A (not so) Great Escape

Rin opened her eyes, slowly and steadily. It was difficult to keep them open but she resisted. However, it barely served as any use as everything was blurry. She could barely make out anything. All she knows is that it was white everywhere.

"Oh goodness, you're awake." A female voice softly said.

She kept saying more things but Rin couldn't make out what it was. Everything was a blur to her, she was still processing her current situation. Even thinking was difficult for her to achieve.

The female then said something to Rin that she couldn't comprehend. All she could do was look at her blurry figure in confusion. She then turned around and walked away.

She blinked her eyes multiple times, trying to improve her vision. She looked at a random object and tried to focus on what it was. She looked at the light so that her eyes could adjust to the brightness of the room.

Slowly, her eyes started to grow less blurry. Rin looked around once more to try and see what was happening. She soon realized that she was inside a hospital room, laying down on a bed with IV injections sticking in her arm.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the machine beside her. Confusion filled her, thinking about what could've happened that led to this.

What happened? Rin thought. She then tried to lift her body up, starting with her head but immediately stopped after feeling a sharp pain.

"Ughh..." Rin groaned in pain.

"I don't think you should do that." Another female voice said. Rin looked towards the direction of the voice and saw a female in dark green scrubs, brunette, average height, and quite attractive. She looked like a doctor, Rin couldn't be sure as she wasn't wearing a white coat like how typical doctors do.

The supposed doctor looked at Rin with a smile as she formally introduced herself, "I'm Doctor Christine Palmer."

"I'm.. Rin." Rin hesitantly introduced herself.

Christine nodded then put on her stethoscope to start checking. "How are you feeling right now? Feeling a little dizzy?"

"W-wait what happened? What's.. what's going on?" Rin stumbled over her words. She was getting overwhelmed and very confused. On top of that, she was in pain.

"Well, it seems that you experienced blunt head trauma which caused you to be unconscious for hours," Christine explained as she continued to check on Rin's current condition. "It also looks like your face has been deeply cut on one side. Any idea how all that could've happened?"

That's when Rin recalled the incident that happened between her and her now ex-partner. Her not-so-good mood became worse. It didn't take her long to connect one and one together and realize that Sean must've hit her as she was about to stab Kim.

However it still struck her as odd how she's still alive and is in a hospital. Kim said it loud and clear that he could make her death unnoticeable. He could've successfully killed her yet she's breathing and is recovering. Something wasn't right.

This is strange.

>>Time pass<<

Rin carefully removed the IV injections from her arm. She tried doing it quietly to not gain any attention from anybody. After successfully doing so, she took a peek through the door for any staff. She was looking at who to avoid so that she could successfully run out.

Rin can't stay for several reasons. One of them is that she doesn't have the money to pay the hospital bills. The other is that there is a possibility that this is Kim's dirty play. If so, she has to be on the run.

There was staff around, but nothing Rin would not handle. She looked around to locate an exit but couldn't see one from her current position.

Rin sighed. I just have to go for it.

She waited for the perfect opportunity before walking out of her room, acting normally so that nobody would suspect a thing. Thankfully, years of mischief has prepared her for this day.

Rin looked in both directions, trying to decide which looked more like a path to outside. Having absolutely no clue, she picked one and went for it.

After a few turns, she realized how much she underestimated the size of the Hospital. It had so many directions a person could go through but still no signs of the exit could be seen. Having just recovered from being unconscious, her body was still weak and she was getting tired from walking.

Where's this stupid exit. Rin thought. She put her hand in her pocket as a way of comfort. As she did, she felt something bulging from the inner pocket. When she checked to see what it was, she saw a familiar metal piece.

It was her backup knife, a multi-tool one that she keeps hidden in any case she might need it. She proceeded to pull it out halfway only to shove it back in after realizing it's a stupid idea. However, it was caught in the fabric and wouldn't go down.

Ah great, it's stuck... Goddammit. Rin cursed as she continued desperately to put the knife back in.

While she was preoccupied with this, another preoccupied doctor was heading in the opposite direction to her. The only difference is that he was going at a quicker pace. None of them paid any attention to what was ahead of them which resulted in collision and pain.

"Eugh!" They both groaned after strongly colliding with each other. While the doctor was tall and bigger so he didn't receive much impact, the same couldn't be said for the female.

Rin was the most affected by the collision. She took a few steps back to keep her balance but eventually had to rely on the wall for support. Doing this prevented her from falling to the cold tiled floor.

"I'm very sorry." The doctor apologized.

Rin pulled herself up, rubbing her arm. She was annoyed but after seeing the person she just bumped into, her expression changed.

Crap, it's a staff. Rin internally panicked as she looked at the tall doctor. She put on her best poker face and tried to act as calm and collected as possible.

"I wasn't looking either, it's not completely your fault," Rin said.

The doctor nodded as a response. Just when Rin thought she was about to get away from him, he started questioning her.

"Are you headed somewhere?" The doctor asked.

Rin shook her head. "I was actually on my way out. Just got discharged but I kinda lost my way."

"You got lost?"

"Yeah, I had to go punch the prime minister." Rin chuckled, referencing a line from her favorite show. Of course a busy, medical man such as the guy in front of her didn't understand what she was saying and as a result, gave a look of confusion.

"It's.. It's the restroom." Rin awkwardly cleared out.

The doctor continued giving her an odd look while slowly nodding. "Right. Well if you go any further, you'd reach the laboratory."

Rin nodded. "Oh. Is there any way you could tell me where the exit is?"

"I suppose I could but.." the doctor trailed off. He looked into Rin's eyes, deeply as if he was coming to take her soul. Rin's heart was racing from so much anxiety. As she looked at the doctor, she knew that all hopes would be lost.

However all of this quickly faded when the doctor smiled and nodded at her. He gestured for her to follow him and started walking. Rin took her biggest breath of relief yet and followed him.

The doctor took a couple of turns and walked some distance but Rin didn't question it. She could smell freedom from where she is. Various plans have been constructed in her head to hide from Kim's men. Rin already thought of going across the country and living there until she realized the hallway felt familiar.

The doctor then stopped in front of a room and turned to Rin. It was the same room Rin was just in earlier. Rin was horrified after seeing the room and was even more horrified after seeing the doctor's wicked smile.

"You're Dr. Palmer's patient." He said.

In a fit of panic, Rin started bluffing. "You don't know that."

"I do."

Even though she was caught in the act, she stuck to her lie. "Look doc, I just got discharged and kinda got lost. I was hoping to get your help but it seems like you just want to mess with me."

Rin then moved away from the doctor and slowly started to walk. "Anyways, I have to go. Keep saving lives."

"Miss, you're not fooling anyone." The doctor blocked her path, not letting her walk away easily. "I saw you being rushed on a stretcher not 2 days ago."

"That's not me." Rin denied.

"Platinum blonde, external bleeding on the right side of the face," the doctor described as he boasted, "I have a photographic memory."

Hearing this made Rin scoff. "Your arrogance is flowing down your white hairs."

"And your stubbornness will get you killed."

"Has anyone told you that your ego is 10 times the size of the sun?"

"If you're calling me a star I'm very much flattered."

"Rin?" Christine called as she approached the girl. It was only then she noticed the male doctor which made her furrow her eyebrows. "Doctor Strange."

"Hello Dr. Palmer." Strange greeted his co-doctor.

Christine moved her attention back to Rin. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be out here."

"Well you see-"

"Oh, she's not? I thought she just got discharged?" Strange asked as a way of mocking Rin.

"What? No." Christine said, shaking her head no. She looked at Rin with a confused expression, wanting to know her explanation for trying to get out.

Rin let out a sigh of defeat. "Alright, I cannot tell you exactly what happened but I can tell you this, I am not in a good position right now and I don't have any cash with me. I can't afford a hospital bill."

The two doctors looked at each other, not knowing what to say. It would be a problem if Rin cannot settle her balance since hospitals are very strict when it comes to paying up. Either way, it's gonna land her in jail if she doesn't do anything about it.

"Come with me."

>>Time pass<<

Rin was crossing her arms, impatiently waiting for the desk lady to give her statement about her situation. Christine brought her along to see if there was something they could do about her financial status. As a doctor, she cares about her patients and wants to treat them, with or without pay.

"It seems like everything is already paid in advance." The desk lady stated while looking at the info on her computer screen.

This brought surprise and confusion to Rin. She had to ask the lady once more and still ended up receiving the same answer. It was very odd for her because there wasn't a reason to believe someone with a good heart paid for a random person's bills.

Christine stood beside her and started to rub her back, trying to comfort her with a smile. "Hey, it looks like you're all good. There's nothing to worry about."

However, this didn't calm Rin at all as she was thinking about the possibility that this was all Kim's doing. It brought up so much stress to her in a short span of time. She couldn't stop thinking about why and what the reason is behind all of this.

Finally, Rin decided to ask about how she was brought up in the hospital and who was the mastermind behind all of this. "The person who brought me here, does he have curly hair? A man in his early 30s? About 5'10?"

"I didn't get to have a good look at him since he quickly left after paying," the desk lady said, "But the man that brought you here looked like he was in his 40s. Late 40s, judging from the whites coming out of his beard."

Whites? Rin thought.

"Did he leave any name or a number for me to contact him?" Rin asked.

"I don't think so.. No."

Just what exactly is going on here?

*** Authored by: remuwuchan ***