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Terror fills my veins, and I watch as Mel’s eyes widen, and she darts back behind the wall of the nurses’ station, and I realize he must be coming this way. I glance back at Georgie, absolutely terrified when I hear the sound of a door being kicked in down the hall.
Ahh, fuck.
I shuffle back away from the door while keeping right where I can see Mel, the fear in her eyes crippling me. But I recognize the determination coming over her, and I have no doubt she’s thinking about all the children on her ward, the little people she’s come to care for.
My hands shake, and needing to get a better indication of where the gunman is, I creep toward the door and try to peer through the window, down the hall. I find him immediately, hovering in the doorway to one of the children’s rooms, too fucking close to me and Mel. “Where is she?” he booms before raising his gun, pointing it inside the room, and pulling the trigger.
BANG!
I freeze, the sound reverberating through my chest and shaking the fucking walls.
Screams echo throughout the ward as I stare wide-eyed down the hallway at the people fleeing to find safety. I need to get down there. I need to check if somebody was hurt, but there’s no way in hell I’m about to leave Georgie.
The man instantly ducks back out of the room and takes two big steps before kicking in the next door. His arm rises, followed by the screams, and then . . . BANG!
Fuck.
I look back at Mel who has tears streaming down her face. Hide, she mouths before slipping under the nurses’ desk and squishing herself behind the metal filing cabinet.
With the sound of another door being kicked in and the realization that he won’t stop until he’s been through every room on this ward, I hurry away from the window and deeper into the room, frantically searching for something heavy enough to jam behind the door.
BANG!
My body jumps, mentally mapping the ward and trying to figure out how many more doors he’s going to kick in before it’s our turn.
Three.
Only three
Realizing my time is quickly dwindling, I hurry over to Georgie, my hands shaking, desperate to get her to safety. Moving right around to her side, Georgie screams as I recklessly start ripping the cords away from her.
Another door is kicked in.
Scream.
BANG!
I go as fast as I can, ripping the blankets off her and scooping her out of the bed. The bathroom is too far away, I’ll never make it there.
Kick. BANG! BANG!
Fuck.
I find the supply closet and wipe my arm across the shelf, letting all the contents fall to the ground before jamming Georgie inside. “You need to stay really quiet, okay?” I beg as she screams for her daddy. “Please, Georgie. Please calm down. It’s really important that you stay quiet, okay? Just like hide and seek. We need to be quiet. Don’t let anyone find us. Do you understand me?”
With tears streaming down her face, she nods her head and sucks in a heavy breath, forcing herself to calm down.
“WHERE IS SHE?” the voice roars from the hallway.
Kick.
Scream.
BANG!
I hear a little boy scream and my heart breaks, tears staining my cheeks realizing it’s the little boy with appendicitis, but I don’t have time to get torn up over it, realizing we’re next.
I slam the cupboard door shut on Georgie, hoping she has the strength to remain quiet, and I fly across the room, hearing his footsteps getting closer and closer to Georgie’s door.
With no other options, I throw myself across the bed and grab the sheet, yanking it over my body, terrified that some part of me might be exposed. With terror in my veins, I try to calm my breathing when the door is kicked in, the sound of the wood splintering as it cracks and breaks right through the lock.
The door slams against the wall of Georgie’s room and crashes with the force of his kick, yet despite the blaring alarms and the screaming from deeper within the ward, I’ve never heard such deathly silence.
Fear rattles my body, and I hold my breath as I hear him take a step inside the room, hoping like fuck Georgie can keep still and silent for just a moment longer. Tears stream down my face, and I bite down on my lip, forcing myself to keep still, my heart pounding, but if Georgie can be this brave, then so can I.
She needs me more than ever.
His footsteps creep through the room and my stomach drops, hearing as he gets closer. I see his shadow through the sheet, watch as he reaches toward it, then with a flick of his wrist, he grabs the sheet and tears it back off my body.
His manic stare locks onto mine, and I’ve never been so fucking terrified in my life. “Where’s my fucking daughter?”
