At the Hospital

[Ulli]

Sarah was on the late shift that day. As she left the parking lot, she noticed the two police cars and a green van parked directly in front of the hospital's main entrance. A familiar sight. Inmates from the nearby prison also get sick and are treated at the nearest hospital. She entered the main entrance and looked at her watch. She was running late. And to make matters worse, she now had to take the long detour to the changing rooms through the old basement. The direct route was closed due to renovations.
Sarah quickened her pace so she wouldn't be late. The walk through the old catacombs was eerie. Parts of the hospital were built around 1900, and the basements served as air-raid shelters during World War II. After the war, they were no longer needed, and this underground section was almost forgotten. The building services department used some of the rooms for storage, while others stood empty. Overall, it was an eerie place. Dimly lit, damp, and you only encountered people occasionally. Either a technician fetching something or colleagues making their way to the changing rooms during shift change.
A little later, she reached her ward. She poured herself some coffee and sat down on a stool, ready to listen to the shift supervisor's update. Once everyone was gathered, Sister Monika began her handover: "Hello ladies, first things first: Mr. Müllkovski is in room 36. He's a patient from the correctional facility. He's been transferred to us with cholelithiasis. Tomorrow he'll have an ERCP; today he's just receiving analgesia as planned. Important: The patient is under strict guard. You all know him from the newspaper; he and his girlfriend robbed several gas stations and shot two people at one of them. But that's not our problem. He'll be cared for and treated like everyone else. If there's any trouble, contact the police or the prison guards. We've created a list with photos of who is allowed in the room and who isn't. His girlfriend is still on the run, and the police suspect she might try to get him out of here." So, if anything seems strange to anyone, just let the police or security know. This afternoon, Sarah and Marcus are authorized to see us, and Michael and the senior physician are authorized to see us
in room 35... Monika continued with the other patients. After 20 minutes, she was finished. She approached Sarah: "Say, are you leaving early today?" "
Yes, if it works for you, I'd like to leave 15 minutes early today!" "
Yes, no problem, just write it down. I'll deduct it from your overtime. What exactly is this Midnight Tournament? And why so late?"
"No idea. A few weeks ago, this rich guy came to the studio and asked if he could hire us for a private party to entertain. He paid the dojo €5,000 and another €500 prize money per fighter. Of course, we didn't say no. And that's why I'm going to be kicking some ass tonight!" she grinned.
Her boss grinned too. "Okay, good luck tonight and make sure you win. If you don't come to the night shift tomorrow because of this, I'm going to give you a good thrashing."
The late shift went like almost all of them lately. Surgeries were now routinely running until 8:00 p.m. Another quick briefing with the doctors, new patients, antibiotics, distributing food, vital signs... the usual stuff.
During her break, she reread the rules for tonight. 4 oz gloves or bare knuckles, slamming was allowed, heel hooks allowed, toe holds allowed. Striking the kidneys allowed, side kicks on a downed opponent (no stomping) allowed, submission only, no time limit. Pretty tough, she thought,
"Well... life isn't a bed of roses!"
Shortly before 8:00 p.m., she left the ward and hurried towards the changing room. Somewhere down there, she heard footsteps. They were slowly approaching. Her pulse quickened. Then she saw the white silhouette of a nurse. Nurse's watch at chest level, stethoscope around her neck. The top was just a tiny bit too tight and too short, and she had the usual quick gait of a nurse. When they were about eye level, Sarah glanced at her briefly. She didn't recognize the face, but there had been quite a few new ones hired recently. Irritated, she watched her go. Something bothered her. Then she realized it. She called after her,
"Hey, colleague."
The woman turned around, and Sarah walked towards her.
"I'm Sarah," she said. The strange woman looked at her uncertainly. She was almost a head taller than Sarah and slender with reddish-brown hair, shaved on the sides and a wide parting. The white nun's dress with colorful buttons accentuated her already very beautiful feminine curves.
"Lissy"
The stranger commented on the meeting only briefly. The two women looked directly into each other's eyes. Even then, there was a palpable tension between them. Then, suddenly, it hit Sarah. Her eyes and mouth opened wide. At the same moment, Lissy realized what was happening. She, too, opened her eyes wide. But instead of running away, she grabbed Sarah by the throat and pressed her other hand over her mouth. She pushed the surprised woman into one of the rooms. Even as they passed through the door, she knocked over a shelf behind her, letting it crash against the door, temporarily locking it. Sarah's heart raced. Fear and panic began to take hold. She felt the woman's strong forearm and her fingers pressing against the soft tissue of her neck. Sarah didn't resist. She could have loosened her grip, but she also noticed that Lissy was in a very tense situation. So, it was best to wait and see. The tall woman pulled a butterfly knife from her lab coat pocket and deftly snapped it open.
Sarah's eyes widened. In the past, she had practiced knife defense techniques several times, discussed them with professionals, and even attended a seminar. Everyone agreed: defending against a knife without getting hurt was nearly impossible. The general consensus was that a highly trained fighter or martial artist
might know one or two techniques for disarming an attacker, but these should always be the very last resort.
The red-haired woman still had her hand on Sarah's throat. She glared at her: "You shouldn't have looked so closely, Sister Sarah!" she mocked. Her eyes quickly scanned the room. Old shelves piled high with junk, some larger pieces of wood, an old operating light, several half-rotted hospital beds, or rather, their frames. Cables, rope, tools, and so on. Sarah glanced down and saw the knife right under her nose.
"Don't play the hero here, sweetheart. I'll tie you up here, you shut your mouth, and then everything will be alright, understand?"
Sarah nodded
. "Good sister!"
Lissi turned around and walked over to the shelf where she'd seen a roll of duct tape and some cable ties. Sarah knew she couldn't run away. The door was blocked by a shelf, and moving the items would have taken too long. The basement windows that let in a little light were surely locked. She didn't see a second door. She considered her options. Would Lissi keep her word and just tie her up? Or would she stab her and let her bleed to death? She didn't want to find out. Sarah acted. Carefully, she grabbed an old iron bar beside her. Jumping up, she struck Lissi on the back with it. She'd hoped that the psycho bitch would fall. But the blow hadn't been hard enough. Lissi staggered two steps forward, then turned around in surprise and looked at Sarah. She was grinning. For a brief moment, the nurse paused. Then your fighter, General Sarah, lunged forward in a crouched position. She was shorter than the criminal and intended to exploit this. With all her might, she rammed her shoulder into the other woman's stomach. She grabbed her opponent's hips, levered her off, and slammed her onto one of the old bed frames. She was on top of her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and slammed her twice onto the frame. This had no effect, however, so she immediately attacked Lissi's face with elbows and fists. The first blow went straight through. She blocked the second, and with momentum, Lissi and Sarah threw themselves off the bed. Sarah landed hard. Somehow, she managed to wedge a leg between their torsos. Then, with all the force she could muster, she kicked the taller woman off her. She heard the woman crash against one of the shelves.
Sarah stood up and looked in her direction. Fear had taken hold. This was no competition on the mat. There was only victory here. The moment she attacked, she wasn't aware of the situation. She believed she could send her opponent to dreamland with sheer force and a quickly applied leverage move. She had practiced it hundreds of times. Whenever new guys came to the gym, believing themselves superior because they were just 18-year-old boys, strong (well, more like adolescents), loud-mouthed, and full of enthusiasm and passion for MMA, she perfected it. Deep hip attack, takedown, side control, back mount, rear naked choke. Simple enough. But her opponent wasn't a martial artist; she didn't follow the rules; she was a street fighter. Win quickly, no matter how, and retreat.
Sarah had just gotten up when Lissi was already charging forward, about to ram into Sarah with full force. At the last moment, she placed a foot on Lissi's hip, threw herself backward, and catapulted her opponent over her head. Lissi landed with a crash next to a shelf. She raged like a fury. With one hand, she yanked the shelf over and let it fall on Sarah.
"Fucking bitch! You should have just kept still!" "This is going to get very ugly!"
she bared her teeth diabolically and grinned maliciously.
She heaved the shelf off Sarah and yanked her to her feet. The hospital scrubs they were both wearing had barely survived the fierce fight. Trousers and scrubs were in tatters, practically hanging on by a thread.
Sarah crawled out from under the shelf and stood up by walking backward. The redhead charged at her again. Her hands gripped Sarah's shoulders and neck. With a loud battle cry, she pushed the blonde nurse forward. Both combatants had long since lost their shoes, and the many small items from the overturned shelves made it impossible to get a proper footing. Lissi pressed Sarah against a wall, then struck Sarah in the head with her right forearm and right fist. Sarah blocked two blows, then grabbed her opponent's neck with both hands and pushed her away. Lissi yielded to the pressure, bent her knees slightly, and took a half step forward. She shortened the The distance to Sarah was minimal, but that was enough to land a few uppercuts to her stomach. Sarah released her grip around the neck and turned to the side to avoid the blows. The tall woman yanked her back and into the room. Even as she turned, she felt the redhead's knee in her stomach. Sarah buckled sideways.
"Have you had enough?"
Lissi snarled, yanking Sarah back up. The blonde used the momentum and brought out her fist. With the accuracy of a Hellfire missile, she landed a blow to the chin. Lissi staggered slightly. Sarah gave her an extra push, hurling Lissi against the wall, which Lissi just managed to break with her hands. But Sarah was already there. She grabbed her opponent by the shoulder and slammed her to the ground.
"I'm just getting started!"   
Lissi lay on the floor, breathing heavily. Sarah was also taking long, deep breaths. She was removing the last remnants of her torn scrubs. She was now wearing only a sports bra and the remains of her pants. The tension of the fight was clearly visible on her face. Every muscle was rippled and glistening with sweat. She had been training her body in martial arts for 20 years, starting with judo at the tender age of six. Later, she added Thai boxing and jiu-jitsu, and for the last two years, she had been doing MMA in the amateur league.
She found an old syringe tray and approached Lissi. Lissi, too, had removed her scrubs and was just struggling out of her ripped pants.
Her body was rather slim and wiry, like a cross-country skier's. When Sarah stood before her, she smiled. "Shit, man!" "Did you inherit a gym?"
She wound up and slammed the tray into her opponent's temple with full force. Breathing heavily, she stood before her opponent.
"I could fight you for another two hours, but it wouldn't do any good. I suggest we go to the police together!"
Lissi's eyes darkened.
"Forget it!"
she growled. She grabbed a box cutter from the floor, lunged forward, and tried to cut Sarah. Sarah backed away. But the other woman was in a rage, swinging the knife down at Sarah indiscriminately. Sarah dodged the blade again and punched Lissi straight in the face. But Lissi wasn't fazed. Quite the opposite, in fact; she simply threw herself at her opponent. Sarah turned inside Lissi and brought her down with an O-Goshi hip throw. Once on the ground, she immediately followed up. She was pinned to Lissi in a schoolgirl position and slapped her hard across the face. Lissi retaliated immediately, punching Sarah right in the nose. Then she remembered the box cutter. She raised her hand. Sarah immediately grabbed her wrist. Lissi resisted. The two women engaged in a fierce struggle for the knife. Sarah used her full weight. Her elevated position ultimately gave her the advantage. She slashed Lissi's cheek and then flung the blade away. A quick left-right combination finally calmed Lissi down. She looked at the woman she had just beaten.
"You damn bitch, I'll kill you!" she said.
Then, in a final attempt, she grabbed Sarah's neck. She wrapped her legs around Sarah's hips and tried to pull herself up, but Sarah knew this, held firm, and allowed it. When Lissi reached the top, she slammed her back down. A staccato of punches and elbows to the head followed. Only when her legs went limp and fell from Sarah's body did she let go. Sahra was shocked and surprised by her own brutality. She knew the images of battered faces from the UFC. But seeing it up close was something else entirely. Her hands ached terribly and were covered in blood. She could barely open her fists. She probably had multiple fractures in her hands. She had read that fractures of the fingers and metacarpals were common in bare-knuckle fights. She sat beside the defeated Lissi for a while. Only when Lissi regained consciousness did she tape the woman's hands with electrical tape. She had no idea how long they had fought, but she felt like it had been 100 hours. From outside, she heard someone shout.
"Police!" They opened the door.
Sarah dragged herself inside.
"Just a moment."
She moved the shelf aside, and two police officers came in. They surveyed the chaos and, of course, recognized Lissi. They radioed for backup and also called for the hospital's emergency team. One of the officers approached Sarah.
"Are you alright?" "
Yes, I'm fine." "
If you're feeling well, we need to take your statement."
Sarah just nodded . "
Just one question, if you don't mind? How did you know it wasn't a colleague?"
She looked up and smiled. "
Nurses don't wear high heels!"

[Kiva]

The title got my attention as hospitals are a backdrop to some of my stories.

I worked at a hospital near a U.S. federal prison and took care of a lot of inmates. They typically were shackled to the bed by one ankle. One or two armed guards were always present. Visitors were either banned or restricted.

In contrast to your plot, where a fake nurse tries to help the prisoner escape, a worse security threat might be an actual employee acting as an accomplice.

https://www.timesleader.com/news/491022/police-nurse-assistant-helped-inmate-escape-with-hidden-key

Nice to see a kick-ass nurse heroine.

[emmaduncxn]

now this is unique with superb action, too

[tommyfighter]

I am guessing the league fight is off for now!

[tommyfighter]