He was a bear, I was sure of it.
“You!” he growled, lunging for me with both hands out.
I ducked his attack and ran straight to the wall that held the emergency alarm. I pulled on the red lever as hard as I could and a siren shrieked through the main floor.
He grabbed my arm and threw me across the room. Pain splintered through my elbow as I knocked into a metal trolley and rolled across the floor.
People started screaming and running through the E.R.
A security guard attempted to stop the bear, and the big, bearded man threw the guard into a glass cabinet.
Oh, fuck.
There was a surgical tray above me and as I staggered to my feet, I grabbed the scalpel, the only weapon I could find.
“Come at me again and find out why I got top marks in all my anatomy classes,” I managed to growl at him, baring my teeth for emphasis.
I may not win this fight, but I knew where all the main arteries were, and I could make him bleed.
He charged at me and I hit the floor, slicing out with my knife and cutting across his big gut.
He had jeans on, which made his legs harder to get to, but if I was quick I may get him next time.
The bear howled and grabbed for his stomach.
My ankle was killing me but I focused on the man, searching for weak points.
The wrists, the jugular, the femoral artery.
But I had to get him before he got me, and as my heart pounded with the ferocity of a steam engine, I knew I was in trouble. I was too small for this.
He put his arms wide out and began thundering towards me.
I heard a deep growl in the background but didn’t turn to look as I gripped the scalpel and prepared myself for the impact to come.
Dexter knocked into the bear like one truck against another.
The impact was enough to shatter bone.
Taylor and Jay were on him too, punching and wrestling and thumping him until the bear stumbled towards the exit.
I dropped the knife I held, and trembled like a leaf.
“Holy hell.”
More security guards ran by and followed the man outside. But they’d be too late, I was sure. The bear would run. He’d have to.
My legs weren’t going to hold me much longer, so I staggered to a seat and managed to land on the plastic rather than the floor.
One of the nurses rushed over. “Are you okay, Doctor?”
“Ah, yeah. I think so.”
My ankle was throbbing and my left arm was hanging by my side at a weird angle. But there wasn’t much pain, really.
Hmmm… adrenaline’s a wonderful thing.
“Let’s get you admitted.”