“Hey,” said Davie, approaching the man nonchalantly. “Having a sneaky fag?”
The man nodded. “I’d just finished my break when the fire alarms went off. Thought it was a good opportunity for another. Managed to buy another pack just as the gift shop was clearing out.”
“Won’t they be doing a role call or something?”
The man shrugged. “Probably. It’s just a false alarm, though. Do you see any fires?”
Davie shook his head. “In that case, can I go through?”
The man took a drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke in the air. “What is it tonight with people not using the main entrance?”
“What do you mean?”
“Just twenty minutes ago some dude was asking me the same question.”
“Really? What did he look like?”
The man narrowed his eyes. “Messed up. Face all ripped and shit. What’s it to you, kid, anyway?”
Davie thought of an answer. “I think it was err…my dad.”
The man nodded. “What was he in for?”
Davie continued the fabrication, seeing no other course of action. “He had an accident at the factory where he worked. That’s why his face was injured.”
The man took another drag on his cigarette and this time blew the smoke right into Davie’s face. “Really? You see that’s funny, because he told me he’d been in a car accident.”
Davie was stuck for an answer. Making stuff up had never been one of his talents and he’d obviously blown it this time. Before he even had chance to attempt another bluff the hospital employee had heard enough.
“Just get out of here, kid. I don’t know what’s going on tonight, but I’m not getting involved. Piss off out of here, now.”
Davie couldn’t afford to let the man go back inside and close the door. The hospital was currently deserted and would be the perfect time to reach his brother – if Frankie was indeed inside. It would also be the perfect time for his brother to kill Andrew and his family. Davie had to get through and keep that possibility from happening.
He pulled out the revolver stuffed down his trousers and pointed it at the man. “Move out the fuckin’ way.”
The man looked at Davie and laughed. “You a proper gangster, yeah? What is that, a water pistol?”
Davie laughed back. “Yeah man, I’m a regular OG.” Then he smashed the gun against the man’s face and knocked him out cold. His body sprawled back into the doorway and Davie wasted no time in stepping over him.
He would have to find his way around the hospital without having a clue where he was going, but there were no other choices. Currently he stood by a cafeteria, but that didn’t help much. The hospital had three floors and a dozen departments. It wouldn’t be easy to find his brother in this maze. In fact it could turn out to be nigh-impossible.
But when a gunshot rang out, things got a whole lot easier.
The short explosion had come from the same floor that Davie was already on; somewhere down the end of the long corridor in which he now stood. The signs above him pointed in that direction read WARDS 4-7. Davie ran as fast as his battered body would allow. He was still nowhere near recovered from his car accident, but he tried to put the discomfort aside. His trainers squeaked on the floor as he picked up speed.
Davie didn’t know what the gunshot meant for certain, but he knew it couldn’t be anything good. The odds that someone had just been shot were high and the odds that it was Frankie behind the trigger were even higher.
Either that or the police have just gunned down my crazy brother.