I felt an all encompassing darkness overcome me. I fought hard against it, fought to find my way out of the shadowed corners of my mind. I struggled, reached upwards as the pinpoint of light bloomed into a full out flame. A red hot feeling came over me, like a bad sunburn.

A steady, rhythmic beeping tickled my ears as I fought against the darkness.

The first thing I felt was pain, my body was racked with it and I fought to keep my breathing steady.

My arms were heavy and stiff with lack of use. I slowly wiggled my fingers and toes, checking that they were in working order.

Behind the beeping I could hear the muted sounds of movement and indistinguishable conversations. I strained my ears, but couldn't tell what language the voices were speaking.

A room, I was in a closed room.

I inhale, antiseptic burned my nasal passageways.

A hospital room?

I rolled my wrists and ankles.

No restraints.

I took a deep breath, my ribs protesting against the action as I realized I had learned everything I could from my other senses. It was time to see where I had ended up.

My eyes opened slowly, fighting against the crusty coating that held my eyelids together like glue. Finally opened, I blinked a few times, adjusting my eyes to the light. I looked through my lashes, seeing no other movement that would indicate another living being in the room. I blinked once more and opened my eyes wider. I was in a standard issue hospital room, equipped with an uncomfortable looking chair and not much else. The blinds were drawn closed so I could not see outside, nothing gave me any sense of where I was. I raised my arms noting an IV dripping unknown liquid into my vein attached to my left hand. I carefully removed it, holding pressure to help seal the wound left behind. I sat up and was stopped by wires attached to my chest and head. I knew taking them off would eventually alert the nurses so I made sure I had gathered all the information I could from the room. Nothing gave any indication of where I was or if I was safe there.

I turned to the monitors and changed their settings, giving me what I hoped was enough time to get a good head start before alerting anyone that something was off. I quickly popped the cords and blood pressure cuff off and slid my legs over the side of the bed. I tested my legs ability to hold me up slowly, not wanting to fall and lose anymore time. My legs protested, but wobbly held me up. I shuffled to the door and listened. No alarms or sounds of people rushing towards my room. I slowly opened the door enough to peak out.

Just my fucking luck I was right next to the nurses station. I groaned.

"Think. Think. Think." I whispered to myself.

Only one nurse was on duty, she sat at the desk reading something held in her hands and yawning. I shuffled to the side table as an idea came to mind. Wincing as it squeaked I opened the ancient looking draw and sighed in relief as a saw a cup sitting inside. I grabbed it and shuffled back to the door. The nurse was focused on what was in front of her so I opened the door wide enough that I could slip my arm through. I quickly tossed the cup down the hall as far as I could and closed the door so only a barely noticeable crack was left open.

The cup had the effect I had hoped for as it clattered loudly several doors down the hall. The nurse shot up, started at the sudden noise and quickly made her way around the desk and down the hall. Once her back was to me I took the opportunity to slip quickly from my room and dashed to the other side of the desk. I fought to keep my breathing silent as pain radiated through my body. I took a second to compose myself before popping up and searching the desk for anything that could tell me where I was.

Landstuhl.

I was in Germany with no memory of how I got here or why.

The alarms started going off in my room. I dropped down and peaked around the corner of the desk and watched as the nurse from the desk ran into my room followed closely by a few more I had not seen earlier. I was running out of time so I stood and ran as fast as I could down the hall. A sign next to a door read:

Treppe

Stairs

I bolted through the door and started making my way quickly down the multiple flights, my body searing and my knees giving out several times.

I finally made it to the ground floor, a new array of bruises decorating my skin from where a nearly hurdled myself down stairs but caught the railing just in time to correct my path. I took a moment to get my breathing in order before stepping out.

No one was around.

I stepped through the door and made my way through the twisty halls, searching for a way out. Most doors were locked, accessible only by hospital staff.

A door in front of me swung open and I quickly ducked behind it as a man in a white coat appeared, turning and thankfully going down the hall, his back to me. I grabbed the handle before the door closed and slipped through.

It was an empty locker room. I opened cabinets, searching through them until I found a pair of scrubs and a white lab coat. I shed the hospital gown and donned my new clothing, brushing my short, greasy hair into a more acceptable shape before heading back out of the door.

Just as I stepped out I was met with another man. We both grunted as we nearly collided with each other. He nodded in apology and I followed suite, stepping around him and out of the door. He continued on his way into the locker room and I breathed in relief before padding down the hall, my bare feet making a slight slapping sound with each step.

I continued down the multiple hallways, meeting several more hospital staff along the way. Each time I nodded in greeting and they returned the gesture too busy in their own world to notice my lack of foot wear.

I was so lost and turned around that I thought I would never find my way out of the maze of corridors when a door swung open in front of me. A man with a backpack slung over one should stepped out. I took the chance that he was leaving after his shift completed and followed several paces behind.

I had nearly given up hope that he was on his way out when he stepped through a set up doors in front of us and I caught a glimpse of what looked like a lobby. I sped up and stepped through the doors myself.

It was a lobby! The large windows gleamed in the artificial light of the overhead bulbs. I could just make out the full moon through the glare.

Night. That explained the lack of staff around the hospital.

I spotted the man making his way out a set of doors and felt a cool breeze ruffle my hair.

The exit.

I breathed deep and quickly made my way across the lobby, weaving around the chairs and nodding to the board woman who sat at what I assumed was the information desk. I walked through the doors, reveling in the cool fresh air a moment before opening my eyes and stepping on the cold concrete of the sidewalk.

"Very impressive, Benally."