Chapter 54
After lunch the doctor came to see me, and guided me through the tests, handing me to different nurses and technicians who were luckily not as zealous as the nurse who had me in charge earlier. They gave me instructions, smiled, cracked a few jokes and kept me busy for the afternoon. When the round of tests was finished he accompanied back to my room. He had pushed me out of my room on a wheelchair, but I was walking around now, wrapped in a vest the hospital had given me. I was reluctant to admit it, but I felt weak and I longed for the bed in which I had been tossing and twitching during the morning.
I moved away the sheets and let myself drop on it as soon as I reached the room, enjoying the firm touch of the mattress but wishing I could be in the familiar smell of my own room at home. Where was Jack by the way?
“Everything looks good, you can leave as early as tomorrow morning”, the doctor said, interrupting my thoughts
“Thank you”, I replied, forcing myself to feel happy
I was about to ask the doctor if he knew about any visits while I was taking the tests when there was a knock on the door and my nurse stepped in announcing I had visitors.
“Hey!”, I exclaimed when I saw Jack and Brad timidly peaking in the room, side by side behind the nurse
“Hey Iris”, greeted me Brad, while Jack mimed a plane and pulled out a ticket, smiling in a childishly mischievous way that got me laughing loud
Brad looked at me surprised not understanding our coded conversation
“I’ll let you guys have fun”, said the doctor winking at us
I liked the guy, he conveyed friendliness in few words, with a frank expression and warm eyes
“I’ll pass by tomorrow before you leave”, he added standing at the door, lifting his hand in farewell.
“Jack will come with me to Italy”, I explained when the door clacked shut
“You must really love her to indulge her craziness”, Brad said, and Jack replied with a shrug, smiling
“How did you guys meet, by the way?”, I asked intrigued
“I heard Brad ask about you at the reception, and since I was coming here to see you I dragged him along”
“I came to see how you were doing but I also need to tell you want I saw today...things are taking a weirder turn every moment”, Brad said
“What happened?”
“I was driving Alice home earlier…”
“Alice is home now?”, I interrupted, relieved to hear the news
“Ehm-uhm”, Brad nodded
“But which car did you drive?”
“I am renting one for now”
“Ok, so what were you saying happened?”
“So yes, I was driving Alice home when I saw Sandeep walking in the street”
“And?”
“Well, it was the middle of the day, so I found it strange that he was around instead of being at work”
“Ok…”
“But the weird part is that your neighbour was walking in front of him”
“John?”, I asked surprised
“Well, I don’t know if that’s his name, but I am talking about the man who lives next door to you”
“And how do you know him?”
“I didn’t realize who he was at first. His face looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite remember where I had seen it. I wanted to understand where Sandeep was going though, so I turned the corner and re-entered the street, driving slowly so that I could follow him from a distance. I saw your neighbour enter a restaurant, followed by Sandeep, so I parked the car and waited outside. They came out half hour later, and it was then that I recalled the guy. I had seen him one day I day I drove you at home, he was out playing with his boy and the dog. The question is: what was he doing with Sandeep? And why were they trying to hide the fact that they were together?”
I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the sense of vertigo. I had suspected his wife had discovered he was having an affair, and had given him an ultimatum, either pack and change city or be responsible for the breakdown of a happy family life. But what if it was worse than that? Was he leaving because he had somehow a part in what was happening? And did Mariam Avery know?
“We should call Avery”, I said
“Alice and I stopped to talk with her already”
“And what was her reaction?”, asked Jack
“She pulled up on the computer a picture of the guy …of John, and asked me to confirm he was the one we had seen. When we said he was she frowned, and asked us to have a second look at the picture. When we repeated we were sure the guy in the photo was the one we had seen she turned the screen towards her and looked at the picture herself, as if she might get some answers from it. She looked distressed for a moment, and then she let us go, angrily almost, telling us to call her if we saw anything that might be important”
I felt distressed and angry myself, and I was tempted to walk out of my bed now, knock on the Wheelers door and ask John to tell me what was happening.
“Do you think Sandeep is asking John for help?”, I wondered out loud
“But why John? How does Sandeep even know he is a detective? And why in private, instead of just going to the police station?”, said Jack
“Maybe he thinks he is followed and doesn’t want to be seen walking into the police station…”, I said hopefully, not wanting to believe John was corrupted
“I don’t know Iris, it didn’t seem to me like Sandeep was looking for help. He didn’t look scared, for one thing. Now that I think about it John seemed the anxious one between the two…”
“I don’t understand any of this”, I sighted
There was a knock on the door, and the nurse came in with another soup and a dish of unattractive boiled vegetables.
“I brought you dinner”, she told me, and then, to Jack and Brad, “The time for the visits is actually over…”
“I’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning”, Jack said
“And I’ll give you a call before you leave”, added Brad
“Thanks guys”, I said, not wanting to let them go and wishing I could fall quickly in a dreamless sleep till the next morning
But I had slept too much already and accumulated too much anxiousness for that to happen. So after eating my tasteless meal and washing myself I lay awake in bed, my feet and hand moist with perspiration, watching the end of the day consume itself into the night, and the night fade into the dawn. The sleep took me when the day was rising, nauseous and dizzy from tossing listlessly in the crumpled linens.