Friday, June 6, 2014

The Madness of Jake Caulder chapter 56

Chapter 56

       After Jake had freed himself from the cuffs, he stood there seeming light headed. He staggered for a moment and then, steadied himself against the side of the bed. He looked about, not really understanding where he was or what was going on. Then it came back to him. He turned and saw officer Hawkins slumped against the bed, covered in blood. 
       His mother's vision appeared before him again. "He had it coming Jakie. He treated you badly and he deserved what he got." The vision disappeared as quickly as it had come.
       "Yes momma, he was mean to me." Jake spoke to himself, but thought he was talking to his long-dead mother. Jake looked around the room. In the corner, someone had left a metal cane. Jake picked it up and turned back towards Hawkins. He approached with a maniacal look in his eye. He lifted the cane and brought it down upon Hawkins' skull with such force, that a loud cracking sound could be heard. He swung again and again, until Hawkins' face was nothing but a bloody, pulpy mess.
       "There, you piece of shit. Now, maybe, people will respect me and not treat me like some animal.I've done nothing to anyone, but all the time, they treat me like this. You make me want to puke." He swung the cane once more, pummelling poor Hawkins one last time, sending blood and brain matter every which way. Some of it hit Jake in the face and dripped down his chin and onto the floor. He didn't seem to notice. 
       He threw the cane into the corner and stood there, panting like a dog. His demented look slowly dissipated until he looked more or less normal other than he had the corpse's blood on him. He drew the back of his hand across his face and absently wiped it on his hospital gown, leaving a smear of gore upon it. He looked down at himself, just realizing what he was wearing.
       At times, Jake seemed to be quite lucid, and at others he was in his own world filled with delusions and visions. In his current frame of mind, he was able to think for himself, realizing that he had to get out of there as quickly as possible, but he needed a set of clothes to change into.
       He looked at Hawkins, and then realized what must be done. He removed the officer's pants and shirt and put them on. They were a little large but would do for the moment. He may have been clear headed enough to realize that he couldn't wander around and escape in his hospital gown, but that was as far as it went. The uniform was soaked in blood and when he put the items on, more of the blood covered him as well. He didn't even notice.
       His own clothes had been cut away from his body when he was brought into the emergency room, and so he had to improvise. The cop's uniform would have to do. There was no time to worry about how he looked at the moment. He had to escape as quickly as he could before the partner returned.
       Lucky for Jake, the door to the room was shut. No one had heard the commotion that had occurred. He cracked open the door, looked out. The nurse on duty was at the nurse's station down the hall, looking in the opposite direction. He wasted no time in leaving the room, and entered the nearest stairwell, grabbing the railing as he hurried down, leaving a bloody hand print as he did.
       He flew down the stairs so fast that he tripped, and tumbled two or three steps and collapsed in a heap at the first landing. For a moment or two, he lay there, but then pulled himself up. A shooting pain shot up from his right ankle and then started to throb. He tried putting weight on it, but his leg collapsed and he went down again.
       After a moment, he got up again, and tried to stand. The pain was excruciating, but after a moment, he managed to put weight on it. He didn't think that it was broken, just badly sprained, but he didn't have the time or luxury to worry about that now. He started moving again, but limped on his injured leg.
       "Shit!" He stifled a scream, and continued on towards the parking garage in the basement, and hopefully an escape from this Hell Hole that he found himself in.
       At the same time as Jake was trying to get away, Officer Cooke was returning from getting them something to eat. He had stopped for a few moments to chat up the nurse, not realizing that his partner's killer was making his escape. After a few moments, he returned to the room, opened the door, and immediately spilled the coffee and donuts down the front of his shirt. The first thing he noticed was his partner's mutilated body, and then he noticed that the prisoner was gone.
       He raced to see if he could help his partner, but he was in such a rush that he slipped in the pool of blood, causing him to fall. He got up, covered in the corpse's blood but he didn't even notice.
       "What the fuck?" He pulled out his revolver in case Caulder was still in the room. He checked the bathroom, but he wasn't hiding in there. He reholtstered his gun and grabbed his radio shakily and called in to Sergeant Patterson at the station to let him know about the situation.
       After a few moments, Sergeant Patterson told Cooke to lock down the hospital and then to wait there until back up arrived. Officer Cooke went to the nurse's station to contact the security detail to get that done and then went back to secure the room until help arrived.
       No sooner than he had returned to the room, than he heard a disturbance in the stairwell. He knew that he was to remain where he was, but he figured that if it was in fact Jake trying to escape down the stairs and he could recapture him, then maybe, just maybe, it would go easier for him after he messed up leaving his assigned post and probably getting his partner killed.
       He drew his revolver and headed to the stairs. He cracked open the door but no one was there. He did hear a noise farther down and so he decided to follow. The next thing he saw was blood smeared on the railing and the walls. 

       "I got you now, you son of a bitch." Ryan crept forward hoping to catch his prisoner before he could leave the hospital. He was a good cop at heart, but rash in his thinking. If he had waited for back up like he was told, maybe things would have turned out better. But he didn't, and they didn't.

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