Lost then Found

Misunderstood.

“Mrs. Stanford, you have to understand that your husband is dead. He will not be coming back, in reality” Dr. Spencer was explaining to me for what seemed like the hundredth time.

“Dr. Spencer, you’ve been telling me that for over an hour now and I don’t see how it could be possible. You see, my husband and I were in Maui on our honeymoon. We went together, and we left together. It’s just that a hurricane came just as we were leaving and I got hurt by it. I remember my husband and Dr. Beckett being in the ambulance with me. I saw Nik” I explained. Nik was probably down stairs calling our relatives and telling them that I’m okay and will come home as soon as possible. “When will I be going home, Dr. Spencer?” I asked. I shifted my fractured arm to reach the itch in my leg. Reach under the cast of my leg, and the itch will disappear. Just like my husba... No, I couldn’t admit it to myself. Nik’s just down stairs I explained to myself. I let out a groan of pain and Dr. Spencer looked up and reached for his pager. “Its okay, my arm is fractured. It just hurts” I smiled as if trying to hide my pain. Physical and emotional...

“You’ll have to ask Dr. Beckett. My job is to tell the patients about the loss of their loved ones. You know, your husband died peacefully. You have no need to be in denial about it, Mrs. Stanford” Dr. Spencer said as he laid a caring hand on my painless arm.

“Maybe Nik’s gone back to McArthur; that’s where we live” I said distantly. Is he home?

“We’ll try again in the next few days, Mrs. Stanford” he said with a sigh.

“Thankyou for your time, Dr. Spencer” I said. He stood to help me stand, and opened the door for me. If Nik were here, he’d have done that for me, I thought to myself with an unusual sadness. Nik is coming back to me.

I walked towards the reception desk and asked whether or not they knew the whereabouts of Dr. James Beckett.

“I’ll call him up for you, miss” said the woman. I walked over to the side of the room so I wasn’t blocking anyone’s passageway.

“Tayla, you needed me?” Dr. Beckett was speed walking towards me as if he’d been told I’d tried to kill myself. “Are you hurt even more? Any pain?” he looked me up and down assessing whether or not I was more hurt and there was something else written on his face...

“I’m fine, James; although, I wouldn’t mind some Valium or some other sort of painkiller. Oh and when can I go home? I am so sick of the hospital food” I said the last statement quietly, so that the reception ladies couldn’t over hear me. The sun decided to shine through the windows, and it made James look like an angel. His intense green eyes turned to gold and his dark brown hair turned a sandy blonde colour. He mustn’t spend all his time in a hospital then, I thought.

I stood back in surprise, trying to compose myself. I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew, my foot had slid across the metal chair I was leaning against and I was falling, on my way to the carpeted ground.

“I’ll get you some Valium, although there may be some hormone changes” James said. Did I see a slight blush, or was that my imagination? I realised all of a sudden that he had his arms around me. He must have caught me on my way down and I didn’t even notice...

“Thankyou, James. For catching me...” I said as I felt the blood rush to my cheeks.

Thankyou for catching me when I was falling from the truth...