Omar’s use of power that caused the electrical blackout at the clinic made him a little weak. He wasn’t as young as he used to be. A major use of psychic ability like that sapped his strength for a couple of minutes. He leaned over, hands on his knees, breathing deeply.
Like sparkling water filling a goblet, he felt the power and refreshing energy entering back into his limbs.
He looked through the glass doors of the clinic, but instead of seeing the radiant electrical auras from four people in the lobby, there was now only a muted glow from the woman sitting at the reception desk. Where had Rod, Vincent and Heather gone? he wondered. Maybe they were searching for Michelle. That would not be tolerated.
Next priority: stop them. The method didn’t matter. Too bad they weren’t all stuck in the elevator. Causing a little malfunction would be child’s play. Dr. Franz was in the elevator, though, and as Michelle’s doctor, he was valuable. The others were in for some nasty surprises.
Omar walked directly through the doors of the clinic. He didn’t have to be buzzed in, since the electricity that locked the door wasn’t working.
The blond receptionist had found a candle and was in the process of lighting it. Omar went to her and turned on the charm.
“Did you forget to pay the electric bill?” he asked with a brilliant smile, winking at her.
The blond giggled and shook her head as he locked gazes with her. She couldn’t free her eyes from his and frankly didn’t want to. She didn’t even blink for a long time. She felt she could be lost inside the black gaze of this extraordinarily handsome man standing in front of her. It was exciting and she felt a shiver run down her back.
Finally there was a physical necessity to blink. She felt like she’d been lost in a dream for a while, missing time.
“Must be an area wide power outage,” she said, mentally shaking herself and emerging from Omar’s mesmerizing trance.
“The phones aren’t working either,” she added. “I had to use my cell to contact our maintenance crews to come over here and fix the generator and the elevator.”
“What’s your name?” Omar asked.
“Julie.”
“Well, Julie, I saw a few people in the lobby earlier. Where did they go?”
“Upstairs. Unfortunately, one of them is stuck in the elevator.”
They both became quiet for a minute, listening to muted pounding from the elevator shaft.
“In fact,” Julie said, “those people came all the way from Hawaii, just to see your wife.”
“I’d better go find them.”
“Stairs are the only way up now, I’m sorry to say. They all went upstairs to see if they could rescue their friend stuck in the elevator.” She pointed at a door that said ‘Stairs’ in the back wall of the clinic.”
“I’ll go search for them. Thanks for the help.”
“Be careful. It will be totally dark.”
Omar hurried to the door and opened it. Julie was right, there was total blackness except for three separate tiny light from high above him. He realized the three climbing up the stairs were using their cell phones to illuminate the climb. No way could he use his own. It might be used to track him here to Mexico, but he realized he couldn’t climb up the stairs blind.
He turned around and went out to the the lobby again. Julie wouldn’t want to give up her candle, but he knew he could persuade her.
***
Heather, Rod, and Vincent made their way up the stairs, listening for the intermittent noises coming from the elevator. There would be three slow knocks, then three fast short ones. About ten seconds later the sequence would be repeated. The stairs were adjacent to the elevator shaft wall, so they could tell they had to go up several floors.
All three were using the light from their cell phones, but it was so dark it was a little creepy. They’d go up half a flight and then there would be a landing and the stairs would zig in the other direction up to the next level.
“How many floors are in this building?” Vincent asked. He was portly and a little out of breath, puffing after climbing up a few floors.
“Probably about ten or twelve,” Rod said. “I can tell we’re getting close. I hope we can pry the elevator doors open and get Mike and Dr. Franz out.”
Heather was behind the two men, shining her cell phone on the steel steps so she wouldn’t trip. Luckily she was not claustrophobic, she thought. It seemed like there wasn’t much air in the stairwell. Lucifer was making things more difficult. He started meowing loudly and seemed agitated, squirming around in her purse, so she had trouble keeping the strap from falling down her arm from her shoulder.
“Lucifer sure is loud,” Vincent commented.
“Shhh, Lucifer,” Heather admonished, aiming her cell to shine on the little animal. It didn’t do any good. He just got louder, almost like he was screaming. “Maybe he doesn’t like the dark,” Heather was saying, when she felt the cat leap.
“Oh nooo,” Heather wailed. “Lucifer’s run away.”
All three stopped and pointed cell phones on the stairs above them. A white streak was bounding up the stairs. And now they could see a bright, thin, focused light high above them.
“We’ll find Lucifer,” Rod said reassuringly to Heather. “He can’t get out of the stairwell.”
They kept climbing until the pounding from the elevator shaft was evident from the fifth floor. They went through that doorway into the the building hallway and stood in front of the elevator door.
There was knocking from inside. Rod knocked back. He yelled, “Hey, Mike. I’m going to try to open the doors.” He put his fingers between the two doors and pulled them apart a few inches. It took a lot of strength. All they saw was the blank side of the elevator wall.
“I’m glad you found us.” It was Mike’s voice. “I think the elevator stopped between floors. We were going to the top, so Dr. Franz could show me the lab where the frozen eggs are stored.”
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Rod said. “Your pounding showed us exactly where to go.”
Mike said, “The emergency phone isn’t working. There’s this really cool trap door in the top of the elevator, though. Just like you see in the movies. I’m going to try and climb out.”
“Don’t do that!” Heather yelled. “If the power goes back on and the elevator goes up, you might get squashed.”
“I can always jump back inside the elevator.”
“We’ll go up one floor,” Rod said. “Maybe we can pry open the doors and pull you out from the top.”
“Don’t they have maintenance men or janitors here who can rescue people?” Vincent grumbled as they went back to the stairs and up a flight.
“It’s late. They probably all went home,” Rod said.
Heather was searching and calling for Lucifer as they climbed, but didn’t see him. She was really worried. The cat was so tiny and this hospital was a big place. If he got scared and hid they might never find him.
On the sixth floor Rod was able to pull the elevator doors open wide enough to shine his cell into the opening. He saw Mike standing on top of the elevator a few feet below him.”
“Well, Hey! Great to see you!” Mike said, with a grin.
Heather looked in the small vertical opening between the doors, thrilled to see Mike. He was holding on to the cable that moved the elevator up and down. “We’ll get you out of there,” She said.
“Okay, now. I need help to get these doors open,” Rod said. He was breathing hard just from the effort to force the doors apart a few inches.
Vincent and Heather together grabbed onto one door, Rod had the other one. They pulled for all they were worth and the doors protested, squeaking horribly.
Then they all fell on their butts when both doors suddenly swished open.
Heather started laughing and got up. “We got it open!”
Mike let go of the cable and moved to the side of the elevator. He stretched up and put his hands on the lip of the doorway, looking up at the three faces staring down at him.
“I have to help Dr. Franz get up on top of the elevator,” Mike said.
He went to the trap door, and they could hear them talking in low voices.
Mike came back to the opening. “Dr. Franz wants to wait for a maintenance guy. He doesn’t think he can climb out.” Then Mike whispered. “I think he’s kind of afraid to try, even with my help.”
Wimpy doctor, Heather thought. He might be stuck in there for hours.
Rod and Vincent each grabbed one of Mike’s arms, but they didn’t have to help him much. He pretty much hauled himself out of the opening. Then he was standing and grinning with the others.
“Let’s go find Michelle,” Rod said.
“And Lucifer,” Heather added.
“I learned some things,” Mike said as they went back to the stairwell and started climbing. “Michelle is in a room on the tenth floor, the eggs are stored in a lab on the twelfth. Dr. Franz told me that Leilanie, Omar’s girlfriend, was implanted with three fertilized eggs.”
“Ewww, gross. Fertilized! Oh my God!” Heather snorted.
“Yeah,” Mike said. He put his arm around Heather as they climbed and said, “Omar provided the sperm.”
“But three? Leilanie will have three babies?” Heather asked. She moved closer to him, enjoying his strength. Mike made her feel protected and stronger. She knew they would confront Omar soon and was a little scared.
“Maybe. If all the eggs stick, or adhere, to the uterus lining.”
Heather smiled up at him. “You’ve really done your homework.”
“God damn,” Rod exclaimed. “Are there any eggs left over?”
“Five,” Mike said. “But they might die if the power doesn’t come back on soon. They have to be kept very cold.”
“Most important question of all,” Heather said, raising her finger in the air, “are those five eggs...um...fertilized?”
Mike shook his head. “No. Evidently they’re easier to keep frozen and viable if they haven’t been. So Michelle has five more eggs that Omar will try to use sooner or later, unless we can get them first. And hide or transfer them someplace.”