Chase in Chains

I sigh. The elevator dings and the doors open to a wide hallway with a couple nurses—one standing, one sitting—behind a high desk, and the bustle of people moving everywhere. The hospital smells like disinfectant and . . . is it pork?

It's almost dinner time. My stomach growls.

I grabbed a granola bar on my way out the door, but otherwise I haven't eaten today. I'll figure that out after I've seen Chase.

The nurse behind the desk looks at me expectantly. I give her Chase's name and she points me to a doorway across the hall from this central area.

There's a curtain around the inside of the doorway, but I can see feet underneath it.

When I reach the room, it's a lot dimmer than the hallway. I push back the curtains with a light screech, and scan the room.

There's a big, white, hospital bed—the kind they can roll around—in the center of the room. Chairs on either side of it, and an alcove with a window on the other side of the room.