Chapter 6 - The Fall and the Rise
"Are you insane?!" I yelled over the deafening wail of the security alarms and the sound of heavy fists hammering against the locked door of Room 412. "We're on the fourth floor! We'll fall straight to the pavement!"
"We're on the four-story annex roof," Nicholas corrected sharply, pointing through the shattered glass. "The main hospital tower is twenty feet away. Look down, Clara—there's a scaffolding lift right below us."
Outside, the wind whipped through the broken window, driving freezing rain directly into our faces. The heavy wooden door of the suite began to splinter under the relentless kicks of the guards outside.
Bam! Bam!
"Open the door! Security breach in 412!" a voice roared from the corridor.
Nicholas grabbed my hand, his grip unyielding. "Trust me, Clara."
Before I could process the sheer madness of the idea, Nicholas lunged forward, pulling me with him through the shattered glass and out into the howling Chicago storm.
The wind hit us like a physical wall. The freezing rain soaked through my scrubs in a split second, stealing the breath right out of my lungs. We landed hard on the slick, black-tar roof of the annex. My knees scraped against the gravel, sending a sharp wave of pain shooting up my legs.
"Get up! Move!" Nicholas shouted, pulling me toward the edge of the metal scaffolding.
Behind us, the door of Room 412 finally gave way with a deafening crash. Flashlights cut through the rainy darkness as security guards flooded the suite, rushing toward the broken window.
Gunshots cracked through the night. A bullet sparked off the metal roof inches from my left foot.
"Jump!" Nicholas commanded, grabbing the guide cable of the construction lift.
May you like
Without looking back, I grabbed the cable and slid down into the darkness, the rough metal burning my palms. Nicholas dropped right behind me, landing heavily on the lower platform just as a hail of bullets shattered the scaffolding rails above our heads.
With a frantic twist of the manual release lever, Nicholas dropped the lift platform down into the dark, rain-soaked alleyway below, disappearing into the shadows just as police sirens began to wail in the distance.
