The Jump

36 Finding Her

When Raif arrived at Memorial Hospital it was around seven in the morning. Feeling exhausted from driving all night, he decided to wait for visiting hours so he reclined his chair and closed his eyes. Soon his mind was off in a dream where he was running through a wooded area with branches whipping at his face. He slowed down as he came to a clearing in the woods which exposed the river that was churning like a blender. At the far end of the river, he saw a woman sitting on a bridge made of stone. Wanting to get a better look, he cupped his hands over his eyes and squinted. That's when he realized it was Lucinda!

She was so close that he could just run a few more steps and be near her. Instead, he shouted and began waving his hands to get her attention but then he froze as she jumped into the churning water. Without hesitation, he ran into the river and dove into it but the water was so wild that he couldn't see anything. Needing to breathe, he came to the surface desperately gasping for air but the river was suddenly a puddle. All around him were dead fish as they flopped around in the shallow water and Lucinda was nowhere to be found. She was simply gone.

🌲🌲🌲

When Raif jerked awake, he looked at the time on his wristwatch, which read ten-thirty. His heart was beating fast from the rush of the dream, so he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and reached into his bag for some mouth wash. Freshening up would help him become more alert, so Raif gurgled the mouth wash and spit it into an empty coffee cup. He breathed in deeply and exhaled a few times, trying to ease his racing heart. The dream seemed so real and he thought about Chucks' wife Isabel. What would she have to say about the dream? Raif shook his head, realizing he didn't want to know Isabel's interpretation. It was just a dream. Nothing more.

He took a look at his reflection in the rearview mirror and saw a scruffy face staring back at him. His last shave was before Lucinda left and he wondered if Merrill would even recognize him? He took another deep inhale, exited the car and made his way into the hospital.

After asking a few nurses for directions, Raif found Merrill's room and when he entered, the man was sitting upright and reading a book. Except he looked older. The heart attack clearly having taken its toll on him. Before the attack, Merrill could easily be confused for a man in his sixties but now his hair had gone from salt-and-pepper to snow white. It was as if at the snap of a finger, the heart attack aged him and he was just like every other seventy-something old man.

For a moment Raif just studied Merrill from the door as he put his book down and set his hands on his chest with a deep sigh. Sylvia had requested a room with a view for him, but Merrill could care less about the view when his family and Lucinda were completely torn apart. Raif finally knocked to give Merrill a chance to compose himself and then he entered as if he was just barely arriving.

"You made it." Merrill smiled and adjusted his bed so he could sit up more.

"Yeah. I got here early so I took a nap in the car."

"Well, I suppose you want to hurry over to Lucinda's?" Merrill smiled. "I'll write down her address for you."

"No need. I got the address already... it's a long story." Raif waved his hand. "But I wanted to see you first since I didn't get the chance when you first had the attack." Raif paced from the bed over to the large window. "Truthfully I'm really nervous about seeing her."

"Why?"

"We had a misunderstanding and I tried to explain but..." He turned to look at Merrill and leaned against the window sill. "I swear I would never hurt her, Merrill. You have to know that."

"I do." He nodded.

"And then the next day she was gone without a goodbye or a note or anything. Just gone. It was just a confusing moment and I know it must have looked awful... and I wish Lucinda would have just let me explain."