John woke up in a cold sweat with a head throbbing of pain. He stayed in bed for a while and he felt as if he was at risk of melting into his very mattress. His body frantically shook which was odd as he was caked head to toe in sweat. John could do nothing but blankly stare at the ambiguous labyrinth of wood on his wall.
Coughing came soon later, accompanied by a dull pain in his chest. Too weak to cause concern, yet strong enough to be a cause for annoyance as every cough he felt as his lungs were wheezing and his head was soon to explode. It had been a long time of rolling in sweat and coughing everywhere for John to finally rise out of bed and get up.
Rising from bed began an extreme nausea and a short spell of dizziness. John spun and stumbled around attempting to grab onto anything nearby, finding a lamp and incidentally pushing it to the ground, shattering it into numerous scattered pieces. John was initially annoyed, but the lamp hasn't worked in forever anyway. He then balanced himself using the side table in which the lamp previously sat, but upon balancing himself, John unintentionally stepped into a jagged piece of pointed glass from the shattered lamp and as it penetrated his sock and afterward his foot, bright, red blood oozed from the cut and began to soak his sock.
John instinctively stepped back, pushing the glass further into his foot and causing more blood to spill from the wound. He cried out and sat back onto his bed, hoping to find a solution. John looked at his foot and winced, feeling nausea returning at the ghastly sight of his foot. He gently pulled the shard out but not with ease. The only way he could manage was by biting down on his shirt with such strength it began to rip.
Now it was out and John got up and limped into the bathroom, trailing a little bit of blood behind him. He found bandages and quickly wrapped his foot. Feeling better with the cut managed, John swiftly cleaned the scattered glass and broken lamp.
His foot was still in pain as he went back to his room and realized his wife, Kate was not there. She was always there, on the other side of the bed. But not today. John clenched his jaw as his foot ached and he called out his wife's name to no avail. But, upon searching the side of her bed he happened to stumble upon a folded piece of yellowed notebook paper under her very pillow.
John opened the paper and read the note that had been apparently scribbled down quickly, it read:
My dearest John,
I had to leave early this morning to run some errands and as you were sound asleep, I decided not to wake you. Sleep well.
Love, Kate.
John faintly smiled at the worry of his wife's whereabouts being washed away, but that smile soon turned into an expression of alarm as he looked harder at the note. The writing had been very frantic, perhaps rushed. Was she merely in a hurry or had it been something more? John didn't know. But he had now gotten out of bed, leaving the paper behind.
He left the bedroom he and his wife shared and walked into his boy Shawn's room. He wasn't there. John figured he must've been with Kate, but now he grew increasingly fearful. Both his wife and his son were missing and all he knew was from a frantically written note that could've been written by anyone.
John pulled out his phone and quickly dialed Kate's number and as it rang John's heart thumped out of his chest. It was a short time before a familiar ring was sounding out from the living room and to John's dismay, Kate had left her phone home.
He cursed aloud and collected himself. It was likely Kate and Shawn were just out for the day and it was unlikely to be a major issue. After John had calmed down, he decided to go make himself lunch, as it had already turned to noon. After lunch he paced his house, waiting for his family's arrival.
It had been hours of perambulating about before he eventually gave up and watched some television for the rest of the evening.
John went to bed that night with extreme worry and fear. His family still hadn't come home and he didn't know what to do. Tossing and turning for what seemed like half the night, John eventually gave in and fell asleep.
John woke up in a way that was just about the opposite of the previous night. He had no more headache or cough, and he felt overall ideal. That was until he got out of bed and took a step. Upon walking he tensed up and cursed. He had forgotten about his foot. Taking off the bandage and observing it, he had decided it had healed enough and took off the bandage. The pain would go away eventually, he figured.
John realized his family was still absent, and his worry began to turn into anger. Did she leave because of the fight? He rolled his eyes and laughed in frustration. It was a stupid argument, he told himself, one stupid disagreement that's all. John had convinced himself his wife had taken herself and their son somewhere away after they had a bit of a falling out. It was just a stupid fight. He was steaming and began biting his lip. She had no right taking his child and leaving him, she's always been so sensitive, so sporadic. John was boiling and punched the wall in rage. He looked at his fist and at the wall. His punch left his fist bleeding and the wall with a hole.
John needed to clear his head, so he left his room and walked around the house but as he walked into the living room his chest tightened and he was struck with fear. His entire living room was jumbled up in a big mess, his furniture was thrown around, papers scattered, tv smashed, it was insane. John immediately checked his entire house and saw nothing missing and no one hiding anywhere. He assumed it was a brutal home robbery but as nothing was missing, he was extremely confused. Nevertheless, it had to be cleaned, and John was the only one home.
For hours he cleaned papers and other random objects thrown about, he reorganized the furniture and threw away the television. John was filled with awe at the sheer size of the chaos. It looked like someone filled with barbaric rage rampaged through the room. But after most of the day passed the house was once again cleaned. John was still upset at the audacity Kate had to leave him, but he knew she would have to come back.
After all the cleaning he ate supper and went to bed, sleeping like a child.
