Chapter Eleven
Jake
In the morning, I heard a whispering voice, "Sir, sir, can you hear me?" I opened my eyes and found it was the nurse waking me up. I had spent the night here on this metal chair in the hospital corridor. My neck was stiff, and my back ached.
"Yes, I hear you," I told her.
She said gently, "I think Miss Julia is starting to wake up now, if you'd like to be with her."
I got up quickly, saying, "Yes, of course, I do. Thank you."
I entered the room to find her still trying to grasp what had happened. I approached her cautiously. I was afraid she would have hallucinations again. She was very calm, unlike her state yesterday.
"Good morning, Miss. How are you now?" I asked.
I saw that she was very surprised to see me, and her confusion deepened.
She replied, "Where am I? Is this the hospital?"
"Yes," I said. "Yesterday, you suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning, and fortunately, you are alive now."
She looked at me as if she couldn't believe what was happening and tried to adjust her body, sitting up slightly.
She said, "What?! I was poisoned? But I ki..." She didn't complete her sentence but fell silent and looked away. I wonder what she was about to say?
Then she asked, "And who brought me here to the hospital? Did you do this?"
I replied, "Yes. Yesterday, you forgot your phone on the car seat. When I reached the hotel, I noticed it there and returned to give it to you. But I knocked on the door many times, and you didn't open. When I tried to listen for any sound, I smelled a strange odor, so I had to break the door and turn off the gas. You were unconscious, so I rushed you to the hospital."
She replied, "I truly can't believe all this happened without me noticing, because I don't remember being asleep. I was awake, I'm sure."
Her response confused me, especially since she then removed the blanket and started examining her pajamas closely. I wonder what was going through her mind?
Then she said in a low voice, as if talking to herself, "No, it really seems I was asleep, and it was just a nightmare."
Here, I realized she was talking about something related to yesterday's hallucinations. I answered her without making her feel worse, "Yes, hallucinations like this happen in this situation." I couldn't tell her how she had broken down believing she had killed someone, but was what she saw in her dream so terrible that she thought it was real?
She was trying to gather her still-damp hair, but she certainly didn't have a hair tie. I watched her try again and again, but her hair scattered and rebelled against her small hands. Every time she thought she succeeded, a strand escaped her grasp like a prisoner freed from a cage.
Her phone began to ring, and she answered it. "Hello, yes Stella... Oh, don't worry, no thief broke into the house... There was a carbon monoxide leak, and thankfully someone saved me and took me to the hospital, and I'm fine now... Okay, dear, you don't need to come, but if you insist, come... I'll see you here. Goodbye."
She looked at me and explained, "That's my friend Stella. She found the door broken this morning and thought a thief had entered my house."
I felt embarrassed because I had broken her door, even though it was to save her. "I'm sorry I broke your house door," I said. "If you want, I can fix the door for you; I'm good at that."
She replied, "Oh, don't apologize. I'm really grateful to you for saving my life, and thanks to you, I'm alive now. So, thank you very much. And you can fix the door too, Mr.... What's your name, by the way? I'm Julia, but they call me Julie."
"Oh, you have a very beautiful name, Julie. My name is..."
A phone rang before I could finish my sentence. It was the lawyer calling. I apologized to her, explaining that I had to answer this call urgently.
I left the room and answered, "Hello, yes Sir, I hear you."
The lawyer said, "Mr. Simon, I want to inform you of some developments regarding your case concerning the request we submitted to the court to unfreeze your funds. We supported it with all the documents and evidence proving that you obtained the money from your patent and not from any other questionable source. You can now use the money."
I was shocked as I heard this because I never expected this to happen.
"Mr. Simon, can you hear me?" the lawyer asked.
"Yes, Sir, I hear you. I'm really happy with this news. Thank you for informing me. Goodbye."
I hung up the phone and started thinking that I could now repay the favor, not only to Steve but to his sister. Perhaps this would make Steve rest easy in his grave.
As I was returning to the room, I noticed flowers planted in the backyard through the window, so I thought of picking some for Julie to make her feel better, as she is always surrounded by flowers, and perhaps today she misses seeing them.
I quickly headed outside and saw Mike and Stella getting out of a red car. Mike had changed a lot from what he used to be; he had also gained weight, unlike Stella, who remained the same. I became nervous because I didn't know how to face him yet.
Then I realized he had spotted me standing at the hospital entrance. His gaze questioned what he was seeing. I felt him cursing me with his eyes, then he yelled: "Jake, I'm going to kill you!"
I knew this confrontation with Mike was bound to happen sooner or later. I stood there, waiting for him to approach me like a merciless monster. I hadn't prepared any words, sentences, or excuses, because none of that would be useful. I surrendered to the punishment I deserved to take to atone for my sins.