Ben hurried over to the side of the bed, opening the yearbook to the pages we needed to show Kendrick.
"I'm calling security," muttered the doctor as he stormed off.
"We'd better hurry, Ben. Looks like we've got about thirty seconds for Kendrick to ID those kids before we're forcibly removed from here."
"Alright, Kendrick," Ben said as he showed Kendrick the pictures. "Can you identify the kids who were buying the drugs? I know there are several classes of kids to look through, but just look and see if you can recognize them."
Kendrick started peering at the faces, and that was when I heard the heavy tramping of footsteps running down the hallway.
"They're in 35C!" I heard the doctor shout. "Get them out by whatever means necessary!"
I headed to the door, determined to hold off the security guards for as long as it took Kendrick to identify the kids.
I popped my head out the door and saw three burly security guards armed with Tasers and batons charging our way.
"You!" one of them shouted, pointing a thick finger at me. "Get out of here now, before we're compelled to use force to remove you!"
"Hurry, Kendrick, hurry," I muttered under my breath as I closed the door and braced my body against it.
"Come on, Kendrick, do you see the kids who were buying the drugs? Do you see them in there?"
"Not... yet... still... looking..."
At that moment, the security guards reached the door.
"Open the door, sir, open it right now!" shouted the lead one as he gripped the door handle.
"We're not done yet!" I yelled back at him.
"That's it, you've had your warning. We’ve called the police and you will be forced from these premises!"
I braced myself for impact as he put his shoulder down and rammed the door. I managed to hold it closed, but this guy was pretty strong, and I wasn't sure how long I could hold him back for.
"Have you found them, Kendrick?" I asked.
The security guard rammed the door again, and this time he did it with such force that I was forced back. Still, I recovered and got my shoulder up against the door as he charged again. This time the door opened a crack, and I was only just able to force it shut before one of them tried to wedge their batons in the gap.
"That's it, Jeff, help me out here!" the security guard shouted to his friend.
Together, they lined themselves up outside the door, preparing to ram it in unison. There was no way I could hold it against both of them simultaneously, but I had to try. I dug my heels into the ground and forced all my weight against the door as I heard them counting down.
"Three, two, one, hit it!"
Their combined mass slammed into the door. As strong as I was, I couldn't hold it. I was thrown back and fell hard on the floor, and the door burst open as the security guards charged into the room. But right at that moment, Kendrick's eyes lit up.
"Those two," he said, tapping his finger on the faces of two boys in the yearbook. "It was …those two."
The security guards grabbed Ben and me and started hauling us roughly out.
"Thank you, Kendrick!" I shouted over my shoulder as the guards manhandled me out of the room and frog-marched us down the hallway.
"Alright, you jerks, you can let us go now; we're leaving," said Ben.
"We'll let you idiots go when you're off hospital premises," said the head security guard defiantly.
They forced us into the elevator and held us pinned against the elevator walls as we went downstairs. These guys obviously only had minimal training, and I could easily have broken out of the hold and taken them down, but obviously, I didn't want to unnecessarily escalate the situation. It was better to just play along and cooperate. We had the information we had come for.
As the elevator reached the ground floor, they marched us roughly out to the main entrance, and then when we got to the doors, they shoved us out and stood in the doorway, blocking it.