Fury

Chapter 2

Donovan stormed the Central Ward where Natasha, the mystery lady, had been placed under emergency medical surveillance in a bid to salvage her. His arrival at the ward was not without an entourage of cops who sieged the ward in their numbers and hoped to man the precinct from the roaming wolves and other intruders.

The Central Ward was a special medical centre located uptown, a short drive away from the city’s metropolis. The ward was reserved exclusively for emergencies and exigencies of crime services; thus, it was no surprise that Natasha had been rushed down to the Ward for urgent medical care. Without wasting time, the cops took positions and stood guard at different strategic points of the ward. They jogged around towards different strategic posts assigned to them with much urgency while Donovan and Miriam strode calmly across the space leading towards the doctor's lab. The atmosphere was tensed and medical activities within the ward seemed fragile—a slight error could have a domino effect on medical proceedings. The ward’s vicinity bustled with busy medical personnel who paced about with caution.

‘’Inspector Miriam,” a feminine voice called from a distance behind as though to wade into the tensed chat between the duo.

The voice drew attention from Miriam and Donovan who turned back to have a look at the woman advancing. She was a busy-looking woman in a knee-length white coat and navy-blue suit pant. She should be roughly on the wrong side of 50. Flanked by two nurses on either side, she advanced with much urgency at the heel of her black leather shoes. Stopping dead in her tracks, Miriam’s face beamed with anxiety and expectation as she discovered it was Doctor Leah who had beckoned.

‘’Glad to have you around, inspector,’’ Leah remarked, drawing a tight-lipped smile while scurrying towards Miriam to catch up. She waved the two nurses out of sight to continue in their tracks.

‘’I’ve got some news, ma’am,’’ Leah continued, this time, making a straight face, thereby raising the duo’s curiosity more. ‘’The victim in question suffered a great deal of compression to her larynx down to the trachea. The compression impeded her speech and drained her energy.’’

‘’where’s she now?’’ Donovan asked concerned and anxious for an answer.

Leah smiled assuringly. ‘’She well under the oxygen concentrator and recuperating really fast. Rest assured the victim will be fine in due time.’’

Discontent by the doctor's reply, Donovan attempted to raise more questions out of sheer curiosity but for the Miriam who waded in and cut him short.

‘’Thank you for the assurance, Dr. Leah. We have our fingers to have the victim back in our custody soonest,’’ Miriam cut in. ‘’...And I hope you understand how crucial the victim is to our investigations of Senator Kasidy's murder?''

Miriam drew closer to Leah, closing up the close between them and placed her hand on her shoulder.

''This matter is of importance to the state,'' Miriam whispered to Leah and set her gaze upon the doctor's face as if to drive words into her. ''Ensure you save that Lady....Doctor Leah.''

Leah swallowed hard and caught her breath as she sighted Miriam's steely countenance and hard words.

''She will be all right, ma'am,'' Leah said, nodding--not out of confidence, but out of fear emanating from Miriam's imposing appearance. ''You have my words.''

Miriam stepped back a bit allowing a breathing space for the doctor who seemed overwhelmed by Miriam's solid presence.

''And, forgive my manners, doctor,'' Miriam said affecting an apologetic stance while she turned towards Donovan, ''here, this is Donovan Daniels, a top detective from the Dynamos Investigators Ltd. He's been assigned to get on top of the death toll ravaging city.''

Leah made a moment to take a special acknowledgement of Donovan who was dressed in a brown suede jacket with a v-neck black vest poking just from inside, and a black pair of jean trousers to match.

''Oh, apologies, detective,'' Leah remarked, stretching forth her arm to have a handshake, ''I'm doctor Leah; department of crimes medical emergencies, the Ministry of Health.''

''I know,'' replied Donovan curtly.

''Oh, you do?''

Just as a conversation was building up between the duo, Miriam waded in, stamping her presence again.

''I shall leave you to take it up from this point, Donny,'' said Leah. ''But I must have a word with you before leaving. Shall we?''

Miriam stepped aside with Donovan away from Leah's earshot in a bid to have some words.

''I shall take my leave now, Donny. I must get Salim before the bastard gets him. The ball's in your court; play it.''

''Rest assured Natasha will divulge the gory details to me, ma'am. I'm on top of this.''

''I trust you to make a good job of it, Donny,'' Miriam replied expressing confidence. ''I must run now.''

Miriam left the scene to the salute of the cops and escort as she was driven away from the precinct. Meanwhile, Donovan walked along with Leah towards the ward where Natasha had been kept under medical surveillance.

Arriving the ward where Natasha had been placed on a bunk bed with an oxygen concentrator strapped around her nose, Dr. Leah examined Natasha again to make sure her condition. Upon verifying and making certain that the victim was still in the recuperation process, Leah excused herself briefly to attend to other pressing emergencies, leaving Donovan to Natasha, who still lay unconscious on the bunk bed. In this moment, Donovan paced around the ward to examine Natasha's body--which still bore traces of injuries and damages--but found the lady still laying unconscious; however, her pulse was in fine shape.

The day wrapped up too soon with Donovan taking record of details about the victim's health and the gravity of the body mutilation she had been subjected from the tending medical personnel. The twilight gradually transitioned to dusk and the dusk to night. Donovan stayed put in the ward regardless and kept a close watch over Natasha’s body as she continued to recuperate still. He was eager to meet with the mystery lady as she was his only clue to Frank’s killer. He could not get his eyes off the victim even as the ward was now brightly lit to dispel any impression of night time.

The ward was quite a lengthy room with eight bunk beds on either side of room well spaced apart from each other. Donovan proceeded to take a more pedantic examination across the ward, checking the furniture content and equipment for details. He paced along the isle to the end of the room away from Natasha's bed. Everything looked perfect and safe. But as Donovan made to turn away from the desk upon which a landline phone was perched, a ring blared out of the landline phone. The ring was so loud and almost deafening Donovan had no choice than to pick up the phone’s receiver in a bid to restore serenity and quietude. But the voice that wafted into Donovan’s ear from the receiver made him cringe and stagger back a bit. It was a string of cacophonous babbles that culminated in a satanic and sinister repetition of words which Donovan would not want to hear at the moment. He summoned up courage and picked the receiver back up panting and dreading the worst. The voice came off more distinct this time, albeit with a steaming sensation: ‘’I AM FURY,’’ ‘’I AM FURY,’’ ‘’I AM FURY.’’ The phrase rambled on much to the shock of Donovan. Of course, he was no stranger to the notorious phrase which had been the badge of the mystery killer that had been running amok through the city. In this moment, Donovan could only perceive danger close by. His sense of suspicion was aroused as he shot a look down the isle to examine the surrounding space, but everything seemed quite all right. Again he shifted his gaze towards the bunk where Natasha had been lying only to realise a vacant bunk. Alas, Natasha was no longer in her bed space. She had vanished out of sight. This time, Donovan was startled to death even as the receiver rambled on in his clutch with the killer phrase. He was engulfed in sweat as he froze to a spot. Nothing seemed all right anymore as Donovan was forced to pull out his pistol from his back pocket in a bid to brace up for the worst. He carelessly replaced the receiver on its cradle and stealthily moved an inch away from the desk. Making to proceed down the isle with cautious steps, a shroud of blackout struck across the ward. The power went out and the space became suddenly became dark leaving Donovan terrified and clueless.

''Are you there, Natasha?'' Donovan ventured, frozen to a spot and not daring to move further down.

He could only hear the echo of his own voice and the dead silence that gripped the air. Suddenly, the door creaked sharply and slammed shut in quick sequence as though an intruder had quickly dashed into the ward. In a reflex, Donovan was forced to venture the same question in a moment of terror

''Natasha? Is that you?''

Again, his question was greeted by a dead, sinister silence. The darkness that shrouded the ward was such that made Donovan tremble and directionless. His face was engulfed in a mass of sweat and his heart palpitated with jitters while he stayed frozen to a spot pointing his gun into space should he sight an oncoming attack.

Donovan knew at this point that danger was nearer than he had thought. But he had no idea about the direction and gravity of the danger lurking around.

''Is there anyone there?'' Donovan barked out again impatiently making vain effort to keep a steady voice, ''you gotta speak out now or I'll fire whoever is playing this game.''