A Name Without A Past

- THE MAN

didn't co

know that name yet, didn't know any name, but the pressure of the dark felt like somet

aled s

e faint sting of antiseptic thr

sn't

n't th

wasn'

stained, the paint peeling in pale strips like old scabs. A flickering fluorescent ligh

ked onc

the sight spar

he ce

the

emptiness swal

bled-thin, pale, stiff-but the moment his palm brushed the sheets ben

tal s

n a hosp

lthy

ent, listening. There were no beeping monitors. No nurses. No murmurs from nearby

t aban

just ab

t evac

gh to sting. For a moment he sat there, hunched forward, palms digg

d down at

, but recent. Hospital scrubs hung loosely on his frame, the fabri

ce rasped, hoars

ot the peaceful kin

oat tig

in some internal compass that still worked e

g. The room tilt

he floor-nurse charts, patient logs, torn pages with scribbled notes. A c

tru

dden

ds were bent, some slats twisted as th

de...

lowing the lampposts and turning the world into a smear of

d from t

dusty mirror. Not cracked.

d it with ca

shape, then the contours of his face.

neath his eyes as if sleep had been something optional for a long time. He lifted a ha

the man in the mir

ecognize hi

recogniz

ic rose like cold water

am

mouth, but n

a fli

fl

a me

fa

wo

ybe grief. Her image burned behind his eyelids with the kind of clarity noth

t h

t gentle. It slammed into him with the for

l

ind like it had always been the

l

l

l

f his heart recognized the name even

n't kn

new

tion pulsed

en-foo

ant. In th

know why but he knew-hide. He moved quickly, crouchin

stopped outs

assed unde

l

sur

as checki

n't kn

n't kn

ir on his ar

was not here

d-the unmistakable sound of a

ood we

ifted. He hel

r handl

Delibe

er against the floor, he

eaked open

ed hand pus

ter, a voice echoed from t

g in the east win

and f

wit

clicked s

ps retreat, growing distan

l minute before he da

were

they se

es that if they found him,

g away from the door. H

room for anythi

raw

los

at r

g but dust and f

ttery. In another, an ID card for a nurse named Ha

ye

his hospital b

y was

e door, pressing

nce

anything-that might anchor him to reality. But the only photo b

El

l

lsed again

she was to him-but she was the only

island of

emembered her

could re

he door ope

lled ink. Wheelchairs and carts lay knocked over. Posters hung a

ery soft footstep echoing far

n: East Wing -

pt wa

gn: Emerge

ded to

udden rush of air

fro

duc

ad, slamming into the wal

ook over. He sprinted forward,

g out, sparks fl

came fast

e call

e.

wake. You're sup

omach

recognize

oice reco

n fire

bursting into the freezing night air. Fog swallowed him instantly as

hot shattere

chips rained down from the wall a

chest, forcing himself to

a way

o

rv

led through his mind-not a pi

vo

n't freez

ok a

he

corner after corner in a maze of alleys until the world blurred into st

ing a lamppost for balance, he realized th

e wanted

ad no i

y truth-he had left in the

l

eeded to

er who

what she

. Larry leaned against the lamppost, chest heaving, the cold air clawing at his throat. Every sound b

was fa

the

he st

y he was tr

scrub top tighter around himself as if it might shie

dead through the fog. A bakery. A pawn shop. A laundromat. Places that should have

umb. Every step felt

ressions marked his skin-bruises shaped lik

ad done t

k: the man in the hos

upposed t

ho wanted him gone, but instinct screa

pt wa

. He caught himself on the wall of

t survive long eno

Ella-was nothing but a hallucination? A f

o

n't acce

who he was, b

as the only thing t

hed fo

Its glow fell on the cracked pavement, illuminating a small c

art ki

Witnesse

ed against a vending machine, sipping from a paper cup. A woman scolded her to

rm

ina

the nightma

shadows when the man i

. His voice felt ra

owing as he took in Larry's hos

right,

o

ven c

y said slowly. "It was... deser

. "I don't k

inked. "Yo

he truth trembl

r stepped closer, her war

one? An ambulance ma

ce, something fl

tin

e

y leaking thro

know," he

y looked up. "You're a

iffened.

ed his phone

ance-showed men in tactical gear

adline

T ESCAPES FACILITY

stomach

e scrolled

tified male who escaped St. Brigid Hospital early this

back. "That

raised both hands. "

" Larry repeated,

dn't know if h

woken str

shot at him the

r lip. "Do you r

tremor run

," he said quie

s lifted. "You

arry swallowed. "

r frowned.

don't

"Then she might

left Larry before he coul

n him further, a screech

t, headlights slicing through the fog. Al

ind caught up-the instinctive pri

ng

ng f

UV sl

mu

cket muttered, "W

er window r

d appeared-h

y shouted, shovi

f gunfire

o chaos. People dove behind benches and vending machines. T

away, but toward

was firi

eople ar

et t

roared

ng down the alley as bullets spa

dumpsters and fire escapes. His bare feet we

her

ot

vantage: he k

o dis

o sur

e didn't

V couldn't follow into the narrow alley, but the

iste

tst

ng cl

for anything-any weapo

n... he

ayp

ti-covered.

ph

ife

y flared-someone

ver in troub

izzled before th

e had o

l

sn't

every

vement. His hands shook as he snatched up the receiver

work.

l tone

iv

-area codes, common combinations-but ea

mat

steps gr

os

ceiver down, pani

k. T

name... maybe h

prec

vo

reathe, to reach insid

fl

l

ba

oice

ve Ella

gas

flew to t

ed the

ri

w

re

partment, how ma

" he rasped. "Now. Please-she'

mom

rounded

ooke

ical mask raise

ice crackled fain

n isn't availabl

s voic

n't k

man pulled

ening

ld went

thing wen

cinct-setting up Chapter 2, where Ella learns someone asked for her