Sarah johnson's Arc

Chapter 7 of 7

The officers had warned them that the men who took Jake did not act alone. Those words had scared Sarah for days. So on Monday night, she drove back to the hospital. She told herself she only wanted to see Jake. But she also wanted to watch. If someone was still out there, she would not sit and wait for them. It was almost midnight when she slipped through a side door and into the quiet hall. She found Jake awake, propped against his pillows. The bandage was smaller now. His green eyes brightened when he saw her. "You broke in," he whispered. A small snort escaped him. "That's cheating." "I visit how I want," Sarah said. She sat on the edge of his bed. "How's the head?" "Still beat you at everything," he said. Then he coughed, and his grin dropped. Sarah heard voices in the hall. Two men. Low and careful. She pressed herself to the wall beside the door and listened. "Room four," one said. "We grab him before the shift change. No noise this time." Her stomach went cold. Room four. Jake's room. The same two men. They had come back to take him again. Sarah did not freeze. She grabbed Jake's water pitcher off the table. Her heart slammed. "Stay quiet," she breathed to him. The door pushed open. A man stepped in, broad and slow. Sarah swung the pitcher hard into his face. Water and plastic cracked against his nose. He stumbled back, cursing. She shoved the rolling tray into his legs and he went down. "Help!" she screamed. "Security! Room four!" The second man froze in the doorway. Sarah hit the red call button and kept her hand on it. Boots pounded down the hall. Two officers rounded the corner, and a nurse behind them. The second man turned to run. An officer slammed him to the floor. It was over in seconds. The men lay flat, wrists cuffed behind them. One bled from his nose onto the clean tile. The officer who had worked Jake's case knelt beside them and looked up at Sarah. "You stopped both of them," he said. "These two were the last. The rest are already in custody. Jake's safe now. Really safe." Sarah stood shaking, the broken pitcher still in her hand. Jake stared at her from the bed. "You hit a man with a cup," he said. "I won," she said. Her voice cracked. He laughed, the real pig-snort laugh, and it did not end in a cough. He reached for her hand. She dropped the pitcher and took it. "When I'm out of here," he said, "we finish that rematch. No quitting." "Deal," Sarah said. The officers led the men away. The danger was gone. For the first time, Sarah let herself hold his hand without fear of what waited in the hall.