Chapter Two (Part Two)

(continued)

Stepping in, the pair did a swift survey of the scene before them.
It was good. There wasn’t even a single doctor or nurse to be seen.

Taylor nodded knowingly at her brother, motioning for him to follow her. She knew the way to the patient’s ward. Forbes had shown her the layout of the hospital once, and she had gotten the entire structure memorized inside out.
Just in case. Taylor always said.
Talan just thought she was plain crazy. Like the times she told them she thought their powers were cool.

Following closely behind his sister, Talan felt an uncanny sense of déjà vu settling uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach. The corridors, the colors… it all still looked so familiar.

‘Shit,’ Taylor muttered suddenly under bated breath.

Talan knew immediately what she was referring to. A young nurse decked primly in Salvation City’s uniform was making her way over to them.

‘Just ignore her,’ he mumbled back to his sister, as they strode on past the nurse.

The young nurse stopped in her tracks, and Talan could feel her eyes on them. ‘Excuse me, but visiting hours are…’ she began, rather meekly.

Despite better judgment, Talan found his eyes traveling up for a closer look at her face. He wanted to see if it would register in his memories. He wanted to see if she was one of the beasts who aided in holding him captive here, two months ago.
She wasn’t.
Talan let his head drop to his chest immediately, as though it was a basic reflex.
As they rounded the corner towards their destination, he wondered for a second if the young nurse would persist after them.
She didn’t.
Talan smiled to himself sourly. Of course, he thought. She’s new here.
The vile claws of Salvation City obviously hadn’t reached her yet. It hadn’t transformed her, but it would, soon. Just like how it had for the others.

‘We’re here,’ Taylor announced softly. They were standing outside Ward number 50.

Talan looked at his sister. ‘You know what to do with the camera, right? That’s the first thing you’ve got to handle.’

The special patients at Salvation City were being monitored by hawk-eyed security guards 24/7, through the aid of the surveillance cameras located on the top right-corner of their wards. Talan should know. He was once one of those patients.

Taylor nodded vigorously, her eager hand already reaching for the door knob. ‘I know that.’

‘Okay, then. Let’s do it.’

At Talan’s signal, Taylor opened the door and stepped a half-inch into the ward guardedly, her face and eyes craned towards the top-right corner of the ceiling.
Talan heard the slight whirling of the surveillance camera, as it was being turned away from the patient’s bed and towards the ceiling.

‘Done,’ Taylor announced, making her way briskly over to the patient lying unconscious on the bed.

Talan followed in after her, closing the door to the ward behind them softly. ‘Get him out from all the things they had inserted on him, quick. We’ve only got a minute before the camera would auto-regulate back to its original position.’

Taylor let her vision narrow in upon the limp body under the hospital sheets and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath to steady herself. She felt the concentration intensifying under her eyelids.
When her eyes fluttered opened again, Taylor channeled the burning energy from her gaze to the nodes and needles inserted into the patient’s body.
In orchestrated synchrony, they dislodged themselves and flew out from his skin, hovering in the air for a second before Taylor let her gaze descend, sending them scattered messily upon the bed.

Now for the second part of her mission.
Clenching her fist in deep concentration, Taylor roamed her smoldering pupils over the length of the patient’s body. Hurling out the remainder of her energy, she lifted the patient off his bed effortlessly, the hospital sheets sailing to the ground soundlessly. Taylor held and steadied her gaze, so the patient would be trapped securely in the invisible blanket of energy suspending him in mid-air.
‘Great job,’ Talan muttered, turning his attention from his sister to the corridor outside the ward. He heard the faint echoes of footsteps coming their way. Throwing open the door, Talan stepped out from the ward and threw his right arm out.
Holding his position rigidly, Talan spread opened his fingers, awaiting the surge of energy coursing through the veins in his hand to project and amplify across the area before him.
The footsteps stopped. Talan withdrew his hand and turned to face the ward urgently. ‘It’s safe now. Let’s go.’

With the patient balanced in thin air between them, under Taylor’s telekinetic hold, the duo hurried down the corridor and down the block of stairs, with Talan leading the way.
Pushing opened the door leading to the main lobby on the ground floor of Salvation City; Talan hurled both hands out, shaking erratically from the immense power leaving his body at the command of his hands.
The entire lobby full of people froze in their tracks; completely unaware that this moment would befall upon them.
Struggling as fast as they could out of the hospital premises and into the open car park, Taylor willed the Porsche door open for their newest save – patient Matt Peters.
Beside her, Talan sank to his knees, leaning against the freezing body of the automobile. His body was still shaking from the exertion needed to freeze the motion out of an entire lobby-full of people.

‘C’mon Talan,’ Taylor urged softly. ‘We’ve gotta go.’

Panting heavily, Talan nodded, drawing slowly to full height. Before he slid into his seat next to Taylor, he found his eyes traveling back to the lighted-windows mounted to the white-slab building.
Patients, nurses, doctors, visitors – everybody were moving about lively back in the hospital lobby, completely unaware that they had been solidified momentarily for two minutes, just a while ago.
Solidified momentarily by him, Talan Adams.

Freak. Talan thought bitterly to himself, eyeing his trembling hands in disgust. Freak.