The Imposter

Chapter Seven

There I was, in a fancy hospital in a coma. Some say that when someone is in a coma years can pass in their mind, but for me, the days didn't go fast enough. I never heard people talking in my room. I didn't even feel the nurse's coming in and out of the room. But one day, I felt my arm move. Whoever was in the room saw me move as well. I could feel them breathing near me to see if I was alive. In that instant, a film played in my head of what had happened. I saw him again. Mr. Jackson, letting go of me.

 I woke up. I startled the nurse who was standing next to me. She grabbed my hand and calmed me down. “It's okay, you're safe.” Her voice was reassuring. It reminded me of my mom. I had no idea of where I was or why I was there. Why hadn’t I  died? That fall was too high and the knife stabbed. I probably lost a lot of blood.

 There were so many questions, but as I was getting ready to ask them the nurse stepped out. It was my chance I thought. I could escape from this place. What if she was an accomplice of Mr. Jackson and just off to warn him that I had awakened? I couldn't risk it. I began to pull out my IV and oxygen mask. I tried to stand up. My legs weren't cooperating. I went straight to the floor. I was in so much pain. I looked down and I could see my hospital gown drenched in blood. My wound opened while I tried to get up. 

 I managed to pick myself up and headed towards the door. I didn't care that I didn't have any clothes. I bolted towards the door. As I made it to the door, the knob started moving. I could hear voices outside. Oh no! I thought to myself I was about to be caught red handed. It didn't matter, I had to get out of here.

 The door opened, and a strange man was standing there. I had never seen him. Who was this man and what did he want with me? The man grabbed me and took me back to the bed. The nurse came in behind. She saw what I had done and walked quickly towards me. “ You just woke up from a coma, you need to rest.” She began to put the IV back into my arm and the mask on my face. I was having a hard time breathing. She grabbed some gauze to stop my cut from bleeding.  She cared for me the way my mom did. It calmed me down and my breathing went back to normal.

I didn't take my eyes off the man and he didn't take his eyes off of me. 

 The door opened once again. This time, a woman came in. She wasn't just any woman, she wore the fanciest clothes I had ever seen. Who was she? She looked like those women from the magazines that my sister enjoyed reading. My sister! Did she know I was here? The man and this woman began to talk. I didn't understand what they were saying. I was in so much pain from what the nurse was doing. She put some pain reliever into my IV and left me with the two mysterious people. 

 “Ma’am, he woke up. What are we going to do now? Do we go along with the plan?” The plan? What were they talking about?

The  woman started walking towards me. She motioned the man. He brought her a chair. She sat next to me. There was a look in her eyes, as if she was genuinely concerned for me. “Of course,” she said “ we can't just leave him here.” Leave me? Where would they take me? 

 “Who are you?” I asked in my weak voice. “ Do you work for him? Mr. Jackson?” 

 The man began to laugh. What was so funny? It was a serious question. “ Of course we do not!” the woman snickered back at me. She looked offended by the question. 

“My name is Elizabeth Salazar. I am the owner of the best beauty blog ever. And this is Jaime, my bodyguard.” I guess I had a blank look on my eyes after what she said.  “ You don't know who I am, do you?" She didn't wait for me to respond. " It doesn't matter. You will be of great help to me.”

 “Me?” I asked. How could I help this lady? Did she want me for one of her videos or articles? I don't even know what a blog is. “ Yes, you. See my son, he left several years ago and hasn't returned. Ever since I became famous, everyone asks about  him. I can never give them a solid answer. But now, you can help me.” I nodded to everything she was saying to acknowledge that I was listening to her. “But how would I help you?” I still didn't understand how I fit in with her or her son. I didn't know where he was.

By now, the woman was irritated. She was thinking of how she would explain to me what was going on.  I began to think of what else I could say, but as I started to speak, she began explaining what she was wanting me to do. “Listen, my son disappeared years ago. When he was still a child.  I haven’t seen him since then. No one, not even the police, was able to find him. All I'm asking is for you to pretend to be him. You can become my son and even get revenge on Mr. Jackson if you’d like.” Me becoming an imposter? I couldn’t. “ I can't,” I said to her. She looked at me and started to smirk, she then turned to Jaime. “Very well Jaime, why don’t you call this so-called Mr. Jackson and let him know that his foster child is at a local hospital and then make sure that he is transferred back to the hospital that he was found at. I’m sure everyone will be glad to know that he is not dead. It was a pleasure meeting you, I hope that Mr. Jackson treats you better this time than what he did last time.” She started walking out of the room. Jaime began to take his cell phone out of his pocket as if he was ready to dial someone. 

What was I supposed to do? I mean I could go back to Mr. Jackson’s house and suffer far worse than last time or I could go with Mrs. Salazar. And what did she mean? Everyone thought I was dead. Just as she was walking out of the room I screamed “Wait!.” She stopped as if she knew that I would have  stopped her. “I’ll help,” I said, unsure of what I was getting myself into. “But what do you mean I’m dead?” I had so many questions. Mrs. Salazar came back to the chair. She set her purse down on the nightstand next to me while she fixed her dress in order to sit down. “Very well, I’ll answer all the questions you have under one condition. After I answer them you must never ask another question on this topic. Agreed?” She stretched her hand to me. I hesitated, but sure enough, I shook on it. What could go wrong?

“First of all, to answer the first question, your foster parent decided to say that everything was an accident and that a homeless man attacked you and then took you.” What? I couldn’t believe what she was telling me. I knew that Mr. Jackson didn’t like me, but to take it that far. “Next question?” she motioned to me. “Oh yeah, will I be able to contact my family and friends to let them know that I’m alive?” I really want to do this. “No, I’m sorry I can’t let you do that.” I fixed myself on the bed, which was a bad idea since I was in so much pain afterwards. “Why not?” I asked. “Too risky.” She explained that everyone would know where I was at and then I wouldn’t be able to go along with the plan. And worst of all, Mr. Jackson would know where I was at. 

“What’s his name or should I say, what’s my new name?” Mrs. Salazar was surprised by the question. “Esteban.” I could see the sadness in her eyes as she said his name. There was more to this story than she wanted to tell me. But, I didn’t want to intrude. “When do we get started? And what do I get out of this? What if he comes back?’ I had so many questions, but how could I ask them all? “One question at a time. First of all,  we need the doctor to give you the clear. But I’ll start explaining some things to you really soon. And I will give you $40,000. That should help you get your sister back. And don’t worry, we haven't found him in all these years, why would he show up now?"

Why would she want to hire someone to pretend to be her son? Why not actually look for him? That's what I would have done.

I wanted to get my sister back, but how could I do it if she would be affected by this? I would just have to do my best. I ended up  agreeing to what Mrs. Salazar proposed. It would be weeks before I could leave this hospital, but when I did I would become Esteban Salazar.