The disappearance - Part two

  

Jessy woke up in a hospital bed. She was no longer cold, but her head was still throbbing.  She slowly opened her eyes but they were too sensitive to the light and she closed them again immediately. She lay with her eyes closed and heard someone entering the room. 

It was the nurse that came in to take her vitals.  “Hey sweetie, glad to see that you are finally awake…let me dim the lights for you” 

“Where am I? Did someone call my husband?” 

“You just stay calm. You have a nasty bruise on your forehead and you were quite shaken up when they brought you in last night. Do you remember what happened?” 

“I think I was in an accident. Where is my phone?” Jessy sounded nervous.  

“All your belongings were locked up for safety. I’ll make sure you get your phone shortly” 

The nurse made Jessy feel at ease.  

“Your vital signs look good, I’ll be back just now, then you can phone your husband yourself.”

 Jessy felt more relaxed after the nurse handed her the phone. She dialed the number, but the call still didn’t go through.  Jessy rang the bell for the nurse to come.  “I think there is a problem with my phone, is there another phone that I can use?’ 

“That’s the problem with these older phones, I’ll bring my phone then you can use that.” 

As the nurse walked out Jessy felt very puzzled.  

“Old phone…. this is the newest phone on the market.” She thought to herself but was surprised when the nurse came in with a type of phone that she had never seen in her life.  She struggled to use the phone and the nurse offered to dial the number for her. 

It was in vain. The number kept on disconnecting and it was very clear that the service was no longer active.  Jessy felt utterly frustrated and couldn’t think clearly. 

How can James do this to her? Here she was alone in a hospital, and he was nowhere to be found. She started crying and the nurse was there to comfort her.  

“Perhaps you can reach him at work honey.”  Jessy dialed the number and a woman answered. The voice seemed very familiar and she felt relieved.  

“Hi Julia, could I speak to Mr. Jones please.” 

“I’m afraid he is not in today. He had appointments all over the city. Could I give him a message?” 

“Please could you tell him to contact me urgently. I need to see him.” 

“Could I have your number please I will tell him to call you asap.” 

“Stop joking around Julia. This is Mrs Jones. You have my number.” 

“I’m sorry ma’am I will convey the message but the only Mrs. Jones I knew, went missing five years ago.” 

Jessy felt as if someone knocked her over the head with a hammer. She left her number and handed the phone back to the nurse.  

“What is the date today?” Jessy asked, feeling extremely confused.  

“It’s Wednesday 19 July. You should relax now. I’ll bring you something to eat. You must be starving.” 

Jessy had no other choice but to wait for James to show up or at least call her. She thanked the nurse and lay back in bed. She switched on the television and tried to find the news channel she loved to watch, but she couldn’t. She chose a different channel instead.   

Everything seemed so familiar, yet so vastly different.  The nurse came back with a plate of food and when she started eating, she realized just how hungry she was. She was starving. She finished off the plate and put it aside. 

She really started to feel better and the only thing that still hurt terribly was her neck.  She felt a bit more relaxed and must have fallen asleep, because she woke up with the feeling that someone was staring at her. 

She opened her eyes slowly and saw a man standing in the door. He had grayish hair and for a second, she didn’t realize who it was. Then she did.  

“James, what happened to you? Am I going crazy?” He walked closer and stood next to her bed.  “I can’t believe it’s you Jess…is it really you?”  

    

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