On The Run: Part Two

Chapter Forty-Eight - "Survival/Consequence"

 

Jake

 

“Where’s Sarah?” I asked, stepping out of Chloe’s room.

They all looked up, staring around.

Please don’t do something stupid, Sarah.

“Maybe she went to get cleaned up,” Caroline said.

I almost snorted.

“Can somebody please find her?” I yelled, louder than was necessary. I was crumbling, my family was crumbling, and I was losing control.

“I’ll go look,” Jerry said, and Ricky and Harlan followed.

“She said she was going to the bathroom,” Ritchie said, walking over.

Jay appeared, coming from the direction of the cafeteria, Hal in tow.

“What’s wrong?” he asked taking in my worried expression, “Where’s Sarah?” he looked around.

“I don’t know,” I answered, feeling even more frantic. I was finding it very hard to think straight. I also didn’t want to leave Chloe, so I stood still, wondering what to do.

Please don’t do something stupid, Sarah.

I turned back to Chloe, as if to make sure she was still . . . what? Running my hands through my hair, I felt the tension in my shoulders rise.

Oh, Sarah. You’d better not be doing anything stupid.

I moved over to sit back down in my chair. I would have to have enough faith in her wisdom; she wouldn’t do anything – not right now.

I dropped my head into my hands, and I caught a flicker of red. I sat up abruptly. My shoe was settled in a pool of blood. Instinctively, I looked up at Chloe, but she was still . . . well, still.

The blood was seeping in from beneath the bathroom door.

Oh God.

Sarah.

I hurried out of my seat and pulled open the door.

My heart stopped as I took in the lifeless body of my wife, settled in a ridiculously large pool of blood.

My entire body stiffened and for a millisecond, I may have been stabbed.

Wide eyed, I vaguely heard my voice ring out, as a lump formed in my throat, “SARAH!”

I fell to the ground, feeling my jeans soak up her blood, as I lifted her.

“SOMEBODY HELP! HELP!” I yelled out loud as I carried her into my arms.

There was just so much!

“Sarah!”

A nurse rushed in and her eyes widened as she took us in, closely followed by a doctor and another nurse.

“What happened?” the doctor asked, without any alarm in his expression, as he checked for a pulse.

Not Sarah.

Sarah.

This had to be a terrible nightmare.

“I don’t . . . she was just . . . I just . . .” I was aware that my words weren’t coming out right, but I had lost all mental function.

Then Jay walked in, and I saw the blood literally drain from his face as he took in his daughter’s body.

It made everything less dream-like.