Solflare: The Painter's Secret-Chapter 166: Way To Hell
Shadows stretched long at the entrance of Bastion Hospital, as the moon’s rays shone on the pavement.
Vehicles drove off with discharged patients, while others brought ones who seemed to be at the brink of death.
In one of the VIP rooms on the third floor, two nurses pushed the door open, then exited. "What a waste of wealth," a nurse who had a pinched nose said out loud.
A subtle laugh escaped the second nurse, who had a dimple on her left cheek. "I wish I were in her place." She closed her eyes, then imagined herself being part of the Prime Minister’s family.
"Girl," the pinched-nose nurse, Thess, pushed Edith’s shoulder. "You’d better stop these mesmerizing acts. It doesn’t fit you."
The two nurses walked to the elevator at the far end, closer to the stairs. The metallic clings of the car moving echoed around them, while they crossed their hands on their chests, waiting.
Two other nurses who had changed and were ready to leave their sections, under the night shifters, waited in the lobby, chatting.
"Look, here they come." The chubby lady turned toward the direction the slim one was looking at, then frowned.
Thess and Edith stopped, then handed over a document each.
"Here is what we found in the rooms. Kindly check them for us before you leave, please."
Edith seconded Thess’s words, then slowly placed her hands on her sides, staring at the looks on both day-shift nurses’ faces.
"Mm... I think that’s all." Kate handed the document to Nora, who also gave both documents a thorough scan.
"Yeah," Nora uttered, handing back both the document that was handed to her and the one from Kate.
"Take good care of the patients." Nora waved at the two nurses, then smiled. "They can be too stubborn. But get used to that."
Nora and Kate inhaled the chilled air, which had the fragrance of Bastion City wafting through it. "What a busy day."
Kate turned and smiled at Nora. "Indeed, it was more stressful than any other day."
The two nurses parted ways, one taking a cab, and the other remaining at the side of the road, awaiting her driver.
"Why is he taking so long to get here? The time had passed 10:00 pm," Nora stated, glancing at her lady’s watch, then frowned.
Countless vehicles stopped for her. But she didn’t bother to enter.
Some offered her a free ride, licking their lips and winking at her. Yet, Nora refused.
But the moment a white BMW, which had two black BMWs halting at the back and front, stopped, Nora smiled.
"Hhew..." she gave a subtle breath, positioned her handbag well, and then neared the vehicle.
The backseat door automatically pushed open as she tried to grab it and open it by herself.
When she slid into the smooth, cozy interior of the vehicle, Nora relaxed against the tattoo-filled guy.
"Why did you take so long to get here, D. D. Demon?" The question was for Demon alone, but the two people sitting in the driver’s section all turned and looked at Nora through the rearview mirror.
"What are you looking at, brats?" Demon shouted and slammed his right palm on the glass sieve.
The two men in smart suits turned and focused on the street ahead.
"You look too tense, sweetheart. Is everything okay?" Nora asked, brushing the tip of her fingers on the scorpion tattoo that covered the back of Demon’s palm.
"As you can see, I’m not dead," Demon responded, caressing Nora.
The vehicles drove at high speed on the highway filled with lots and lots of minivans.
After ten minutes, they turned toward the junction, which had the sign "Way To Hell" and a Baphomet design tagged beneath it.
A crow slowly halted at the top of the sign the moment the three vehicles vanished into the thick darkness.
Back at Bastion Hospital, Thess walked down the hallway, holding a folder and whistling.
The echoes of her own voice made her halt, but she continued the moment she realized it wasn’t anyone but her own voice.
She moved from room to room, attending to the patients and checking if their vitals were not above the normal threshold.
An elderly woman in room 15 on the second floor wasn’t asleep when Thess entered.
"Hello, Grandma," Thess respectfully greeted the woman, then pulled a chair to her side.
"My daughter," the woman responded, adjusting herself.
"Miss Jina, hope you have been taking your medications?" Thess asked, then turned and began to check the drawer beside the bed.
Chilled air flew into the room, raising the curtains by the window.
Miss Jina turned and smiled at the slightly open window, her hands folding at her chest.
"It’s time." She turned a soft glance at the nurse, then nodded once.
"Miss Jina, have a good night’s sleep." Thess stood up, covered Miss Jina with the blue bedsheet, then neared the exit door.
"Turn the light off for me, please."
Thess turned in search of the bulb switch, then turned it off the moment she found it, just to the left of the open door.
"Take good care of yourself, my daughter," Miss Jina uttered mid-cough.
"I will, Grandma." Thess pulled the door shut, then continued the routine.
Meanwhile, Edith remained seated in the nurses’ changing room, chewing gum haphazardly, almost in the same way a prostitute would.
"Hahaha, look at their faces." She laughed heavily, scrolling through the videos she had taken on her field trip.
Behind her, the door pushed open, followed by soft footsteps.
Edith remained seated, earbuds glued to her ears. A figure appeared and vanished on the screen of her smart V5 device.
"Did I just see a ghost, or is it just my cracked screen?" She brushed it off, then continued flipping through the videos.
The scissors on the table behind her trembled on the metal plate, then rose into the air. The tip pointed toward the back of Edith’s neck.
"Mm... what’s the time?" She scrolled down the screen, then watched. "3:00:00. Well, it’s left with just two hours."
The scissors fell to the ground the moment she turned and caught them hovering behind her for a split second.
"Jes..." She rushed out from her seat, shaking.
