-S-
Sara woke up earlier, and got ready. Since she was sick the day before, and slept too long, she tried to wear make up a little more than usual to cover her tired face before she met Joe. Sara was almost recovered from what happened with Keith, but now she had to send Joe away. It was hard, but she did not show it to him. She wanted him to have a good memory here. She sat down on the bed and looked through pictures in her cell phone. She wanted to print a good picture, put it in a small frame, and give it to Joe.
In the afternoon, she and Joe went to the restaurant that Michelle had mentioned for lunch. Sara really liked the place. It reminded her of the tree house that her friend used to have.
“You seemed tired. What time did you go to bed?” Sara asked while they were walking up the stairs.
“I don’t remember.”
“What? How come?”
“I am not sure. I fell asleep after 4 am.” Sara was surprised.
“What were you doing up that late?”
“I just couldn’t sleep.” Joe smiled at her.
“Have you finished packing?”
“Yeah, almost.” The inside of the restaurant was also great. They were many logs on the wall and ceiling. There was ivy in different places. Sara saw many people eating lunch. It was a little bit crowded. The waiter guided them to the empty table. Table and chairs were also made of wood. Sara liked the texture of the table.
“I love it here. I should’ve come here earlier,” Sara said.
“Yeah, if only we knew earlier.” While they were waiting for their food, Sara texted Bailey and Jennifer and asked if they knew any good clothing stores. The food was good, and they ordered ‘Biber Sweet Ice Cream’ as a dessert.
“Well. I did some thinking when I was sick, you know. Yesterday,” Sara said.
“Yeah, what is it?
“It’s quite random.”
“Ok, tell me.”
“Should I…uh.”
“It’s ok. What is it?” Joe asked.
“Should I come with you? I mean, maybe later. If it works, I can go to where you are.” Sara was a little bit nervous to talk. Am I asking too much?
“You don’t have to answer. It’s just a stupid idea.” Sara felt a little bit embarrassed. She could not see Joe’s face so she turned her head.
“I…love you. I really do.” Sara was surprised when Joe said that.
“Thanks. Me, too.” She did not know what else to say.
“Let’s think about it for sure.” We do have a future. Sara felt relieved and happiness. Bailey texted Sara and told her about the clothes shop. Sara started thinking what would look good on Joe. When she was checking shirts on her phone, and messaging her friends, Sara heard Joe groan.
“Joe? Are you ok?” Sara asked.
“Y… yes, I guess, I think it’s the food.”
“Or you ate too much ice cream.” Sara teased him, but soon she noticed it was serious. Joe was trembling with pain. He covered his face and looked distressed. He stood up, walking toward the restroom.
“Joe!” Sara thought she saw Joe's hair changing its color to white, but she maybe she was mistaken. Sara was worried about Joe. She waited at first, but he did not come back nor answer his phone. Sara wanted to know what was going on. She walked to the restroom.
What happened? Why did he turn off the phone? She thought she could ask one of the employees to check on him. At that moment, one old man walked out from the restroom. He had his head down into his big jacket, so she could not see his face, but somehow he looked familiar. Soon a tall guy came out of the restroom.
“My boyfriend is in there. I think he is sick. Would you check on him, please?” The tall guy did not understand what she was talking about.
“No, there was nobody, but him.” The guy pointed at the old guy who was about to leave the restaurant. Sara looked at him, and she recognized his trousers and shoes were the same as Joe’s.
“Wait, excuse me!” Sara called the old man. As soon as she said it, the old man started walking fast. He was not walking well, like he was sick.
“Wait!” She felt like she had to talk to him. Sara ran after him. The guy opened the door fast and tried to get out as soon as possible like he was running away from something, but he did not see the people walking up the stairs and bumped into one of them and slipped on the floor. Soon people outside screamed and when Sara got out of the restaurant, she saw the old guy fall down the stairs to the ground. There was blood coming from his head.
“No! Help, help him!” Sara dialed 911 with a shaking hand, and talked to them while she was walking down the stairs. When she was close enough to see the guy, she realized that she knew the man. It was Mr. Mitchell from next door.
What was he doing here? Why is he wearing Joe’s clothes and shoes? Where is Joe? Sara was shocked and confused. She walked up to the restaurant, but she could not find Joe. Soon the ambulance came, and Sara could not leave Mr. Mitchell alone, so she went with him. While she was going to the hospital, she kept calling Joe, but his phone was off. She registered Mr. Mitchell in the hospital, and hoped his injury was not too serious.
“He has a cerebral concussion, but there was no internal bleeding. He should be fine,” the doctor told Sara and she was relived, but on the other hand, she still was not sure what really happened. Sara left the hospital to go home, hoping Joe was at his house. However, when she got home, she saw many policemen around Joe’s house, and they kept people outside of the police line. Sara ran to Joe’s house as soon as she got out of the taxi.
“What happened? This is my boy friend’s house.” She asked one of the officers.
“Sorry, you can’t come in. It’s a crime scene.” He did not tell the details; Sara felt like she was going crazy. She kept asking around and one of the neighborhood said somebody died inside of the house and that made Sara even crazier.
“I need to know what’s going on! I have to know! I need to know that he is OK!” Sara kept talking to the officer and he quietly told Sara,
“You don’t have to worry, miss. It’s not your boyfriend. There was a murder suspect hiding in this house.”
“Murder suspect? It’s impossible! I was in that house so many times, but I never saw anyone else other than…”
“There was. His name was Boldo Lovel. Apparently, he was a famous man.” Sara did not know who he was, but soon she remembered that it was the shaman that Jennifer liked.
Something is wrong. Joe, where are you? I’m so scared. Sara walked into her house. I need to talk to Mr. Mitchell. He must know something. She drove back to the hospital to talk to Mr. Mitchell. He was still unconscious. Sara waited outside of the recovery room. She texted and called Joe over and over again, but he did not respond.
She called Michelle, but she did not know how to explain the situation. Her words tripped out of her mouth.
“Sara, tell me slowly again.”
“Joe is gone, and there was a murder in his house.” Sara was not sure if she could explain any better than that.
“What? Who died?”
“Do you remember the psychic that Jennifer really liked?”
“Are you sure? Sara. I don’t understand what you are talking about. We’ll talk when I get home. Ok?”
Sara sighed after she hung up the phone. What is this? I don’t even know what is going on. She tried to organize her thoughts but it did not work well. She kept waiting. She had to know more details. Later, Sara saw a nurse walking into the recovery room. Sara was wondering if Mr. Mitchell awoke. She heard people talking inside of the room. Sara carefully opened the door. There was a nurse and Mr. Mitchell on the floor. It seemed like he had fallen down on the floor and a nurse tried to help him.
“Mr. Mitchell, are you ok?” Sara asked carefully.
He covered his face with his hand as soon as he saw Sara, and she did not understand why.
“I, I am sorry. I am so sorry.” Mr. Mitchell started apologizing to Sara.
“It’s ok. Don’t be sorry.” Sara wondered if he was confusing her with someone else. “I…just need to know where Joe is now. Do you know? If you know, please tell me.”
“I’m sorry,” Mr. Mitchell said again, and Sara noticed that he was crying.
“It’s ok. I don’t know what happened, but it’s ok. I just need to…”
“I think he needs to be alone,” the nurse said and Sara had to leave. She left the room without an answer from Mr. Mitchell.
Why was he sorry? He would be shocked if he knew there was a murder in his house. Where is Joe? I want to talk to him. Sara called his phone again, but his phone was still off. She stood up in the hallway not knowing what to do. When she was walking out of the hospital, her phone rang. She checked it quickly, wishing it was from Joe, but it was a text message from Jennifer.
-Did you go to the clothes stores? What did you buy?
Sara called Jennifer instead of texting back. She needed to talk someone.
“Hey, Sara,” Jennifer answered.
“J-Jennifer.” Sara said her name with a shaky voice.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know what to do. I am in trouble or I think Joe is in trouble.”
“Are you ok? What’s wrong?”
“Can we talk?”
“Of course. Where are you?”
“I am in the St. Peter Memorial Hospital.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, but, where are you?”
“I’m at home.”
“I will go there right now. Is that ok?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Sara started her car and drove to Jennifer’s house. She tried to think straight and remember what happened one by one that day. Everything was fine until we finished lunch. What happened after that? Why was Mr. Mitchell there? Does the psychic have anything to do with those two? Who killed him and why? Did Joe kill him? No, he would never do such a thing. He is such a kind guy. He is a nice man, and nothing bad would happen to him. He should be fine, and he is probably looking for me now, so I am pretty sure I can see him soon and his cell phone is…’ She was so occupied on her thoughts and did not see the traffic light change to red. She heard the loud honking from another car before it crashed into her. Everything went blank.