Cheat the Truth

Chapter 6

Thomas' eyes fluttered open. Where am I? He tried to look around in the darkness. The first thing he noticed was the smell, it seemed sterile almost like saline. He could tell he was in a hospital bed and could faintly make out the view of the room. In the distance he could make out the sound of hushed voices over the beeping of the machines that surrounded him.

"We found him wandering the streets, he kept talking about being shot."

The memories flooded back to him. He lifted his hand to touch his shoulder. There was nothing there, no bandages and no sign of any wound. This confused him.

Are they talking about me? Thomas wondered. There's no way, I really was shot, why else would I be in this hospital room.

"Good morning!" One of the doctors opened the glass door and walked into the room.

"What's happening?"

"Well, Thomas, can you tell me about what happened to you." The doctor asked, taking out his notebook to jot down some notes.

Thomas nodded and started explaining everything from the beginning. He told the doctor about how he found Emmy at the first crime scene and everything leading to the moment he remembered getting shot.

"All I remember after that is hearing the sirens and everything going black around me after Cody sped away. Did anyone catch him?"

Just then a woman rushed into the hospital room and ran up to Thomas giving him a hug.

"Thomas! Are you okay?" She asked frantically.

"T-Tabitha?" He stumbled over his words.

She nodded and furrowed her brows. "Who else? I am your wife."

Thomas frowned in confusion.

"Thomas, you had another episode." Tabitha sighed as she sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed taking Thomas' hand in her own. "Your delusions are getting bad."

As she picked up his left hand, Thomas noticed the wedding band on his finger.

"My delusions?" Thomas raised his voice, his face getting red.

"Thomas , lets try to calm down." The doctor interrupted. "Maybe you can tell us more about what happened before the delusions started." He motioned to Tabitha.

"Well," Tabitha began talking. "About a week ago we were packing our hospital bags and getting ready to go to have our first baby." Tabitha paused for a moment and looked desperately at Thomas.

Just then the memories started to flood back to Thomas' mind.

"I started to have an odd feeling and had him rush me to the hospital where they told us I needed to get an emergency C-section." Tabitha continued to talk. "When they pulled the baby out, she wasn't breathing."

Thomas remembered. He remembered rushing out of the hospital because he couldn't take the news. He remembered being upset, but couldn't remember anything after that. That is when the delusions started.

"So, Thomas." The doctor started to speak again. "It sounds to me that you had a traumatic thing happen to you and thats what sent you into your delusions."

"I remember feeling like I failed to keep her safe." Tears started to roll down Thomas' face.

Tabitha squeezed his hand tightly. "It wasn't your fault, Thomas. It was nobody's fault."

That explains why I felt the need to keep Emmy safe. I was so torn up about the fact I couldn't keep my own daughter safe. Thomas thought to himself.

"He was so excited to be a father." Tabithas voice broke him from his thoughts.

He pulled his hand from hers and started to wipe his tears away with the back of his hand.

I left my wife in her time of need. Thomas started to feel angry with himself.

"Im so sorry, Tabitha." Thomas choked on his words, he was so afraid to talk, afraid that she was going to be upset with him.

"It hurt, Thomas. I needed you, but, I know you were hurting too." Tabitha said, tears streaming down her face.

Thomas sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes, he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her closer to him, kissing her on the top of the head.