Chapter 51
I opened my eyes slightly, feeling my eyelids unglue with effort and itch, and a smudged whiteness appeared between the debris fogging my view.
I tried to lift my hand but I couldn’t, although something moved, a finger maybe. A great heaviness held me down, but I felt peaceful.
“Iris”, I heard, feeling a reassuring hand on mine
“Iris”, I heard again, and this time I knew it was Jack.
I tried to smile, but my lips were glued too. I felt a wisp of moisture wet them and then a faint taste of salt. I licked them, my taste was numbed but I guessed my lips had cracked, and were bleeding now.
“Hello”, I said, and was surprised at the sound of my own voice
“Hello”, jack said, tears pooling in his eyes
I twitched my partially unglued lips in a tentative smile, “I am happy”
“I am happy too”, Jack said, wiping his tears
I looked around the room, and it was only after inspecting it that I fully realized I was in a hospital. The machine at the side of my bed recorded the acceleration of my heart, and a nurse – I hadn’t noticed her – took my arm, a syringe at hand.
“Why?”, I asked
“You have to rest”
Her features blurred into the face of the cleaning lady, and I gasped, pulling away my arm. She stopped, and when I looked at her again the cleaning lady was gone.
“Where are Alice and Brad?”, I asked, turning to Jack
“They are fine”
“Are they here too?”
“Brad is at home already, Alice is conscious but she is under observation in another hospital. Brad came here to see you and he told me”
I nodded and gave my arm to the nurse. “What are you giving me?”
“A tranquillizer”
“I am calm already, I don’t want it”
“As you wish”, she said, capping the syringe and placing it on the tray at the side of my bed
“How long have I been unconscious?”
“The accident happened yesterday after lunch and it’s 10 am now”, Brad explained
“Let me know if you need anything, I will drop by later to see how you are doing. You can probably leave tomorrow, but you must make sure you rest”, the nurse said, excusing herself
I nodded, and waited for her to leave. When I heard the door clack close behind her I turned to Jack, and looked at him for a moment.
“I need to fly to Italy on Friday”, I said at last, feeling my thoughts accelerate and my mind pace faster each second.
“What?!”, he exclaimed
“I need to see Mori, I must understand what the polymer can cause and why if I want to confine the damages it is producing”
“You are not in the condition to travel”
“I must go”
“But you have been knocked unconscious and are still in a hospital bed!”
“Will you come with me?”
“I will come with you all the way to the moon, but not before you shape up. Anyways, why Friday?”
“Because I booked the ticket already, and told my boss that I was leaving for a family emergency”
“When did you decide all this?”
“Yesterday morning”, I said, and explained what happened till our car crashed and I blanked out
“Will you come? I dreamed you were with me…”
Jack observed me, and transfixed his eyes into mine, as to find the root of the intuition that made me want to walk out of this bed to an airport, bringing him along. I held his gaze, till I saw a breach open within him and a smile crack the worried look on his face.
“I don’t know why I am letting you talk me into this craziness”, he said at last, shaking his head
“Because you love me, and deep down you know that if you were me you’d act exactly like I am doing now”
“Sure”, Jack laughed
“Let me go home to buy the ticket, it won’t be easy to find one to leave in two days”
“Go on Foodtech’s website, login with my credentials and open my emails to find my reservation. Book a seat on my same flight, I’m sure you’ll find a spot”, I said
He frowned, tilting his head slightly, his mouth bent in a questioning smile
“My user is icelati and my password is jacko1…”
“Jacko1?”
I winked mischievously and Jack shook his head again
“Ok, I’ll come back soon”, he said, pushing himself up from the chair and slapping me in a gest of teasing reproach.