My wife, Sarah and I moved to a small village in a foreign country a few years ago. We wanted to explore different parts of the world and experience different cultures than what we were used to. So this place was the perfect fit for us despite its vast difference from America, where we spent most of our lives. But it still had many of the same things that any small American town would have, a police department, a few homes, a school, etc. It was similar in many ways but very different in others. One of the many differences that it had was a street market to buy various goods from.
My wife had gone into that market earlier and she said that she was planning on buying some ingredients for dinner that night. I said that would be great and I waited for about an hour before she came back. The front door was just by the living room so I could see her whenever she came in.
When she came back, I was taken out of my reading and I looked up to see her stumbling through the doorway. She looked red in the face and her skin looked damp with sweat. She had her hand on her stomach and her face was in a contorted expression.
"What's wrong?"
She struggled but let out a mumble and I almost didn't even hear it.
"I'm in terrible pain for some reason. I think something bit me while I was on my way to the market."
I was extremely worried and I rushed into the kitchen to grab the phone.
"I'll call an ambulance."
I reached for the phone and dialed the emergency number. When they answered I explained to them the situation and they said an ambulance would be on its way soon. A few minutes passed and then they arrived, before loading Sarah in the ambulance. I followed suit as I got into the back and sat beside her. I tried to comfort my wife while she laid there on the stretcher but I could tell she was miserable.
When we got to the hospital, my wife was taken down the hall and into another room. When I tried to follow them I was stopped and told that I needed to wait in the lobby as she was in critical condition. I tried to protest but the doctor, who told me this, refused to let me enter and I was forced to wait quite a while before I heard any news regarding my wife.
After some time passed, a doctor came out of the room where my wife was being held and told me what he knew.
"Your wife will need to stay in the hospital for a couple of days. We're going to have to run some tests on her to find out more about her condition and what may have caused it. For right now I think you should go home and get some rest."
I said my thanks and left to go home. I heeded his advice and tried to get some sleep but I struggled to do so as my thoughts rushed through the day's events. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Sarah and I wasn't sure what to expect.
I certainly wasn't expecting the following morning phone call from the hospital. First they asked for my name and then they gave me some news.
"Is your wife there?" someone asked on the other line.
"No, she should be there, at the hospital. Is she not?" I asked.
"Your wife has gone missing and we've been looking all over the premises for her," he said.
I drove up to the hospital and they called the police. When they arrived, much of the staff was questioned and so was I. But nobody knew much about my wife's disappearance. What was known was that she had gone missing somewhere after midnight and during the early morning hours of that day. The last time she was seen, she was apparently sleeping and a nurse had just checked on her. After that nobody else saw her and when her room was checked the next morning, her window had been open. The police thought that maybe she escaped on her accord but when they asked why she would do that, none of us could really give an answer. Sarah wasn't that type of person and there was no reason for her to run away. The only alternative was that someone else snuck into her room at night and kidnapped her. Just the thought of that horrified me and my anxiety began to grow. The police tried to reassure me by saying that they would find her as soon as possible but that only did so much for my worries. Then once again I was told to go home and try to relax but that proved to be difficult obviously, considering the circumstances.
