Page 74 of Hospital for Immortal Creatures

Amelia wanted to hug the redhead in gratitude. The woman sensed her relief and leaned over the wheelchair. “I don’t know who you are and I don’t care, but if you cause me even the slightest amount of trouble, I will pull your nails out one by one.” With a smile, she added, “Slowly.” Then she addressed an elderly man who was passing by. “Get her inside!”

He grasped the wheelchair handles and pushed Amelia down the corridor and into a small room, with a wide chair with armrests, a sink and a cupboard covered in empty test tubes. The redhead didn’t follow them inside. Despite that, a new wave of fear rushed over Amelia.

“Will you be taking my blood?” she asked.

The man, who was unusually old, pointed to his lips. He was mute.

He held his palm up in the universal ‘Wait here’ gesture and scooted off. Amelia counted to three before getting up. She pulled out the perfume, removed the cap and, just when she pressed the liquid to her skin, the door swung open. A plump woman in pink scrubs strode in.

“Who are you?” she asked, waving a tourniquet. “There was supposed to be a hum—”

Amelia wrapped her hand around the vial, hiding it from her sight. “I’m sorry. I was looking for the ladies’ toilet,” she said in her most innocent voice.

The woman squinted at her. “Ladies’ toilet?”

“Yes, I felt nauseous after—”

She clicked her tongue. “You New Generations are so weak. During the fifteenth century, we could go for months without any signs of fatigue, let alone illness.”

The perfume was working! The woman thought she was a creature.

“Washroom’s down the hall to the left.”

Amelia headed for the door.

“Wait a second!” The woman was staring at the wheelchair. “Did you see anyone here?”

“No, sorry.” With that, she rushed out the door.

The next two seconds could be fatal. If the redhead or the hybrid ran into her in the hallway…

Please, please, please…

It was full of creatures, but none of them wore scrubs or leather. Amelia hesitated for a beat. The hybrid was probably waiting for her outside the Radiology Department. And the woman in pink would very soon inform the redhead that the human she had been sent to was missing.

Meaning I’m best off to blend in.

She took off for the bathroom. On the way over, she grabbed a coat from the hanger and threw it on. The dark blue down jacket reached down to her ankles, the sleeves covered her palms, and the hood was enormous.

“Excuse me…” A man stepped into her path, holding a little boy’s hand. “I saw you come out of that room. Could you help us?” Amelia didn’t respond, so he continued. “My son… He fell and hit his knee. He can’t sit still. My wife usually brings him here but she’s tied up today. She told me to bring him for an X-ray to see if the bone is broken.”

Behind Amelia, a door opened and a sixth sense told her it was from the room she’d just been in. She needed a breakout plan. Now.

So she did the only thing she could come up with – she threw on the hood and knelt by the boy. “Does it hurt?”

“A little.” He frowned.

“He never tells us when he’s in pain because he’s afraid we’ll stop him from playing,” the father chimed in.

From under the hood, her peripheral vision caught the woman in the pink scrubs rushing past them. “You should go to the reception area. It’s across the hall. I was just headed that way. If you’d like, I can take you?”

The man let out a huge breath. “I would be very grateful.”

Amelia took a deep inhale and led them to the exit without so much as a glance towards the other patients who were waiting for their turn. What if someone pointed to her, yelling, “There she is! The human!”

They didn’t do it a moment ago, why would they now? Dave’s perfume is working.

A woman marched out of a nearby room, mumbling something to the two children that followed her. Amelia caught up with them as they headed for the exit.

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