The Drifter (Chapter 1)

I. Save Me
         "Hold On" Jeff pleads with her "Please...just hold on"
         He cries into Elizabeth's hand. She, the love of his life lies on a cold, hard hospital bed. She has just given birth to a little girl, she was stillborn. The Seattle Hospital is silent and still, the harsh blue and white, the sickly colour's that cover the walls are distorted. The lights give off a slight hum, and the shine of them gives the hospital a fearful glow. The corridors are empty, almost oblivious and unaware of what’s happening in room 2-27 of the Maternity Ward. It's 3.36am.          
Doctor O'Connell has just started his shift, he has been thrown into this situation, if only it were a few hours ago, he'd be sitting in a bar with his buddies, drinking Budweiser’s and shooting pool. He came to work unaware that he was the catalyst for the destruction of someone's life today, and the death of a good woman and her newborn daughter.
         Elizabeth gave birth to Zelda Hudson at 3.22am. She was stillborn. She fell deep into analactic shock almost immediately.
"Sir you're going to have to leave now, go down to the waiting room. We need to operate" The doctors voice comes out of nowhere, Jeff looks at him in disgust and replies
"No"  He keeps his gaze fixed on Elizabeth. O'Connell turns to a nurse almost as if to ask 'what do I do?' He walks over to Jeff puts his hand on his shoulder and Jeff turns away and is walks away, and as he does he takes a deep breath and turns around and takes what he feels is his final look at his love.
         Jeff screams in agony but his muscles fail him, he has no strength left. He walks out into the corridor and leans against the wall. The heart monitor registers nothing, the sickening drone screams while Jeff stands in the dimly lit hallway. He slumps against the wall, and eventually crumples to the ground crying. His tears fall to the hospital floor. "Fuck!" he screams. He picks his body up and sits with his back against the cold hard hospital wall. Whether you believe in God or not, this is a time anyone would pray. This time however, God can give you no help. Sometimes you're going to lose everything and you're helpless in this situation.
         O'Connell walks out into the hallway
         "Mr. Hudson" he doesn't look at him "Mr. Hudson" he glances up at him, finally.. He can see it in his eyes, the fear, the heartbreak, the loss of everything he cared for in his life. "I’m so sorry for this. Your wife...your wife she passed away..." He quivers as she tells him. Trying to think what he would do in this situation, trying to feel some empathy towards him.
"No....No....Why!" he looks up at him, as if he would know.
         "I’m sorry she had a shock when the baby died and she had a heart attack minutes ago, I tried everything I could, but it was hopeless" he tells him. He tries to look empathetic but Jeff can see he doesn't care at all. "Mr Hudson, I understand this is hard for you, but we need you to fill in a few forms"
"Forms? My wife, died!"
He turns his back to him and walks down the corridor.
         Jeff pulls his head back. He tries to fight the stream of tears already flowing down his face. Thoughts turn to Elizabeth. He had already imagined what his life would be like, they'd struggle for a while, but eventually he'd get some work published and they'd be alright.
         They'd take Zelda to the park, to the zoo and to the movies. Teach her everything that's good and pure in life, and do the best they could for her. But she is gone, the little child born into the world dead. Never will she know the simple pleasure of a kiss, or knowing that there is somebody to tell you that they'll always be there and they'll always care. She'll never know the beauty of this world, how complicated and yet so simple a relationship can be. But she'll never feel pain, or heartbreak, or sadness, or hunger.
         Elizabeth is gone, never to see this world again. The passion and purity that she gave is lost. The good people will always be taken away and the evil and corrupt will rule, and the people that are left...The torn, the scarred, the heartbroken who're hungry for revolution. They will be incapable of doing anything because their potential is lost into pain and sadness.
         He cries and cries, eventually the body can give no more tears, and only the fragile broken heart is left. The hospital is silent and still, apart from the hum of the lights. Jeff stands up and walks, he can hardly do that. Each step is an incredibly difficult task to undertake. He stumbles along the corridor like a drunk. He stares down the corridor with his blue eyes look hazy, distorted and lifeless. He makes it to the waiting room.
         The exit sign occasionally flickers, tinting the room red. The woman at the reception desk chews a piece of gum, occasionally stopping to blow bubbles of pink. She plays with her hair in time to the chewing.          Jeff collapses onto a few chairs his face smothered into one of them. The receptionist barely looks at him. His long black coat covers him almost like a blanket. She walks over to the table; it’s littered with magazines. She picks up the remote of the television and presses the on button with her index finger. She turns to walk back but something makes her stop and she walks over to him.
         "Sir, are you drunk?” She leans over him, like a schoolteacher might lean over a rebellious child “This isn't the right place for you to be if you need help? You need to go over to the accident emergency ward" she exclaims.
         At that moment a woman walks into the reception. It’s one of the nurses that helped with the delivery. She is dressed in regular clothes, her blonde hair flows down past her shoulders, as she takes a sympathetic look at Jeff with her marble green squinting eyes and then at the receptionist. "Hey, Jenny" she whispers to the receptionist.
         Jenny walks over to her
"Hi Patricia, get to go home do we? Do you know anything about this guy?"
"Yeah I do. His wife died during childbirth, so did the kid"
"Oh God"
"Yeah, best just leave him there, you couldn't say anything to him, I'm sure he'll go away sooner or later",
"Alright, have a good night"
"You too, bye" She walks out of the ward, the door swings back and forth but eventually comes to a stop. Its 4am the television comes alive. It’s a news broadcast. Presented by a white man in a cheap suit, he is wearing a red tie, and a bad hair cut. "A man has been murdered in downtown Seattle today. Police cannot identify the body, but it is believed to be that of a homeless man. This is the 4th murder of this type in a matter of weeks. The police are still trying to catch the serial killer, they have no leads and only one clue in the form of a usually spray-painted message near the victim. This message reads
         "DEATH COMES TO THOSE WHO DESERVE IT, DON'T BE FOOLED, THE BUMS WONT BE THE ONLY ONES TO SUFFER..." Jeff picks himself up and looks up to the television set. "The Seattle public is in fear of the serial killer. We advice people as always to stay vigilante.  "more news as we get it. Goodnight"
The waiting room is still empty; the receptionist has gone. He decides he must go to his house.
         The night is cold, every time he catches his breath; its visible in the air. Seattle is covered in mist, its cold on the face. He shudders as he walks and shoves his hands into his coat pockets. The streetlights glare down upon the city. He thinks of White Rock, that night and how he has no reason to go back there anymore. He is interrupted
         "Buddy, hey buddy got any spare change for a Vietnam vet?" says a homeless man to him. He has a ravaged face, cracked and distorted by time. His beard is black and long with bits of food stuck in it. His hair is long as black, with greying roots.
         "None for a Vietnam vet, no. But plenty to help a homeless man make his way..." Jeff pulls out a wallet, it is torn and shredded and the once brown cover has faded to a sickening dull black. Jeff hands him the contents of the wallet and hands him the 74 dollars. "Take it, money is worthless"
         The man extends his hand and grabs it
"Jeez fucking lunatic, money is worthless?,” the man mutters to himself as he walks away.
         Jeff continues to walk, his hair blows in the dawning wind. His hair flows down his back. Thoughts once again turned to Elizabeth and how she had once put her soft, slender beautiful hands through his locks of hair. It made him feel amazing. Its over now. Seattle is a lonely place. Jeff looks up at the sky. There aren't many stars tonight, the sky is cloudy and hazy. Jeff collapses to the ground on his knees, his hair covering his face. He leans back and his locks fall back as he looks up to the sky. "FUCK! Why!" He starts to cry again "Is there no sympathy for this soul?"
         He reaches his house around 7am. It’s before sunrise. The sun is preparing to ascend over the world.
He opens the door of his home, and is greeted by a picture of himself and Elizabeth. It was taken in Sea World, Jeff and Liz stand in front of the Dolphin Area. Elizabeth’s grey eyes pierce through the photograph,. "Tip Tup, are you here little buddy?" No reply, obviously. What is left is just black. Everything is black. He finds his pet wolf in the Living Room on the yellow carpet. Tip Tup's eyes open and he sits up and looks at Jeff, his usual stare of solitude. Jeff looks back at him, "Buddy I've got some bad news for you, but first we've got to sort something out. Jeff looks up at the fireplace, where there seems to be a shrine to his wife. Her long curly hair falls over her shoulders, and she smiles sweetly at Jeff through time. She was always so fragile, she was 5 feet tall and very petit, apart from her breasts, which were quite big for her body.
         Jeff sets off to the bank and takes out the savings of about 10,000 dollars. That money was stored for Zelda but she wont need it now. "Alright man" he says to his Wolf who stares at the road and licks around his mouth "We are going to buy a car, then we are going change the world"