Chapter 3. Hospital

Author’s POV

“What is it, Jake? You look so worried.”

Jake was sitting in the back seat with his manager. He was fidgeting with his hands and fingers, constantly looking out of the window and then back at his watch.

“Umm, it’s nothing. I just feel worried. Lea is not picking up.”

“Lea? The girl from your hometown?” His manager asked, looking at his own watch.

“It’s three in the morning, Jake. This is normally when people are tucked into their beds.”

Jake nodded his head. “I know. I know Mr. Kimberly. But she isn’t at home. She is at my place. She came last night. I had to leave with Rosa before I could even talk to her. Anyway, just ask him to drive fast. Let’s just get home.

Mr. Kimberly looked at Jake with an expression that was a mixture of concern and regret. “Um, Jake. What was your relationship with this girl again? Is she your sister or cousin?”

Jake didn’t answer. He didn’t know the answer either. Technically, she was his foster sister, but he knew very well that was not how he felt towards her.

He sprinted towards his door the moment he got out of his car.

He went straight to the bedroom. The bed was untouched. He banged the doors of all the toilets and washrooms open. She was nowhere. He checked all the rooms and then found her phone and purse lying on the table. She was not in the house.

Jake could hear the loudspeakers blasting one warning after another in the background. The sirens were going mad as well. There was apparently heavy rain coming along with the high tide warning in the area.

Something clicked, and then he was gone.

He went straight toward the shore. Lea was crazy. And there was no better place than the sea where she could be.

He knew her that much, at least.

“Lea. Lea.”

He ran like a madman, getting drenched in the heavy shower. It had already started raining, and the wind was picking up as well.

“Sorry, sir. You cannot cross this line. The beach is out of bounds at the moment.” The guards tried stopping him at the roadblock, but he shoved his way forward as they ran after him in pursuit.

He somehow knew that she needed him and that she was where he was headed.

And he was right.

Lea lay on one of the big boulders, completely drenched and unconscious.

Jake scooped her up in his arms and checked her breath.

She was breathing okay, but her pulse was frail. Her forehead was burning up. She was running a very high fever.

The guards and the policemen who were on Jake’s trail called immediately for an ambulance. It took them straight to the hospital.

Jake watched silently as the doctors rushed her in.

He paced the corridor outside as the experts did their job.

After almost an hour, the doctor came out to have a word with the anxious Jake.

“Is she alright?” he asked.

“Yes. She is fine. Just a terrible case of pneumonia. She will need to stay here for a couple of days. She probably slipped and fell because she had some bad bruises on her body and a heavy wound at the back of her head. We will run a full scan when she comes around,” he said.

“Will she be alright?” Jake repeated himself as if he didn’t hear a single thing that the doctor was saying.

The doctor signed. “Your girlfriend is fine, young man. You need to go home and get changed if you don’t want to end up beside her in that bed.”

He pointed inside, where she was. She had the oxygen mask on, along with the heart rate monitor, and was dressed in the hospital uniform.

Jake tried to make his way in.

“No… No. Not like this. You are soaking wet.”

The doctor was a fine young man, probably six or seven years older than Jake himself. It seemed like he was on emergency duty that night, which meant that he was still a student.

He grabbed Jake by his shoulder. His hold was firm.

“Let me go see her, doctor. You have no authority over me. I need to see Lea. She just came in today, and now she is lying in that hospital bed.” Jake was fuming.

“My name is Phill. Take my number. I will be here on duty until tomorrow morning. You can call me if you need anything before that. For now, I will not be able to allow you to see your girlfriend. It is for the best. She cannot be exposed to any more outside contamination. She is a little fragile at the moment, young man.”

He paused to take a good look at Jake’s face. Perhaps he looked familiar. Why wouldn’t he? He was the rising star. The face on billboards all across the city

“You need to go back home and come back a little refreshed. You don’t look very good either. Come to the cafeteria with me. Let me buy you a coffee.”

“I don’t need a coffee.” Jake shrugged his hands off. And then he went out of the place without looking back.

Phill kept staring at him and then looked back at Lea. “Lovers. As stupid as they get…” And then he went to his cabin, tending to his pending work.

Jake kept calling everyone he could, trying his best to give Lea the best medical advice that was possible.

He wanted to move her out immediately but was advised against it. Apparently, the doctor was right. It was best for her to stay in isolation and get some rest.

He went home dejected. He tossed his clothes aside and paced his room, very angry.

But he was human, after all.

He had been at work all night. His body was cold.

His eyes gave way, and he fell on the couch, fast asleep.