Ward 13 by Tommy Donbavand Page A

please…
    The porter’s hands trembled as he turned the bed into Ward 13 and slowly pushed it back to its spot by the far wall.
    Mark waited until he could hear the bed passing the end of his, then he forced himself to open his eyes and look.
    His skin turned cold.
    The bed was empty.
    Jack was gone.

CHAPTER 2
THE LIES
    â€œNurse!”
    Mark stabbed repeatedly at the button on his buzzer. Where were all the nurses? This was supposed to be a hospital. What if he had fallen out of bed, or something? Didn’t there have to be someone around at all times?
    â€œNurse!”
    Some of the other patients were looking at him now, over the tops of paperback books or around the pages of their newspapers. Mark almost screamed in frustration. Why were they lookingat him when they should have been looking at the empty bed? At Jack’s bed!
    Eventually, the nurse with the curly hair came hurrying into the ward. “What’s the matter, Mark?” she asked, a smile fixed in place. “Got another itch under your cast?”
    Mark ignored her question. “Where’s Jack?” he demanded. He saw a flash of something behind the nurse’s eyes. Anger? Fear? Whatever it was, it was gone as quickly as it had arrived.
    The nurse tutted. “Look at the state of your pillows,” she said, pulling Mark upright so that she could rearrange the bedding behind him. “It’s no wonder you can’t sleep at night if you’re losing half your pillows.”
    Mark pushed himself back and stared straight at the nurse. “Where is Jack?”
    â€œOh, I don’t know,” said the nurse, avoiding his gaze. “I imagine he’s gone home.”
    â€œHome?” repeated Mark. “He’s gone home from his hernia operation?”
    â€œPeople do go home, you know,” snapped the nurse. Now she was busying herself with Mark’s sheets. “You will, too – once you’ve had your op on your leg.”
    â€œHow did Jack go home?”
    â€œWhat’s that, now?”
    Mark caught the nurse’s arm with his hand. She stopped fussing with his bedding and looked down at him. It may have been Mark’s imagination, but he thought he could feel her trembling.
    â€œHow did Jack go home?”
    â€œI expect one of his family came to collect him,” replied the nurse.
    Mark shook his head. “He doesn’t have a family. Not since his sister died.”
    The nurse gently pulled her arm from Mark’s grasp. “That’s a shame.” She turned to leave.
    â€œNone of them had families.”
    The nurse froze. She didn’t turn back, but Mark could tell she was listening.
    â€œSince I’ve been here, eight patients have been taken down from this ward for their operations. Three of them didn’t come back. None of those three had family or friends come to visit them in the evenings. They had no one to miss them if they disappeared.”
    The telephone began to ring at the nurse’s station in the corridor outside.
    â€œI’d better get that,” said the nurse, scurrying away.
    Mark settled back against his freshly plumped pillows and watched the porter gather together Jack’s belongings from the locker beside thenow-empty bed. His slippers, glasses case, half a bag of wine gums, a copy of the novel
Jaws
… He stuffed the items into a black bin liner, then scurried away, eyes nervously darting left and right.
    The games console began to PING! repeatedly on the bed beside Mark. He picked it up and studied the screen. It was Liam, demanding a rematch for the high score on the skateboarding game.
    Mark tapped ‘ACCEPT’ and began to play. The game would be fun, but not the same as having someone come in to sit beside his bed and talk during visiting hours. Like the other Loners, Mark had no one to miss him if he disappeared.
    And his operation was set for first thing the following morning.

CHAPTER 3
THE KID
    Dinner