Chapter Twenty-Two

Amy takes a midnight stroll within the hospital and sneaks outside where she comes across...

    Amy turned restlessly within her hospital bed unable to sleep any longer. She felt as if she needed to move. To get up out of that bed and just move; that’s all she wanted now.

    She looked to the IV in her arm. That’s was the only thing keeping her within this room now. Everyone else had gone on home, reassuring her they would return the next day. Alone again. Lately that’s all she had been feeling…alone.

    She bit down on her bottom lip as she wrapped her fingers around the IV needle within the backside of her hand and pulled. To her surprise, the needle had come out rather easily, though it still made her hand throb with pain. She looked to the tiny hole within her skin; wiping the blood clean with her other hand before throwing the IV to the floor. “I don’t need this…”

    She stood slowly to wobbly legs. “Easy now…you can do this…” she encouraged herself as she moved towards the door, sliding her feet numbly across the floor.

    As she came to the door, she reached out for the handle and pulled it open. She peered out into the hallway, seeing no one around. Well it is the dead of night… she stepped quietly out into the hallway, pulling the door closed behind her with a low click. Even if there were any nurses around, she figured they’d be less likely to check in on her if her door was still pulled shut as it was before.

    Glancing down the hall, she could see the nurse’s desk. There was a young blonde sitting there, doing what looked to be paper work. Not wanting to take her chances, Amy turned to her left.  Down this hall was an elevator just a few feet to her right and a few more closed doors. The hallway seemed to continue a little further on as it continued on to the left. She looked to the elevator seeing a number two above it‘s frame. She didn’t want to take the elevator to the ground floor, fearing that would only alert the woman at the desk.

    I guess down the hall then…

she took one quick glance back at the woman before continuing down the hall to her left.

    Amy could feel her feet actually lifting from the floor now as she walked. She knew that’s all her body needed. Exercise. If she would have stayed in that room any longer, she would have been worse off then what she already was.

    She placed her back flat onto the wall as she reached the end of the hallway. Taking a quick look back to the nurse’s station, Amy crept closer to the edge of the wall, peering out around the corner to see what was there. Fortunately, there was no one around and the only thing before her was a big, metal door. Lit slightly above it was a single word labeled in big red letters reading; EXIT.

    She ducked into the next hallway and rushed towards the exit as fast as her body was able and pushed the big metal bar to her freedom. The door released with a loud metallic clank, causing Amy to cringe as she hoped the nurse hadn’t noticed.

    Once inside the next section, Amy looked around, seeing the stairs. There were two sets, one leading further up, the other leading down to the first floor. Since she wanted to get outside as quickly as possible, Amy headed down the stairwell, holding onto the hand rails tightly along the way. Her legs were sturdier then they were when she had first stood, but she could feel them weaken on the stairs.

    She came to a landing at the bottom of the stairwell. There was tan door before her and another set of steps to her left, leading to the basement of the hospital. As she looked to the door in front of her, she could see the same exit sign above its frame as the door on the second floor. She moved closer to the door, placing her hands on the metal bar stretched across. Taking a deep breath, she pushed onto the bar. This door seemed heavier then the last, as she felt the stitches within her stomach begin to pull.

    “Come on…” she groaned struggling with the door, turning her back to its hard surface, beginning to push with her back instead. She only opened it far enough for her to squeeze through to the outside.

    Amy stood where she was for the moment, breathing in the night air deeply before she heard the door slam shut behind her. She looked back to the door. I hadn’t thought on how to get inside yet without being noticed… she soon shrugged, no longer bothered by her predicament.

    Looking around, she realized she was in what looked to be a court yard, with nothing but trees and grass. There were no side walks, benches, fountains…there was nothing here at all. She soon realized she preferred it this way as she took a few steps out into the open, wrapping her arms around her in an attempt to protect herself from the chilling night air.

    She wished she had more then just what the hospital had given her; the usually hospital gown. But she didn’t feel right wearing just that and had asked her mother to bring her a robe of some sort from home. It was her favorite, a light blue with a light blue tie which came around the back. Now that she thought about it, Amy was happy she had asked her mother; otherwise she would be walking around with most of her backside showing. She didn’t like the thought of that at all.

    She looked up into the sky, the light of the moon shining down upon her. To her right, she could hear the sound of a twig snapping within the woods. It’s just a cat or something. She thought calmly to herself, until there was another snap, this time closer to her right.

    Amy bit her lip nervously as she slowly turned in the direction of the sound. “Wh-who’s there?” She stammered, surveying the woods with careful eyes. Her gaze soon stopped at the tree directly to her right. She could see a figure standing there, just out of reach from the light of the moon, watching her. She gulped not once taking her eyes off the figure. “I said who’s there?”

    The figure took a step forward, allowing her to see his face more clearly. Amy’s hands flew up to her lips unable to hold back her startled cry. She watched as the young man came towards her, smiling. “Dieteru…”

    Dieteru stopped just before her, crossing his arms out before him. “Your time certainly is confusing…I never had so many people stare at me before.” Amy only watched him, afraid to move. “What?”

    She closed her eyes. “M-my mind is playing tricks on me…” she said aloud, slowly stepping back, stumbling slightly.

    “Hey, are you alright?”

    Amy felt sick to her stomach, her color draining from her cheeks. “If I just open my eyes, he won’t be there…” she opened her eyes, but Dieteru still stood before her. She let out a hysteric cry as she fell back.

    Dieteru quickly reached out to her, grabbing her around her waist before she could fall to the ground. “What is going on with you?” He questioned with slight anger in his tone as he helped her steady herself, holding onto her arms. “You’re acting strange.”

    Amy felt his hands on her arms helping her balance as she looked to the ground. She looked up into his eyes. “Th-this can’t be…you don’t exist.”

    Dieteru studied her questioningly. “Of course I do. What are you talking about Amy? Do you even know who I am?” She didn’t answer; her mind racing with questions. “Amy?”

    She looked to his hands still grasping her arms. If he wasn’t real, how could he be helping her stand? But, if he is real, why didn’t anyone find him when they had found her? Was she really just dreaming again? Or-

    “Amy.”

    Her gaze shot up to his hazel eyes, her own filled with tears. “I…I don’t know what’s going on….I don’t even know what’s real anymore…”

    “It’s alright Amy. Everything is ok now.” He said in a reassuring tone.

    “No, it’s not. It’s not ok.” She stated pulling away from him. “Dieteru…I went through hell today…when I woke up…I thought you didn’t exist.”

    “What?” He questioned crossing his arms before her. “What kind of bull were you thinking about anyway?”

    “When I woke up…you weren’t there.” She said quietly, her hands shaking slightly at her sides. “When I woke up…I was in the hospital, with my family…they said I’ve only been missing for a two weeks when I was gone for nearly two months! I had a fever! They were afraid I wasn’t going to remember anything yet instead I feared I remembered something that never happened! I-”

    She stopped short as Dieteru came toward her, wrapping his arms around her quivering body, holding her close. “Everything’s alright now Amy.” He said again. “I’m here now. Everything is going to be alright.”

    “But, this makes no sense.” she said through tears. “If this is real, then what about what Sagieta had said. She-”

    “She didn’t know, Amy. She had told you this herself.” he said gently. “All she knew was you were to vanish. She didn’t know to where or if you would even be alive afterward.”

    She pushed away from him, placing her hands to his chest. “Then how did we get here?”

    “I don’t know…” he said letting his voice trail off before grabbing hold of her hands, holding them out before him. “But if I had to make a guess…it would be that that Alangi’s powers had a hand in it somehow…”

    Amy shook her head, not wanting to believe his words. “This just can’t be real.”

    “It is Amy. Can’t you just trust me?” He questioned, squeezing her hands gently within his.

    She looked into his eyes once more before taking in a long shaky breath. “I want to, I really do. But I don’t know if my heart can take it if I find this is all just my mind again.” She smiled thoughtfully. “I thought I had lost you, Dieteru. I was never able to tell you that…that I love you.” She looked away awkwardly as her face being to flush a light red.

    She felt Dieteru place a hand under her chin, pulling her face back to his. He kissed her softly, startling her. For once, she felt happy with the way everything was turning out. Everyone she knew and loved was safe. Everything was just perfect now.