Chapter 8
The cold morning air bit sharply against David’s skin as he hoisted the window wide open, letting the gray light of early dawn flood the cramped hospital bathroom. Below them, the rear loading dock of St. Jude Memorial was quiet, save for a single empty delivery truck idling near the recycling bins. Clara stared at the open window in sheer disbelief, her hands trembling as she pulled her wool coat tightly around her shoulders.
"David, are you insane?" she whispered, her voice cracking with fear. "We're on the third floor! How are we supposed to get down there?"
"There's a maintenance ladder just outside, attached to the service gantry," David said, his tone leaving no room for argument. He turned to Leo, who had followed them in without a word of complaint. "Leo, I need you to go first. Grab onto the rungs tightly and don't look down. I'll be right behind you with your sister."
Leo nodded, his expression remarkably calm for a child climbing out of a third-story hospital window. He scrambled up onto the porcelain sink, hoisted his small frame over the window sill, and gripped the rusted iron rungs of the maintenance ladder. Within seconds, his green hoodie vanished into the gray shadows as he began his steady descent.
David turned to Clara, placing the sleeping infant securely inside the front pouch of Clara's heavy wool coat, buttoning it up to protect the baby from the biting wind. "Clara, hold the baby tight against your chest with both hands. I'm going to guide you every step of the way. Look at me, not at the ground. Can you do that for me?"
Tears welled in Clara’s eyes, but she swallowed hard and nodded, the maternal instinct overriding her terror. "I've got her. Just... don't let go, David."
They scrambled through the window onto the narrow metal gantry. The wind whipped through the alleyway, carrying the distant sounds of city traffic waking up for the day. David stayed directly behind Clara, his hands resting firmly on her waist to steady her as she took her first hesitant steps down the iron ladder. Behind them, muffled shouts echoed from inside Room 312 as hospital security finally breached the locked bathroom door.
"Over there! On the fire gantry!" a voice barked from above.
"Move, Clara, move!" David urged, pushing her down the final rungs of the ladder as metal footsteps began clattering onto the walkway above them.
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They hit the concrete of the loading dock just as a security guard rounded the corner of the brick building, shouting for them to stop. Without looking back, David grabbed Leo's hand and pulled Clara toward his old sedan parked near the perimeter fence. The engine roared to life on the first turn of the ignition, and they tore out of the hospital parking lot into the labyrinth of city streets just as the gates began to close behind them.
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