The night was cold, windy, and overall, unpleasant. But, there couldn't be a better night to do this. The people in town were either sitting in their homes by their fireplaces with their family or out at some bar wasting the night away. Either way, they were out of Jack's way and were sure to stay that way.
Jack sat concealed behind one of the bulky green shrubs at the side of the road, across from the hospital. Luck was on his side tonight, seeing that the hospital was unusually empty as far as the coming and going citizens go. Though he was sure that once he entered, that would be a whole different situation. But honestly, he would go through an army worth of men to make sure that his sister, Elizabeth, got the medicine that she needed to make it through the night. At the thought of that, the man turned his eyes to stone and turned all of his feelings off. If he was going to do this for his sister, he couldn't have his human senses and feelings get in way when he walks through the door and is consumed by all of the sicknesses and injuries that show on each person. Taking a deep breath, Jack took one of the few daggers hidden in his outfit out and gripped it tightly before running the sharp edge of it along his left forearm; he needed a cut deep enough to not be waved off, but not so serious that he couldn't treat it on his own when he gets back to his sister. Only moments after cutting into his arm did the blood start flowing. He'd need some sort of injury to get into the hospital without any drawn suspicion or unneeded attention from the police and medics who were promised to be inside. While he waited for the blood to begin to clot and dry on his arm to make it look not as recent, he went over his plans;
Get into the hospital. Get to a room on the third floor, that is specifically used for minor injuries and blood testing. Get out of the room and "search for the bathroom". Find the room that hold all of the medicine, take all that he can before being noticed. Then, get the hell out without being recognized or seen.
Jack knew that the plan wasn't well thought through but he couldn't risk losing another day or two of Elizabeth's life quickly fading away. He had to do this tonight, whether it goes through without a problem and he is unseen or he is seen and risks his safety. With another deep breath, he glances down at his blood-covered arm and nods to himself. It is dry enough and looks old enough to not cause suspicion. Raising his hand, he runs it through his thick dark hair and brings is down to his face to see. The hair stray seems to have dried well enough that it wont look fake or wont start flaking paint pieces behind him. Of course, the black hair spray isn't really his natural hair color, he just can't risk someone seeing his natural hair color and having his uncovered face all over TV and the newspaper by morning. Not only did he spray his hair, but put in fake hazel-eye contacts so that no one will be able to necessarily remember him or recognize him by his eyes, either. Jack cursed at himself as he stood up to his feet and began walking towards the hospital, he was stalling too much. If he didn't get in there and do this now, he never would.
When he finally reached the the hospital, he grabbed his arm and slowly walk towards the front door and waited for it to automatically open. When inside, Jack quickly assessed the people who were around; there were few doctors hanging around with the nurses, a couple of patients are in the waiting area, which none seem to be all in that much of a rush to be assisted. There were only two cops in sight and neither of them were actually paying attention to the people around them. They looked as if they were seeing more of the back of their eyelids rather than the patients. This was going to be easy. Jack walked casually up to the desk; not walking too fast or too slow to show any signs that the staff were to be cautious with him or suspicious. When the nurse at the front desk looked up at the man, her eyes widened as she caught sight of the blood running down his forearms. "Oh, Dear! What is it that happened to your arm?" The nurse spoke as frantically as she looked; for a nurse, she sure didn't do very well with blood. "I was working on one of my bikes when a wire came loose. I didn't react fast enough and it sliced my arm. Could I get some help with it? I think I might need stitches." As he spoke, he was sure to keep his voice calm but take many breaths while doing so and winced a few times to make it seem as if he was in a lot of pain. The woman nodded her head so fast and hard that he swore she was going to give herself whiplash and she might be the one needing immediate attention rather than him. But, thankfully, the nurse picked up the phone that sat on her desk and called one of the departments that were to take care of him. When she finally put the phone down, she looked up at Jack but only before she took another quick glance at his wound. "There is a medic on her way. If you want, you can take a seat in one of the chairs over there while you wait a minute for her to come. I apologize that you have to wait to be helped, but most of the doctors that work on the third floor took today off because of the weather and the promising storm, so there are only so many doctors who can respond right now." With a small nod of his head and a slight wince, he said a quick "Thanks" and walked over to sit in the waiting area. So far, so good. The nurse had confirmed his assumptions that few people would be in today, and that his doctor would be a female. He didn't like underestimating women, but he was sure that if it came to it, he could knock her out and escape easily.
The doctor appeared only about ten minutes later with no one at her side in assistance. With a small smile, he nodded at the woman and followed her to the waiting elevator. While they waited for the elevator to reach the third floor, she asked his a few questions. "What is your name, Sir?" Jack had multiple names that he went by to get into places and by certain people. It was one of the simplest rules in the book for criminals; never tell someone your real name. It doesn't matter who it is, unless you are literally willing to risk your life over that name, you'd be better off using a fake name. With a calm and simple voice, he answered. "My name is Carter Johnson." Without even glancing up from her papers, she nodded and continued. "Well, Mr. Johnson, my assistant told me that while you were working on your bike, a wire came loose and cut into your arm and you think you might need stitches. Is that correct?" The dullness and emptiness of the woman's voice made him want to knock her out right there and then. Did he sound that way when he talked without emotion? With a small smile full of annoyance, he nodded and said a simple yes. By the time those two questions were answered, the two of them had arrived at the third level of the building and the doors were opening.
The third room was like the rest; full of rooms with both clear viewing windows and full falls. Jack sent a silent prayer as they walked down the hallway, hoping that the doctor would choose a room with no viewing windows. But, before he could find out, the doctor spoke up. "I would like you to wash off your arm before I examine it. The bathroom is here to your left and the room is down three doors on your right, room 324." When the woman looked up at him to meet his gaze for the first time, he nodded and didn't think twice before turning left into the bathroom. Jack then locked the door and went to did as he was told, though, only to an extent. He was planning on wandering the halls and scoping out the rooms and searching for any people on this floor. After about a minute after coming into the bathroom, he quietly opened the door and peaked out into the hallway. No one was there. With a small sigh of relief, Jack began walking in the opposite direction that the doctor had gone and began his search. There were about twenty rooms for patients, ten of which had the clear windows and every one of them was empty, except for the one that the doctor was now in. Then, there were 2 bathrooms, one of each side of the floor. There were two labs that were connected; one that looked to be blood sampling while the other were urine tests. Then, there was the room that he was looking for; the room with all the medicine. All of the people on the third floor, thankfully, were in the labs doing all of the testings, so Jack's plans looked as if they would go smoothly from then until after he got the medicine.
While on his way back towards the room with all of the medicine, Jack heard an impatient sigh behind him. Though he knew who it was, he jumped as if startled and turned to face the doctor who had been waiting in his room. "Did you get lost between the bathroom and three rooms down, Mr. Johnson?" The Doctor's voice was full of suspicion and annoyance. He'd been caught. With a small embarrassed look on his face he nodded, "I am afraid so. I think the blood loss has made me a bit dizzy." As Jack mentioned the blood, both him and the doctor looked down at his arm. It was once again covered in blood. With an impatient huff, the doctor nodded as if she understand what he meant. With a small sigh of relief that she had believed him, Jack followed the doctor down the hallway towards the room. He was thankful when he saw that the room was one with all solid walls and no windows. After entering the room, Jack was sure to pull the door closed behind them. The noise from the closing of the door must'v startled the doctor because she jumped in place and glanced back confused at Jack. There was no reason to close a door when there was barely anyone on the entire floor. With a small smile, Jack ignored her questioning look further when we went to sit on the edge of the examining table. Of course, he wouldn't be there for long. The man watched as his doctor shuffled through her drawers in search for something. As she did so, she spoke. "I'm going to have to draw some blood for testing. We want to be sure that you will not get any random sicknesses from any of the bacteria that could have been on the wire. Is that okay?" As the doctor spoke, he noticed how she was barely paying any attention to her patient. It was time. Jack silently raised from the examination table and made his was cautiously towards the doctor. When Jack failed to answer, the doctor looked back to see if anything was wrong, but, as she did so, Jack's large hand covered the woman's mouth and plugged her nose while the other wrapped itself around the woman's arms and body to keep her from struggling. After about fifteen seconds, her body went limp but before he put her down, he put his ear by her mouth to make sure she was breathing. She was. Carefully, Jack dragged her unconscious body towards the far corner of the room so that if anyone were to see her, it would only be because they fully entered the room and had looked around. The timer in Jack's mind began to count down as he rushed to the door and opened it quietly to see if anyone was in the hallway. which no one was. Silently, Jack made his way for the room with all of the medicine in it.
It took Jack less than a minute to reach the room that he was searching for. His time to get the medicine and get out was running out fast. It would only take the other doctors on the floor a few minutes to realize that they were not getting a new blood sample and when they go to his room to only find the doctor's unconscious body, they will raise an alarm and he will have to be out the door. Jack reached for the door handle and as soon as he went to turn it, he realized that it was locked. Of course. Jack felt in his pocket for one of the thin pocketknives that he carries around just for this purpose. Hopefully the door didn't cause him any problems. He slipped the tip of the pocketknife into the door and jiggled it to the side while turning the door. It was almost surprising that the the door unlocked with a quiet click only moments later. Taking another glance down both hallways, he confirmed that no one had heard and he entered the room.
No one would ever be able to imagine what kind of medicine they had in that room. They had pain pills, pills for colds, pills for the flu, as well as vitamins. With a mischievous smirk on his face, Jack pulled the small backpack off of his back that he had been carrying and filled it with anything and everything. It only took him about two minutes to get everything that he thought he would need. But, as Jack put the last bottle into his backpack and began zipping it up, the door opened.
A lanky middle-aged man walked in casually. Maybe he hadn't noticed that Jack was in there yet and no one had found the doctor's unconscious body in the room. Jack quietly made his way towards the door as he watched the other man begin walking down one of the isles. His breathing began to get shallower and shallower as the tension in the room got stronger and stronger. As Jack continued to watch the man, he failed to watch where he was going and bumped straight into one of the shelves of medicine behind him. He cussed under his breath as the man turned to look straight at him. "Hey! You're not supposed to be in here!" At that moment, Jack decided that it was time for the "Get the hell out" part of the plan. Without taking a second glance at the man, Jack drew two of his daggers that were hidden at his waist and ran out the door but only after listening as the man alarmed the rest of the staff over his handheld radio about his presence.
Remembering back from them he was looking over the layout of the third floor, he had seen a back staircase towards the north-end of the building. Without hesitation, Jack practically flew down the hall towards the stairs, passing two frantic nurses jumping out of the way. When he finally reached the back staircase, he was satisfied when the door easily opened. Risking a look back, it almost frightened to see the man from the medicine room running at him. Jack then slammed them door shut behind him as he started running down the stairs, three at a time.
As he continued down the stairs, he cursed when he heard the opening of the door from the third floor. Jack then slowed his pace down and went silent as he listened to the older man running down the stairs with deep and hasty breaths. When he finally sees the man turn the corner and locks eye-contact with him, does he notice that he is really a security guard. Without a moment of hesitation, Jack throws one of the daggers in his hands at the man. Though he aimed for the security guard's shoulder, the man jerks to the side and the dagger plants right in his collarbone. Jack's eyes widened as he watched the man take his final breaths before being able to turn around and continue down the stairs.
As Jack approaches the first floor door, he notices a small window to his right. The police were sure to be guarding the first floor and outside, waiting for the criminal to show up. So then and there does he decide that the window is just as good of an option, if not better, as an exit. Looking to the side and shielding his eyes, Jack then throws his weight into his elbow and breaks the window's glass. The man quickly but carefully raises himself to sit on the windowsill and assesses the damage from the window;
Glass had cut into his elbow, as well as both lengthened and deepened the cut that he had made earlier that day on his forearm. He sure as hell hoped that Elizabeth was capable enough to give him stitches when, if, he makes it back.
Just as he began to lean forward, the door to the first floor busted open and three police leak in from the doorway. Jack narrows his eyes then and glares at the police that had just entered the staircase before jumping down a story and a half of the building.
Jack landed on the group with a hard thud, as well as what seemed like a crack. Taking a deep breath, the man fully stood up and winced. Something in his right root had just broken. Not having the time to be able to sit around to wrap it and care for it, he began limping across the parking lot and towards the trees that stood on the other side. If he could get to the other side of those trees, he could then slip into the sewers and escape, but who knows if he'll make it ten feet. Glancing back, he only saw one guard who had caught sight of Jack, running towards him. The criminal shook his head slightly as he continued to make his way towards the trees. Just when he made it to the edge of the trees, he heard a gun shot.
Jack winced as he felt a bullet graze his left arm and bit his lips together, as well as his tongue, to hold back a yell that was sure to let itself out as soon as he stopped holding his lips together. He had to get away from the man. The man then ran into the trees, swerving around each of them, trying to throw off the man who was following him. Once he believed that he was far enough into the trees, he stopped and leaned up against the nearest tree to look at his newly added addition of wounds to his body from this day. The graze wasn't back. It had missed all important ligaments, bones, blood-vessels and muscles. There was, thankfully, only a potion of skin missing. Just when Jack thought that the cop had given up at trying to find him, he couldn't have been more wrong. The crunch of leaves and twigs under the man's boots made it easy to pin out where he was. Jack shook his head to himself, he hated killing people while on his runs, but it was necessary if he wanted to get back to poor Elizabeth who was waiting for him to safely return. Silently, Jack switched trees to angle himself from behind the policeman. He would try to make it quick and painless, but there was no saying that he could get it spot on. Jack then removed himself from behind the safety of his tree and slowly and carefully began to stalk the man, inching closer and closer to him. Finally, when the cop was in arms length, Jack whipped out his hand with the second dagger in it and drive it straight into the man's neck, puncturing his lungs so he could no longer draw a breath and had no chance of living. Before heading towards the sewer's entrance, he looked down at the cop as life left his wide, fear-filled, eyes and took the dagger from the man's neck and wiped the blood on his uniform before limping on.
