Chapter 4 - Not expected.
The hospital was quiet when Sarah closed the door of Room 7.
The soft click echoed more than it should have.
She stood still for a moment, listening.
Nothing.
No footsteps. No voices. Just the low hum of machines far away.
She walked slowly to the bed and sat on the edge. Her phone was already pressed to her ear.
Thirty-two minutes.
That’s how long she had been talking to Robert.
“Okay… remind me again,” she said, rubbing her temple. “The first blackout?”
“9 PM,” Robert replied. “The elevator camera confirms it.”
“And the second?”
“9 AM. Exactly twelve hours later.”
Sarah leaned back slightly, staring at the ceiling.
“So… it’s not random.”
“No,” Robert said. “It’s timed.”
She let that sink in.
“Every twelve hours,” she whispered.
“Looks like it,” he said.
Silence filled the call.
Not empty silence. Thinking silence.
Sarah turned her head toward the clock on the wall.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
“So the next one…” she said slowly, “is at 9 PM.”
“Yeah.”
She checked the time again.
“Four hours from now.”
Robert let out a long breath. “Then we finally see it happen.”
“I don’t want to just see it,” Sarah said. “I want to understand it.”
Another pause.
Then...
“Let’s test it.”
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Robert didn’t answer right away.
“…How?” he finally asked.
Sarah sat up straighter.
“With people.”
The line went completely quiet.
“That’s risky,” Robert said after a few seconds. “Last time, people disappeared.”
“They disappeared because we didn’t know what we were dealing with,” Sarah replied. “Now we do. At least a little.”
“That doesn’t make it safe.”
“No,” she said calmly. “But doing nothing isn’t safe either.”
Robert didn’t speak.
Sarah’s voice softened.
“If this gets worse… what if more people start disappearing? What if it spreads?” she said. “If we can control it now, even a little, we might stop something bigger later.”
Still silence.
Then...
“…Alright,” Robert said. “What’s the plan?”
Sarah exhaled quietly.
“9 PM. I stay in Room 7.”
“
And me?”
“You stay at the reception.”
“Try to find patients That needs help at that time ”
“If you find any, write their names, before directing them to my room.”
“On my phone?”
“No,” she said quickly. “Something physical.”
Robert understood immediately.
“…In case the phone changes too.”
“Exactly.”
“Alright. Wrist and notebook,” he said.
“Good.”
Another short silence.
“Three hours left,” Robert said.
“Yeah…” Sarah murmured.
Neither of them hung up immediately.
Neither of them said anything else.
On the hospital roof, the wind moved softly between large air conditioners.
Patient 17 stood still among them.
Tall. Dark clothes. Black hair falling over part of his face.
Most of him hidden in shadow.
Only his outline could be seen clearly.
He lifted his phone.
“Milady.”
“Report,” the woman’s voice came. Calm. Cold.
“They’re trying to understand it,” he said. “They think it follows time.”
“They’re far from the truth.”
A pause.
“Are you observing,” she asked, “or playing around?”
He straightened slightly.
“Observing.”
“Then do your job.”
The call ended.
He lowered the phone slowly.
"Can't you at least be a little nice." He said to himself.
Below him, the city lights stretched endlessly.
“It’s 9 PM,” he whispered.
Downstairs, the hospital doors opened.
A woman and an older man stepped inside.
Robert noticed them right away.
He leaned slightly on the desk, trying to look normal.
“Evening,” he said.
“We’re here for Doctor Wilfer,” the woman replied.
Robert nodded.
He watched carefully as they wrote their names on the visitor sheet.
He read them once.
Then again.
He turned his wrist slightly and wrote the names.
Then he opened his notebook and wrote them again.
Slow. Clear.
No mistakes.
He looked up.
They were already walking toward the elevator.
They passed him.
Normal steps. Normal breathing.
Nothing strange.
“It's time…” he muttered under his breath.
Inside Room 7, Sarah sat behind her desk.
Her hands were resting on the surface, but her fingers kept moving slightly.
Her heart was beating faster than usual.
9:00 PM.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Her eyes lifted instantly.
“Come in.”
The door opened.
The woman and her father stepped inside.
“Good evening, Doctor,” the father said.
“Good evening,” Sarah replied calmly.
She listened to them.
Mild stomach pain. Nothing serious.
She nodded, asking simple questions.
Writing notes.
Acting normal.
But her eyes.
Her eyes kept moving to the clock.
9:10.
Nothing.
9:20.
Still nothing.
9:30.
Her fingers tightened slightly around her pen.
9:40.
Her breathing became slower, more controlled.
9:50.
Something was wrong.
This was supposed to happen.
9:55.
Her chest felt tight.
10:00.
Nothing.
The patients stood up.
“Thank you, Doctor,” the father said.
“You’re welcome,” Sarah replied automatically.
They left the room.
The door closed.
Silence.
Sarah exhaled slowly.
“…It didn’t happen.”
For a moment, she almost felt relieved.
Maybe it stopped.
Maybe it was over.
Then...
Pain.
Sharp.
Sudden.
Her body froze.
“N-no…”
Her hand moved to her stomach.
The pain twisted deeper.
Her vision blurred.
The room tilted slightly.
Her breathing broke.
“It’s late…” she whispered.
Her legs weakened.
Her phone slipped slightly in her hand.
She tried to call.
No answer.
Her body felt heavy.
Then light.
Then...
Nothing.
Darkness.
No sound.
No feeling.
Just emptiness.
Her eyes opened.
Cold floor.
Her body felt weak.
She pushed herself up slowly.
The room was quiet again.
The door was closed.
Everything was normal.
Like nothing happened.
She grabbed her phone quickly.
Time.
Her eyes widened.
“…Nothing happened?”
The door opened.
Robert stood there.
Calm. Watching.
“Doctor Wilfer,” he said. “I saw them leave the hospital.”
Sarah looked at him.
“It...it didn't happen.”
He Immediately checked his wrist.
Then his notebook.
“Their names are still here,” he said.
Sarah’s hands trembled slightly.
“it seems we misunderstood something.”
Silence.
She looked at him.
“What now?”
Robert didn’t answer immediately.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Thinking.
Connecting something.
Then...
“I have an idea.”
