Episode 32

Miah opened her eyes to find she’d fallen asleep in the corner with Gail's sweater covering her.  She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked over.  Gail had inserted an IV into Ben’s hand, but she had left already.  She groaned as she stretched out her legs.  Would the pain ever stop?  It was almost as bad as before, when her legs were injured.

She chose to ignore it and pushed herself off the floor, standing up and stretching her arms.  Miah’s mouth felt disgusting.  She wished there was a place to brush her teeth, but that would have to wait.  Ugh.

As she walked slowly around the room, she wondered if Gail would come back, and what had happened to Connor.  She sat back down against the wall beside Ben's comatose body and sighed. “Guess it’s just you and me.”

At that moment, the door unlocked swiftly and Gail burst in. “Miah. We have to get Ben and go.”

“How—”

“There’s a stretcher in this closet.”  She opened it and pulled out a long stretcher, and the two of them pulled him onto it. They lifted him with some effort, and Miah winced as she felt the biting pain in her head.

“Where’s Connor?” she asked as they carried the stretcher through the door.

“He’ll meet us at the entrance,” she replied.  “Sorry it took so long.  But we have to hurry now, or this won’t work.”

“You’re coming with us?”

Gail smiled. “Oh yes. I’d do almost anything to get out of here.”

Miah looked around and wondered if they had hidden cameras anywhere.  She sure didn’t want to get caught and accidentally drop Ben….

They reached a wide hall where they heard raised voices coming from an open doorway. Three or four men were arguing loudly, and they couldn’t sneak past them without being noticed, for sure.

“What do we do?” Gail whispered.

“You’re asking me?” Miah looked around.  “Isn’t there another way there?  One that doesn’t go past this door?”

“No, there’s not,” Gail replied.

“Well, we’ll have to take the chance that they’re paying too much attention to their debate than to the people in the hallway.  Come on.” Miah got a better grip on the stretcher handles and kept walking.

They looked straight ahead and hoped they wouldn’t be stopped.

“Hey!” one of them shouted, and Gail jumped.  Miah pushed her forward as the man kept yelling at another. They didn’t notice!

They soon reached the outer door, and Gail pushed it open with an elbow.  They saw Connor run around the corner outside, carrying a key ring.  “Hey guys!” he called.

Miah rolled her eyes. “How are you this lovely day?” she called back.

“Oh, you know, the usual.”  He grinned and unlocked a black sports car and hopped in.   “How are you?”

“Haven’t been better. A bit stiff-jointed, perhaps, though.”

He winked and started up the engine.  “Let’s go!”

As they pulled away, Miah leaned back in the seat, closed her eyes, and sighed in fervent relief.