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does it lead?” the doctor asks her.
     
    “Pick her up and I’ll show you.”  Brielle is on her knees now with a couple of silver instruments that she’s using to fiddle with the door lock.  It only takes her a second to get it unlocked.  Obviously she’s had practice.  Next, she pulls a large magnet from her backpack and attaches it to the door, pulling it open despite the fact that it has no door handle.  The girl comes prepared.  Wrenching the door open, she disappears, leaving us no choice but to follow her skinny little ass through it.  The doctor scoops me up again and off we go.
     
    “Um, didn’t you hear the whole stair argument a minute ago,” I ask when I see that she has led us to a different stairwell.
     
    She looks up at me from three steps down and grins.  “These stairs haven’t been used since the sixties.”  That would explain the insane amount of dirt and dust coating everything and filling the air.  It swirls around as the fresh air from the door hits it.  Just what my open wounds need, to be filled with dirt.  “When they remodeled the hospital, this didn’t meet code.”  She waves her hands in the air, indicating the entire stairwell.  “Instead of tearing it out, they decided to lock it up, seal it off and forget about it; all of the doors have been papered over and no one remembers they’re here.  They’re not even on the blueprints on file at the county clerk’s office.”
     
    “Then how do you know about it?” the doctor asks as we descend.
     
    She shrugs.  “It’s kind of a hobby of mine.”
     
    “Your hobby is to look for hidden stairwells in hospitals?” I ask snidely.
     
    She stops and turns to look up at me from five stairs down.  “Have I mentioned yet that I’m here to save your ass?  Mocking me is not a good motivator.  It makes me want to leave you on the steps and get the fuck out of here by myself.”
     
    I don’t believe her.  For some reason, she’s too vested in this.  “But I have your scent all over me, remember.  How will you escape the ‘big uglies’ if they come after you?” 
     
    I’m still having trouble with the whole reason for this mad escape from unknown predators.  I’m starting to feel like a lame gazelle being rescued from lions by a crazy Meer cat.  A red-headed Meer cat.  It just seems inevitable that the lions will win.  If the threat is even real that is.
     
    “Ladies, could we cut the chatter and just get down the damn stairs?” 
     
    What a dick.  We both have a new target for our growing snarkiness now.  “What’s the matter?  Is she too heavy for you muscle man?” Brielle asks but then starts moving again.
     
    It’s been a long time since someone carried me like a baby.  As a matter of fact, I have no memory of ever being carried like a baby.  I have to say, it’s a lot more unnerving than I ever would have guessed.  One wrong step on his part and we’ll both go splat at the bottom of the stairs.  I tighten my hold on his neck and try not to look down. 
     
     “Choking,” he rasps.
     
    Oops.  Maybe a bit too tight.  I loosen my grip slightly, just enough so his Adam’s apple can move up and down to ensure he can still breathe.  I’m not letting go any more than that.
     
    I try to block out my fear of falling which leads me to start obsessing over the fact that my ass is hanging out of my hospital gown.  Whoever put it on me apparently didn’t tie the little strings in the back.  I think back to everyone we passed in the hall on my floor and the fact that every time Brielle stops and looks up, my ass is right there to say hello.  Not that I’m overly modest, but I’m not looking forward to being carried down the street like this.  I think people will get the wrong idea.  Not to mention that I’m fairly confident that my ass is cute enough to draw at least a small crowd of eager onlookers.  I think that would hamper our escape a bit.  If this all turns out to