“Bill, what are you doing here?”
She slowly looked around now for the first time.
“Where are we?”
“We are on an island, not just any island, but The Island. I’ll explain more later, but for now, follow me. It’s getting dark out and there’s no telling what comes out to play at night.”
Hesitantly, she looked around and realized that Bill was right, it was getting dark. She began to wonder where she was and how on earth she got here. One minute she was having a nice quiet dinner with her family and the next she was here. Was she day dreaming? And why was Bill here? She hadn’t seen or talked to Bill in many years. This was not adding up, she must be dreaming..
“Coming?”
Startled by his voice, she realized she had just been standing there thinking to herself for awhile now and Bill had been waiting patiently for her to follow him. She could think of no reason not to follow him, he did have a point, it was getting dark, and she didn’t want to be out here, wherever here was, all alone in the dark. She was almost certain she was dreaming so she decided to just go with it to see where this would lead.
With a smile on her face, slightly amused and playful she said, “Yes Bill, I’m coming, go ahead and lead the way.”
She walked toward him and Bill began walking in the direction of the cave he had found earlier in the day.
*********
“Do you think it’s serious?”
“Mrs. Sanderson…”
“Please…call me Edna.”
“All right, Edna. I want you to know that all comatose patients are treated with the utmost severity. Statistically speaking there is a relatively good chance that Bill recovers from this coma because of how he went into it, but we won’t know until we run more tests on his brain to get a picture of the entirety of the damage he suffered. We will also be running more blood and radiology tests on him as well. I’m afraid even with these tests all we can present you with is statistics.”
The doctor paused before continuing to make sure Edna understood.
“The best thing you can do is stay by his side and talk to him. Sometimes patients can be called of comas when they hear a familiar voice.”
“Doctor Jacobs to Room 8.” came a voice over the intercomm.
I’m sorry Edna, but I have to go. I will keep you updated as we find out more.”
“Thank you Doctor.”
Sheriff Ryan had called Bills mom, Edna Sanderson, to let her know what had happened to her son. She was living in Wrightsberg which was about 1800 miles from Rigley. She flew in on the redeye flight late last night but got laid over for several hours on the way. She was exhausted and he could see it just by looking at her.
“Mrs Sanderson, you should maybe go to your hotel and get some rest.”
“I appreciate your concern Sheriff, but I’m going to stay right here by my son for as long as he needs me.”
Seeing the look in her eyes, he knew that nothing he could say or do was going to change her mind.
“Don’t worry Mrs Sanderson, everything is going to be okay.”
“I hope so Sheriff. After Bills father passed away last year, he’s the only family I have left.”
Sheriff Ryan solemnly nodded and then excused himself from the room. He had other work to do now that this case had been ruled an accident. All he could do was check up on Bill and hope for the best for his long time friend.
*********
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“I was sitting here at dinner and my wife just um…she um…she just disappeared”
“Sir, this is 911, we don’t appreciate jokes here you are taking up our time and putting other people in an emergency at risk by delaying our efforts.”
“This is no joke…she was sitting here at dinner and now she’s….she’s gone.”
“Okay sir, you say your wife has gone missing, how long has she been gone?”
“She’s been missing for about 5 minutes.”
“Sir, we cannot do anything for missing persons until they have been missing for at least 24 hours.”
“No, you don’t understand, she just disappeared…like she was here…and now she isn’t…gone into thin air, I don’t know what to do?”
“When you say she disappeared sir what do you mean exactly by that? Like a magic trick? Poof and she was gone?”
“Yes, exactly like a magic trick. She just vanished.”
“Sir, have you been doing any drugs or using illegal substances?”
“No, I’m serious here. She just disappeared. You have to help me, this isn’t a joke!”
“Okay sir, calm down and remain on the line.”
The operator placed the phone call on hold and called her supervisor over.
“What is it?”
“I’m on the line with this man who claims his wife just disappeared.”
“You mean she ran away?”
“No, disappeared, like vanished into thin air. You know…poof”
“Sounds like this man may have been using hallucinogens.”
“I agree, what should we do?”
“Well, we better cover our asses and send someone over.”
“Okay.”
The operator took the phone call off of hold, “Sir, are you still there?”
“Yes, please help me!”
“Sir we are going to send an officer out to your residence.”
“Okay thank you.”
“Your welcome Sir.”
The operator hung up and dialed another number.
“Rigley Sheriffs Department, this is Sheriff Ryan speaking, how can I help you?”
“Sheriff Ryan a man just called in and claimed his wife disappeared into thin air. We think he might be on some type of drug and could possible need medical help. Could you go out there and check on him.”
“Yes,” answered the Sheriff, “I’ll head out there after I finish with this traffic violation.”
“Thank you Sheriff.”
*********
After walking silently and awkwardly for what seemed like hours, they finally reached a cave. Bill had said this would serve as a good shelter from the elements, but this still didn’t explain any questions that she had and he wasn’t very forthcoming up until this point with any answers.
“If you know why I’m here, why won’t you tell me?”
“I’m happy to see you too Tiffany. It’s been what? 10 years? And you’re on my ass right now like we’ve been married and together all along. A simple hi how are you doing would have been nice.”
“Hi how are you….are you crazy? This is either a dream or I’ve completely lost my mind. Just a bit ago I was sitting at my dinner table having a nice dinner with my husband and family and then all of a sudden I’m standing by some water and I run into you.”
“You…you’re married?”
“Umm…helllooo? Yes I’m married, didn’t you hear about it? It was in the town newspaper even.”
She flashed her wedding ring in front of his face for him to see.
“I’ve been married for seven years now Bill. What exactly is the meaning of all this?”
“It’s just that…seven years….so soon after we broke up. I didn’t even think about it, that is…it never crossed my mind that you would be married. I just thought that what we had was special…”
“Bill, what we had was special, but it wasn’t going to work…and it didn’t. That’s why we broke up. I moved on, found the man of my dreams, someone who treated me right finally, and we got married. We have 2 beautiful children together and for the last seven years I’ve been happy. Now tell me what the fuck is going on will you?”
“I’m sorry Tiffany. I’m afraid I have done something terribly wrong.”
It was now completely dark outside now and hard to see anything but a silhouette of Tiffany.
“Look, it’s getting late. I’m tired and I’m sure you’ve had a long day. Why don’t I just make us a fire and we’ll talk all about it in the morning. In the mean time, let’s just catch up and enjoy each others company. We’re going to be here for at least tonight so we mine as well make the best of it.”
Considering what Bill had said, she finally relaxed and agreed to his proposition.
“Okay Bill, but first thing in the morning you better tell me what the hell is going on. Don’t pull any cheap tricks on me like you used too or you’ll be sorry. Got it?”
“I always enjoyed that attitude of yours Tiffany.”
Luckily Bill had gathered a bunch of firewood and made preparations earlier in the day for night. He quickly had a fire started and the heat was welcoming in the cooling damp air of The Island. He noticed Tiffany was just sitting there staring off into space as if in deep thought.
“Hungry?”
Tiffany broke from her trance, blinked a few times, and then looked at Bill.
“A little bit I guess.”
“Here’s a banana, I picked them this morning.”
Bill threw the banana to her and she caught it with ease.
“Thanks!”
She looked at the banana briefly and then began peeling it before taking a bite.
“You were right, it has been a long day. I’m just going to go to sleep and we’ll talk in the morning.”
“Okay, I’m going to sleep too, this fire should keep us warm all night. Get your rest and I’ll make sure that it does.”
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