Where to Next

Chapter 11

I´m sitting in my hospital bed. Sammie is still here with me. I am so happy she didn´t leave me here alone. I hate being here. The nurses keep coming in almost every hour to run test. I glance over at the window. It is rainging so hard out side that it is starting to fog up. I can´t help but wonder where Craig is at and if he is safe. I shake off the thoughts running through my mind. My head is starting to pound from all the stress. I take a deep breath as I scan the room again. All I can hear is the news is blaring in the background. It´s all everyone is talking about this morning.

I overheard my nurse out in the hall earlier saying there is a manhunt underway for Craig´s father. They try and whisper, but I can still hear them talking.

¨I hate being here¨ I moaned.

I just want to go home, but where exactly is home? I don´t even know anymore, but I just know I can´t stay here for much longer. My room is cold at night. Even with the extra blankets I shiver all night long. If that isn´t bad enough, the monitors keep beeping every few minutes. It is driving me insane! I look up at my televison hanging in the corner of my room. On the screen flashes a picture of the crime scene. Multiple body bags line the once beautiful driveway of the mansion. As the reporter walks in through the door way and into the foyer; you can vaguely see blood splatter on one of the walls off in the distance. They are calling it one of the worst crime scenes they have encountered in years. 

I can´t take much more of this, I mumble to myself. Looking for the remote, I notice my IV line has blood in it. My hand is starting to hurt so I try to readjust the line. I look back up as the news cast switches to another story. Thank god, I say while rubbing my forehead. I am starting to feel tired so I slid my legs off the side of my bed while grabbing onto the metal pole that is holding my IV fluids. I begin wheeling it towards the window so I can close the curtains. As I grab the curtain I could feel the green polyester material inbetween my finger tips. It reminded me of my childhood home. I dismiss the thought as I continue to close the curtains. I couldn´t believe how dark it was getting outside. The sky was full of rain clouds that we starting to form just outside the hospital. As I looked down into the parking lot, I noticed there are tons of cars filling all the spots. I tugged the curtains all the way closed this time.

Just as I turned to head back to my hospital bed I heard the news anchor mention my name. I quickly snapped my head around to see what they were saying about me. The anchor now switching to the reporter covering the story. He points to the badly damaged car that I took from the hotel. He starts the news segment by interviewing the chief of police. I was so relieved when he announced they will not be pressing charges against me.

¨Thank god¨ I  mummbled beneath my breath.

I really feel terrible for the vehicle owner, but I know their insurance will take care of most of the cost. I start to make my way back to bed just as my nurse enters the room. 

̈Sweetie, the doctor wants to run a few more labs ̈

She goes on to say, ¨The lab technichain should be in shortly¨. 

My nurse is a very nice lady. Her name is Susan and she is in her late fourties. Her country accent keeps me on my feet. If you don't listen closely you will miss half of what she is saying. She told me that she had been working at the hospital for the past twenty years. She knows most of the hospital staff along with all of the local doctors. Even though she wasn´t the head nurse, you could tell most of the staff looked up to her. They were constantly stopping her in between rooms and asking her for help. I have to admit it, she really did care about her patients. She reached into her dark navy blue scrub pocket and pulled out a black sharpie. I watched as she quickly wrote Chapman on the side of a urine specimen cup. As she sat it down onto the counter, she brushed back her dark brown bangs behind her ear. She didn´t wear any nail polish or make up. I did notice that she has a small butterfly tattoo on the small of her back that peeked out as she bent over to write something in my chart.