it," I had slapped her in the face lightly.
"Is that real? Am I dreaming? I have to be hahaha."
Mary had gone hysterical and was laughing like a maniac. I grabbed her hand and dragged her back down the hallway.
"Mary, come on Mary you need to run please just run it's real. It's really real." I almost burst out in tears, but thought better of it. I didn't want to die.
The beast was getting closer and Mary was getting harder and harder to move. We skidded around a corner and Mary had become unbelievably lighter. I turned around and saw that I was only holding her hand. The monster was gone and I had fainted.

I faded in and out of conscience with blue and red lights blurring my vision.
"You're okay now don't worry." It was a voice of comfort
"Mary I thought you were dead."
A shadowy figure came in my peripheral view.
"Jim, it's Sarah." Her eyes were red and had a glossy effect."
" Where's Mary. MARY! I have to go back she can't be dead. She's alive I know it." I was thrashing against the restraints but only managed to tip the stretcher.
"Jim she's dead when we found you, you had her . . . hand. She was nowhere to be found." she said trying to lift the stretcher upright.
I remembered now we were running from that thing. Mary was laughing and then she was gone. Mary is gone I still remember the warmth of her hand. It should have been me. I should've pushed her ahead of me. I should have let the monster take me.
"I should have died. Not Mary I am a coward, a worthless husband. I just thought about getting out of there not what Mary thought or wanted and that got her killed. I killed her."
"No you didn't. It was that thing it killed Rick too and it killed Linda. You aren't a coward and Mary will always be watching you. I bet she even forgives you."
Linda? Mary and I left her. Did she really die or is she hiding? Has she already forgiven me or is she blaming me calling me a coward?
I hear a ghostly whisper, "You're not a coward, you're my hero."