Flatline - Ch. 1: Arrest

It all started at the hospital.  Everything starts and ends at the hospital.  Babies are born there, the sick and elderly die there. And don’t forget the myriad of injuries and accidents in between.
My story is no different.  I was sitting in the lobby, legs crossed as I poured over my summer reading: The Scarlet Letter.  Fascinating book.  Too bad I’m rushing through it.
My mother works at the hospital as a cardiologist.  She had dragged me to work with her about an hour previous, instructing me to finish my summer reading before doing anything else.
I had officially finished my freshman year of high school on June 2, at 2:58 p.m.  At this particular moment, it was 4:17 p.m., on the very same day.
Mom’s afraid I’m going to procrastinate reading until the day before the next school year begins, a common mistake for freshman and sophomores alike.  However, I actually enjoy reading, and I’m pretty fast at it, too.  I started this book as soon as Mom had picked me up from school and thrust the book in my hand, and I’m already on the last chapter.  So much for procrastination.  Watch me read it three more times over the course of summer break.
I stood and began to make my way towards the front desk, my nose firmly planted in my book.  A convenient talent of mine, being able to navigate without even looking up from whatever I happened to be reading at the time.  My mind is like a global positioning system, especially in the hospital.
“Hello, Samuel.”
Upon hearing my name, I glanced upwards at the receptionist.  Everyone knew me here; whether that was good or bad, I had yet to determine.
“Hey, Irene.  You know where Mom’s working today?”
“Sure thing.”  She tapped on her keyboard, squinting at the schedules portrayed on the monitor.  “She should be in the cath lab, but she mentioned visiting the ICU earlier.”
“Thanks.”
I walked away, wincing.  The intensive care unit is never a fun place to be.  Why would she visit there of all places?
The book wasn’t really helping, either.  Hester and Pearl on the scaffold, with Dimmesdale close behind...Chillingworth watching their every move...the climax was coming, I could feel it...
And that’s when my internal GPS failed me.  I don’t know how it happened, it just did.  
I was rounding a corner, sticking close to the wall to avoid any potential collisions.  But I suppose the person coming my way was thinking the same thing.  We smacked into each other pretty hard, not enough to fall over, but enough to cause my book and whatever she had in her hands to clatter onto the linoleum floor.
"Sorry," I spluttered, an automatic response.  Blushing, I dropped onto my hands and knees, searching for the two misplaced objects.
"The Scarlet Letter?" she asked, holding it in front of me.
"Yep, that's mine."  I hurriedly grabbed it, avoiding eye contact.  
My other hand touched cold metal, and I looked to see what it was: a small, silver rectangle.
"This...yours?"
“Yes.”  She snatched it out of my hand before I could even figure out what it was.  “Thank you.”
“You’re wel...”
She stood with a huff, dusting off her shirt as she marched down the hallway.  
I clutched my book to my chest and leaned against the wall, silently watching her.  Her brown, corkscrew curls bounced as she walked, black shoes clacking on the linoleum.
With a start, I realized that I hadn’t taken a single glance at her face.  Not once during the entire incident.  I was too focused on staying invisible, I suppose.
Then I realized she was going in the same direction I was supposed to be going in.  Great.  Now she’s going to think I’m following her.
I thumbed through the book as I walked, trying to remember where I was at before I had lost my place.  Somewhere around the scaffolds....
The toe of my sneaker tapped something, causing it to roll across the floor; I stooped down to pick it up.  It was a tiny metal pencil, or at least it looked like one.  Where the lead and the eraser were supposed to be, black plastic enveloped the tips.  Something that she had dropped?
Embarrassed as I already was, I called out, my sense of benevolence overpowering my sense of well-being.  Surely this woman would bite my head off if this object didn’t belong to her.
“Hey!”
She came to an abrupt halt, then spun around on her heels until she faced me.  Her green eyes bored into mine, and I took a step back.  This was no woman; this was a girl, a girl my age...
“Yes?”
Something happened then.  My heart took on a life of its own, deciding to scare the heck out of me by beating twice as fast as usual.
If you jump to conclusions and assume this was love at first sight, I suggest you close this book now.  This isn’t a romance novel.
Being more logical than that, I blamed it on nerves.
“Hel-lo?  You were addressing me, correct?”
KA-THUMP, KA-THUMP, KA-THUMP...
“Y-yes...”
“Then I suppose you should have something good to say.”
I warily took a step forward, adrenaline shooting through my system.  That didn’t help either.
“Did you...drop this?”
Fingers trembling, I held up the metal pencil.  The girl walked towards me, only causing my heart to pound its way through my chest even faster.
“Yes.”  Her expression softened, but my heartbeat didn’t.  “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I answered quickly, looking down.  “I should get going now...”
I maneuvered around her, sticking my nose in my book as I allowed my long stride to ensure that she wouldn’t catch up to me.  Thankfully, my heartbeat gradually calmed down.
Ka-thump, ka-thump, ka-thump...
Oddly enough, I’d never been this conscious of my heartbeat before.  It was like a pair of speakers were implanted in my ears, forcing me to listen to the constant throbbing...
Ka-thump...ka-thump...ka-thump...
Slowing down?  By a wide margin, too.
Ka...thump...ka...thump...ka...
Oh, gosh, was I going to faint?  I braced myself against the wall, wondering why in the world a simple encounter with an ordinary girl would cause me to lose consciousness.  My hands checked every pulse point: neck, temple, wrist...but each one evidenced the same critical symptom.
My heart was stopping.