Chord
“How the hell did he get here?” A woman’s voice floated into the darkness.
“I have no idea. His message just said downstairs they think I’m crazy. Need help asap#$&asldkfajlskd. Now, if you understand that last part you let me know.” That voice sounded a lot like Alec.
“Why is he dressed like that?” The female voice asked.
“Probably something with his work. How the hell am I supposed to know? Now, are you going to help me get your cousin’s baby’s daddy out of this or are you going to keep asking me stupid fucking questions?”
Silence filled the darkness. “I should just let you struggle then tell Rhapsody you knew where Chord was the whole time.”
Alec blew out a breath. “Just help me then you can get back to flirting with the doctor.”
“Don’t start, Alec. How are we getting him out of this?”
I felt a tug on my arm.
“We should probably wake him up first. Then we can figure out the restraints.” Alec said.
“No problem.” The voice who sounded a lot like Rhapsody’s cousin, Cassie, faded away.
“Wait..wait..wait.” Alec said frantically.
Ice cold water splashed onto me. I sputtered as my previously glued shut eyes were now wide open. I looked over at Alec who grimaced and Cassie who grinned holding a small ice bucket.
“What the?” I began.
“You texted me Chord. They thought you were crazy? I can’t say I really blame them with you dressed like that.”
I looked down at my soaked costume. “It…was…superhero…day.” The words came out between my chattering teeth.
“Shh…we gotta try to sneak you outta here. Now, hold still while I get you out of these.” Cassie began working on the restraints.
“What are you doing?” Alec asked.
“Shut up and let me work.” Cassie snapped.
“Yeah.” I added unhelpfully.
The restraint on right wrist loosened. I slid my arm out and shook out my wrist.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. You’ll be completely free in just a few minutes.”
Alec and I watched her move from cuff to cuff. I looked over at Alec who’s jaw hung open. I would have laughed if it wouldn’t have alerted the orderly that funny business was going on in my room.
“Is it me or is it fucking hot that she knows her way around cuffs?” Alec murmured next to me.
“Uhm…I think you have the hots for her and whatever she does is hot to you.”
Before Alec could say anything else, Cassie popped up from the last cuff. “Done.”
I moved my freed wrist and attempted to stand. Thankfully, Alec was there to catch me. My legs wouldn’t bear my weight.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Alec asked.
“He’s still messed up on whatever drugs they shot him full. I’ll help with him but we may have to drag his ass out of here.” Cassie grabbed the other side of me.
“I just need a bit of help then I will be fine.”
The two of them grunted but the three of us began a weird shuffle drag toward the door. When we heard voices coming near we froze. The door was slightly ajar. We collectively held our breaths as the two people passed by. Waiting a few more moments we let out our breaths. I leaned on Alec as Cassie peered out of the door.
“Shit.” She said.
“What?” Alec asked.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it but when you hear me giggle make a run for it and I will meet you up in Rhapsody’s room.” Cassie fluffed her hair and pulled her shirt lower to expose her cleavage.
“What the hell are you doing?” Alec asked.
She glared at him then said, “What needs to be done.”
When Cassie exited the room, Alec and I inched closer to the door. We could faintly hear Cassie’s voice mixed with a deep voice. I could hear Alec’s molars grinding the longer Cassie spoke with the man. Finally, her giggle signaled for us to move. Alec practically dragged me from the room and around the nearby corner. He stopped for just a second to look at Cassie. He didn’t like what he saw if his brooding expression was any indicator.
Whatever bothered him just made him drag me faster to the elevators. He pushed the up arrow and the doors opened. Shuffling in, Alec propped me against the wall of the elevator. I was starting to get feeling back in my extremities when the doors of the elevator closed. Closing my eyes I imagined the hell Rhapsody was going to give me with each contraction. When I didn’t feel the elevator moving, I opened my eyes and looked at Alec. He was staring at the buttons in confusion.
“What’s wrong? Why isn’t the elevator moving?”
“Uhm…I don’t know what floor Rhapsody is on.”
“What do you mean you don’t know what floor she’s on?” I stood a bit straighter.
“When I left her she was still in the emergency room area.”
“You mean the area we were near.”
“Yep.”
“Why didn’t you just take me to where you last saw her?”
Alec glared at me. “Because you were in the area they put crazy people. If they thought I was busting you out I’d get arrested. I don’t feel like getting arrested for my cousin who is dressed up like a super hero.”
“I told you-“
“Yeah. Yeah. I know. Remember I used to live with you.”
“Well, what are we going to do?”
“Uhm.”
Before Alec could come up with a dumb ass idea, the elevator dinged and the doors began to slid open. I flattened myself against the wall of the tiny metal box and hid behind Alec. When the doors completely opened, Cassie stood there grinning.
“Well, that was easy.”
“Because you were easy.” Alec mumbled.
Cassie sucked in a breath then snapped out her hand effectively slapping him. Red tinged her cheeks and a fury I’d only seen in Rhapsody shone through her cousin. “Fuck you, Alec.”
Alec held his cheek. I placed my hand on his shoulder stopping him from saying something he’d regret or get kneed in the nuts for.
“Cassie, do you know if they moved Rhapsody out of the emergency room?”
She glared at Alec then looked at me. “Yes. Emmerson said they moved her to 4B.”
“Great.” I reached past Alec and pressed the number four.
The elevator began to move. It was surprising the thing could move at all with all the tension weighing it down. To distract myself from unsaid argument Alec and Cassie were having, I sang the wheels on the bus in my head. In no time, the doors opened to chaos. Nurses ran around in a flurry of activity.
Two hurried by and we heard, “I can’t believe they could lose a psych patient like that. This place has gone to hell.”
“Oh hell.” Cassie said as she pushed me against the elevator.
“What are we going to do now? You can’t flirt with everyone.” Alec said.
If it wasn’t such a dyer situation Cassie would have decked him. Thankfully she could focus on the problem at hand. “Give me a second. Let me see how far 4B is from here. Go over there and hide. I will come back when find her.” She pointed toward the sign that said bathroom. When she exited the elevator she looked around then waved us out.
Alec and I ran from the elevator to the bathroom. A sign on the door made my heart sink. Out of Order. Of course it was out of order. If anything went right for me leading up to my daughter’s birth it would’ve been a miracle. Alec dragged me into the next door and shoved us into a stall. It was the women’s room. Great.
“The lady’s room? Really Alec?” I whispered.
“Where the hell else were we going to go? Now, shut up. I hear someone coming.”
We held our breath as we listened to footsteps approach. The door swung open and we waited. The steps grew closer. I couldn’t see out the crack in the stall because Alec had shoved be behind the toilet. We didn’t hear footsteps or the sound of a stall door. What in the world was the woman doing?
As that thought crossed my mind, we found out who had entered the bathroom. Cassie kicked in the door, slamming it against Alec’s face. She smiled at me and ignored Alec who’s nose was bleeding.
“Ready? I found her.” Cassie held her hand out to me.
I looked at Alec who was sitting on the floor moaning. “Sorry, Alec.” Placing my hand in hers, I stepped over him and left with Cassie.
“Rhapsody is only a couple doors down. I’m going to pop out of the bathroom to see if the coast is clear.” She left me standing there for a moment.
Alec’s moans floated over to me. A part of me felt bad but then I remember what he said to her and that my baby was about to be born. He could fend for himself.
“Come on.” Cassie grabbed ahold of my arm and dragged me down the small hall.
Luck was on our side. The hall had cleared out and quieted down. Cassie dragged me into 4B. I froze when I saw the crowd around a pissed off Rhapsody. Our eyes met and I could have sworn I saw relief but that was quickly replaced with an anger that could melt your face off.
“Hmm…well, I guess I found the missing psych patient.” A nurse said from behind me.
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Rhapsody spat then yelled as a contraction hit.