Free The Ward by S.L. Grey Page B

wards.
    I need to get some perspective. Calm the fuck down. Calm Lisa down. Take charge. I do my best to sound as rational and focussed as I can. ‘All we have to do is get far away from here,
report this shit to whoever the authorities are and then I guess you should go to another hospital. There are loads of private clinics in Joburg, there must be a vacancy somewhere.’
    ‘I can’t go to a private clinic.’
    ‘You don’t have medical aid?’
    ‘It’s not that. There are other… complications.’
    ‘Like what?’
    She doesn’t answer.
    ‘Like
what
, Lisa?’
    ‘Nobody else will do the surgery. It’s not safe. I’ve had too many. I only came here because they didn’t ask… because they said they would do it.’
    ‘What do you mean you’ve had too many?’
    ‘It doesn’t matter.’ She’s quiet, then she’s crying.
    The air’s ripped by a helicopter’s blades chopping above us. Its dark shape squats down behind the trees at the hospital.
    Lisa gasps and swallows as she stifles her tears. ‘Sorry, sorry,’ she says. I wish she’d stop apologising.
    The helicopter’s noise is a wake-up call. Soon as I’m home I’m going to make things right. I get up. First step, find a phone. The hospital is my best bet. ‘Can you help
me back to the hospital?’
    ‘No!’
    ‘Hang on, hang on. Just to Reception. They don’t need to know who I am. I’ll just ask to use the phone.’
    ‘No, Farrell, please. I told you, something bad is going to happen there.’
    ‘You don’t think your “something bad” has already happened? There are dead bodies piling up outside from a train crash and you think they’re planning to carve me
up. What else can happen?’
    She just shakes her head.
    ‘Besides,’ I say. ‘You have to have your operation. You should see a doctor straight away. I’ll just call someone to come and get us.’ Who? If Katya’s on a
job, she wouldn’t be able to. What about Eduardo? I’ll just call a taxi, go home, sort it out from there. ‘It’s our only option.’
    ‘What if there’s someone here? Instead of going back to the hospital?’
    ‘Where?’
    ‘Here. In this house.’
    ‘Right. Like some householder’s going to let a woman and a blind man wearing a patient’s gown in to “use the phone”. Across the road from New Hope Hospital, which,
if you weren’t aware, is where they patch up the crims and hijackers. Not bloody likely.’
    Lisa’s up and pacing as a helicopter clatters over our heads. I can even see the outlines of her arms as she riffles her hair in agitation. I blink, blink again. It’s not a trick.
I’m seeing better.
    ‘Farrell. There’s a—’
    ‘Freeze!’ I duck. CRACK!
    ‘Farrell!’
    Holy fuck, someone’s shooting at us.
    ‘I said
freeze
!’
    I stand still, raise my hands halfway up. The voice is coming from behind me, but I don’t know which direction I’m facing now.
    ‘Lisa!’ I whisper. ‘Lisa!’
    The man shouts again, his voice tinged with excitement. ‘Shut up. Get down on the ground!’
    ‘Lisa!’
    CRACK!
    ‘One more move and the next one’s in your back. It’s not a good day to test us.’
    I crumble to my knees, wondering where Lisa is, why she’s not answering. She can’t be far. I sink to my belly. All I can hope is that this is a security guard. If it’s a
burglar, we’re fucked. There’s no reason for him to keep us alive.
    A walkie-talkie sputters. ‘Dispatch, come in. Goosen, Patrol 907. Two intruders apprehended at 67 Hospital Road. Request backup.’ Thank Jesus. I breathe again. This guy is probably
private security, probably less likely than a criminal to kill us. I hear Lisa whimpering a few metres away from me, also from the level of the lawn. She’s okay. That’s good.
    Then I hear the sssh-sssh-sssh of lawn-footsteps coming towards us.
    ‘Hey! Stop there! Identify please.’
    ‘I’m RN Nomsa Makgatho. I work at the… at the hospital. These patients got lost in the chaos there. I’m here