Snippet #1674382

The nurses ran around the hospital, checking rooms and storage closets trying to find him. "He knows he is not supposed to leave the grounds, find him fast!" The doctor yelled, panicking over the missing person. This was the third time this month he had escaped the hospital, but it was the first time he had tried doing it during the day. Most people don't handle isolation well. Even when you see others everyday, its usually from a window or just whatever nurse is on shift coming in to check up on you. Being deaf and blind to the real world was starting to wear thin on TJ. By now, he just wanted freedom from everything he was ever told he could not do.

TJ looked in the window of the internet cafe, practically staring at those inside. He had never seen one in person before and, just like everything else, he wanted to take it all in. Every inch of that place must be committed to memory, he thought. Backing away from the window, he gave a smile to those inside and continued on his way. As soon as he started contemplating returning to the hospital, a sharp pain rose in his chest. The pain forced him down on his knees, breathing heavily and cringing every other exhale. People passing by stopped to see if he was alright, a woman taking out her cellphone and calling an ambulance. "Is it time?" TJ muttered under his own breath, no one able to hear it. He fell to the ground at that moment, still breathing heavily, but the breaths getting fainter and weaker each time.