WARNING: There is a mention of a small panic attack in this chapter. If you think it might trigger you, read until you see this, ###, then skip until you see this,+++.

Please enjoy!

Jan 12, 2019
School
2:30pm

The rest of the day was a pain. Literally. My shoulder was throbbing! It felt like it was about to burst open. How could a teenage boy have enough strength to break a shoulder? He must work out a lot. An average adult probably wouldn't be able to apply enough force with their bare hands to break a shoulder. It's almost impossible. Maybe.

I didn't pay attention in class at all. The incident that occurred only an hour ago was still playing in my head. Many things went on in my mind. How did Caleb see me? Why did he want to know what I saw if he already saw it? Would he have killed me if I told him?

Levi wasn't paying attention either. He was more focused on me. When the teacher called on one of us, we would just give him a random answer like everyone else. Eventually, giving the wrong answer every time we got called on was starting to grab the attention of many people. It was very rare for the both of us to get anything wrong. Especially if it was a simple question.

" What is the square root of 81, Levi?" Mr. Chad would ask. " Seven." Levi would reply. Then he would realize that he got the answer wrong, and he wouldn't care. It seemed as though my well-being was more important to him than anything else at the moment. Mr. Chad sighed. " This is how you know this school year needs to end. Even the smartest students can't answer a simple question correctly." He muttered.

" The answer is 9." I teased. Levi gave me a look. " I know what the answer is!" He snapped. I smiled. " Sure you did."

                                 XXX

When mom picked me up, she immediately saw that something was wrong. " Whose jacket is that?" She asked.  I forgot that I was still wearing Levi's jacket. " It's Levi's. He let me wear it because I got cold inside the classroom." I lied. I hoped she would buy it. " Ok. Just make sure you give it back to him tomorrow." She said.

We got into the car and headed back to the hospital. I could tell mom had a good day. She was talking for the entire ride. She told me about her day and how the customers were all doing fine and she didn't have any problems. I was happy for her. " That's great mom." I said. She looked at me and smiled. " How was your day, sweetheart?" She asked.

I thought a moment before answering. " It was awesome." Mom looked at me intrigued. " You never use the word 'awesome' to describe your day. How was it awesome?" I told her about my day. I started from the time she dropped me off to the time she picked me up. I left out the part with Caleb. She seemed really interested. She let out surprised gasps and she said, " Wow!" every now and then.

When I finished, she nodded approvingly and said, " That's great Jacie. I'm really glad that you had a great day."

" An awesome day." I corrected. Mom chuckled. " Right. An awesome day."

We pulled up to the parking lot at the hospital, and went inside. It wasn't packed and it wasn't empty. It was nice and quiet too. " Hm. Seems like everyone isn't busy today." Mom said. I nodded in agreement. We went to the elevator and went up five floors. We watched the floor monitor change. 1....2.....3.....4. Finally, we reached floor five.

When the doors opened, my heart dropped. I forgot about everything that happened today.

There were nurses everywhere! They were all rushing from one place to the other. They were yelling out orders to each other. They were all bustling around. They looked like ants scurrying around on an anthill. To make matters worse, they were all in my dad's room. One of the nurses brought out a... defibrillator? I looked at my dad's heart monitor.
                                 ###
It wasn't until then that I realized what a panic attack was. My breathing became rapid and my heart was thumping hard in my chest. I found it hard to breathe. My stomach was twisting and I started sweating all over. This felt much worse than my shattered shoulder.

Next thing I knew, I was kneeling on the ground, clutching my stomach and breathing fast. Mom rushed to my side and yelled," Jacie!" She put her hands on my shoulders and turned me away from the horrible scene. She put her hands on my face and whispered in a hushed voice. " It's ok. Think about something else. What did you say you did in school today?" She asked.

I thought about my day and said it out loud. " I went to class with Levi. I ate lunch and read a book. We had a history quiz and a math test. Both of which I got an A on. I played with Levi at recess." My breathing was shortening and my heart was beating less rapidly. My head cleared out and my vision became clear again. The knot in my stomach was gone. I took a few deep breaths and stood up.
+++
Mom helped me and we stayed hugging each other and facing the wall. I didn't dare look back. I didn't want to see my dad.

A loud and long ' beeeeeeeep' had sounded from the room. My dad's heart monitor had just flatlined.

"CLEAR!" One of the nurse shouted. He activated the defibrillator and sent a shock throughout my dad's body. Dad's body went up, and then back down.

No pulse

" READY! CLEAR!" Another shock rippled through my dad's body. He went up and back down again.

Still no pulse.

" CLEAR!" They sent a third shock.

No pulse. The line remained flat. The nurses shook their heads and put their heads in their hands. Mom started sobbing. " No." I started sobbing too.

My dad was dead.

                                 XXX

The nurses put dad on a metal rolling table. They put a white blanket over his body and wheeled him into another room. This room was filled with bodies on separate tables. They put him at the very end. Once they finished, we went over to dad's side, and cried.

I cried my eyes out. My dad ( My dad!!! ) was dead. I put my hand on his chest, hoping that I could find a heartbeat. But there was no heartbeat. He was really gone.

My endless crying was interrupted by a text by Levi. Hey. We're on our way. I gasped. I totally forgot about him and the others. Mom noticed my gasp. I quickly pretended that I was yawning. She lifted an eyebrow. " What's wrong?" I sighed. " I'm just very tired." She considered this for a second. Then she nodded. " I'm pretty tired too." She wiped away her tears and stood up. She stared sadly at his now covered body.

She lifted the blanket and screamed. I went to her side and saw what it was.

It was a dummy. It looked so real, but it was actually fake. I gave out a sigh of relief. This could only mean two things. (1) Dad might not be dead. (2) Someone here in the hospital is a mole.

I whipped out my phone and called Levi. But then I paused, and looked at mom. She was still staring at the dummy in shock. She still didn't know about Levi and the others. Oh well. She's going to find out all about it in a second.

I dialed in Levi's number. He picked up on the second ring. " Hello?"
" Levi! Are you almost here?"
" Yes. We're almost there, why?
" Something's going on here in the hospital. Someone took dad and there's a mole here. I need your help."

" How do you know someone took your dad?"
" It's a long story." Just then, the lights flickered, and turned off.
" Levi?"
" Yes? What's wrong?"
A loud crash echoed through the room. Mom looked up and was surprised at a lot of things. She saw the dummy, now she saw me talking to Levi, she saw the power go off, and now she heard the crash.
" Jacie! What was that?"
" Levi hurry! I think there's someone in here. Someone that's not supposed to be here."

Then, all of the bodies inside the room rose up, and got off the tables. It actually looked kinda creepy. It was like watching a bunch of zombies rise from their graves. Only these were actual, living people. I gasped as one of them stepped forward and took out a gun from his waistband. He walked towards me, and stopped a few feet away from me.

He aimed the gun at my mom, and said in a cold, bone-chilling voice, " Hang up the phone, Jacie or I'll shoot your mom." His finger was inches away from the trigger. I also saw something weird about his hand. It looked...robotic! In fact, his whole body looked robotic. He had prosthetics everywhere! I wonder how he got all of those.

I reluctantly hung up the phone.

" Good. Now, put the phone on the ground, and slide it over to me." He said. His gun was still aimed at my mom. I did as I was told, and slid it over to him. It stopped at his foot. He bent down and picked it up. He studied it for a bit. Then, he put it in his pocket.

Two other guys came up from behind us. Then, I felt a needle jab into the back of my neck, and I blacked out.