Page 105 of Bloom: Part 1

“Fuck. There’s no time to think, Logan. Just do what I fucking say!”

What had happened to me giving the orders? I didn’t take them, but I stumbled out of the OR after Bloom. He disarmed the dead man and stepped on the body, showing no respect at all for the deceased.

What are you thinking about? These men want you dead.

Bloom handed me the gun. “Aim, fire. You don’t need to have a perfect aim, just point it at the chest area or distract them long enough for me to kill them. Do you understand?”

Pull yourself together.

“Yes. I should lead, though. I know the hospital like the back of my hand.”

Bloom didn’t seem to like the idea, but footsteps approached from the opposite corridor. “All right, this way.”

With the expansion work happening, the construction team had created a temporary passage, which they used to moveequipment in and out without impeding regular hospital traffic. I led Bloom through a series of turns, each step filling me with hope that we might make it out of here.

How could criminals overrun a busy hospital? Where had so many come from? Two men walked out of a hospital room, laughing and buttoning their jeans. Sick bastards. Caught off guard by our appearance, they hesitated. Bloom didn’t. His actions were swift and lethal, the marking of a seasoned killer. The dissonance between the two Blooms was jarring, but survival overshadowed my concerns.

“We’re close to the exit,” I whispered.

Bloom nodded, still not speaking. His hyperfocus was both terrifying and reassuring. We went down a flight of stairs. As we approached the final bend to escape, we stopped dead in our tracks. Shit. Four men guarded the passage. Our exit was blocked. Not only that but beyond them was a black van. I should have suspected this was how they gained access to the hospital in the numbers they’d shown up in.

Retreat was our only option.

I pulled at Bloom’s arm. Thank god he didn’t protest, and we retraced our steps. My mind raced for an alternative, a temporary haven within the sprawling hospital complex where we could regroup and maybe find another way out. Then it hit me. The flooded hospital wing still hadn’t been dealt with. During our last meeting, the CEO had explained the last contractors they’d hired were unable to do the work, so they were sourcing another company. That was a week ago. I’d never been so grateful for the stingy bureaucrats who controlled the hospital budget.

“This way,” I whispered, steering us toward the wing. The electricity for the wing had been cut because of the flooding. Bloom used the flashlight from his phone to guide us through the halls. Watermarks stained the walls, and in some parts, thepaint was peeling off in large flakes, showing the mold beneath. We continued over the mildew-infested floor, the pungent scent of damp and decay making us gag, but we had no choice. It felt like stepping into a different world, one that time had forgotten. The silence was eerie but welcome after the chaos we’d left behind.

We found an abandoned patient room, its furnishings sparse and covered in dust. I closed the door gently behind us. The bed still had its sheets but was broken. We figured it could still be used as a barricade, and together we pushed it up against the door. Light barely seeped through the dusty windows, creating a foggy gloom. Bloom walked over, used his shirtsleeve to wipe a clean circle against the windowpane, and looked out.

I walked up behind him, and he stiffened. Why was he reacting like this? Why was he avoiding me? I placed my arms slowly around his waist and hugged him. A few seconds later, he sagged against me.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“We need to find a way to get you out of here.”

“Bloom, did you hear what I just asked you?”

“I can’t be okay until I know you’re safe.”

I turned him around in my arms. “Dammit, don’t you think it’s the same for me? I want you to be safe, and it scares me that you’re making plans for me but not yourself. What’s going through your head?”

“Getting you out of here.”

“Just so you know, whatever you’re hatching, I’m not leaving you behind.” He grunted and fished a knife out of his pocket. Why did he have so many knives on him?

“They didn’t search you?”

He shrugged. “Guess they didn’t see me as a threat.” He tried to pry the window open, but it wouldn’t budge, and he gave up. He held up his phone. “Fucking reception’s horrible in here.”

My sweet, naïve, vulnerable boy was gone. How was this the same Bloom who had sat on the floor with his arms wrapped around my legs? The boy I’d found in my shower berating himself for wetting my bed? There was no vulnerability in him. No fear. But fear was good. Fear kept you alive.

“Shit. Crowe’s been calling me. The damn therapist makes me turn it off when we have a session.” He punched in a number and put it on speaker but turned the volume down.

“Bloom, is that you?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s me.”

“Thank god. When I couldn’t get through to you, I thought you were still at the hospital.”

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