"Uncle! Auntie! Jay is not opening the bathroom door…"
He immediately ran out of the room, pushing Venelope aside. He was looking here and there.
"Where is she?" Then, as he looked down and saw the water trail coming from the bathroom just a few steps ahead, he ran to it Venelope following him, with Elyana, her mother, staggering out of the room, setting a shawl over her shoulders.
"JAY!!!!"
"Jay!! Open the door! Are you alright?!"
Her father was shouting as he banged on the door. Venelope was also calling after her, but to no avail.
Her father looked here and there in panic and then looked at his wife, who was white with fear.
"Elyana! Where are the master keys???"
Elyana seemed dumbfounded and wasn't responding to anything.
"Elyana! For God's sake! You woman! I am talking to you!"
"Uncle! Calm down! Auntie" Venelope put her hand on her shoulder. She gasped with a shudder and looked at Venelope.
"Auntie, where are the master keys?"
"The what?"
"The master keys!"
"UGH!!!" Her father gave a loud roar.
"Auntie!"
Her mother, as if possessed, pointed into her room. "Drawer… lower…" she said in between panting breaths.
There were six drawers three on each side of the bed and the wardrobe. She opened the lowest drawer on the left. It was filled with Socks and handkerchiefs. The Wrong one. She darted to the other side, yanked open the bottom drawer and there it was, a bunch of keys. She instantly grabbed them and sprinted out.
Her father snatched them from her and started trying every single one. The water kept pouring out from under the bathroom door. There was still no movement inside. The bunch had at least 25 keys and he was trying them all in desperation.
Now and then, keys slipped from his trembling hands onto the flooded floor, mixing the water with his panic.
"DAMN… DAMN… DAMN!" he shouted again and again, voice raw and trembling.
Finally, one key turned and the lock clicked.
As he reached for the handle, Venelope grabbed his arm.
"Uncle! Let Auntie go in."
"WHY?!" he roared, the volume making Venelope flinch but she held her ground.
"Jay is a girl!"
"She is my daughter!" he snapped.
"BUT SHE IS A WOMAN! AND THIS IS A BATHROOM!"
Her father froze. The rage drained from his face and his grip loosened from the doorknob as embarrassment settled into his features.
"She won't want you to see her like this…" Venelope added gently, pushing her mother toward the door with one hand while pulling him away with the other.
Her mother, still half-catatonic, opened the door wide.
Venelope gasped in horror.
"JAY!"
Her father rushed forward, unable to stop himself.
Jay was collapsed on the floor in a prostrate. One hand clutched tightly at her stomach, the other splayed across the wet tiles.
Water from the sink was pouring down over her head, drenching the floor, streaming down the hallway stairs. It lapped against her face, some slipping into her open mouth. She was only partially conscious if conscious at all.
Venelope dropped to her knees and pulled Jay's soaked body into her arms, cradling her limp head.
Tears spilled down her cheeks as she brushed Jay's wet hair from her face.
"Jay! Wake up! Are you okay?! Please say something…"
But there was no response.
Elyana stood at the door, unmoving, shocked. Her father had disappeared only to return moments later with a thick towel.
He stormed in, shut off the tap, opened the sink hole, and with Venelope's help, lifted Jay's lifeless form from the floor. He wrapped her in the towel and carried her out the door.
They were soon in the car, Venelope was sitting in the back with Jay, her father gripping the wheel like his hands were stone, driving in the maximum speed.
When they reached the hospital, he carried her into his arms, covered with the towel, and ran into the emergency.
"LOOK AT MY DAUGHTER! PLEASE, LOOK AT HER! SHE'S DYING!" she shouted at the top of his lungs.
A nurse rushed to intercept him.
"Sir! You can't do this… please put the patient down. Please Let us take care of her! Sir…"
But he wasn't listening. Then two to three sturdy male nurses arrived. One gently took Jay from his arms and the other two pushed him aside to clear the way.
Meanwhile, Venelope was frantically talking to the female nurse:
"She has a history of stomachaches she uses peppermint and all sorts of painkillers to cope. She eats too little. She's under too much stress. That's why she sniffs peppermint all the time… She's allergic to seafood. The last medicine she took was maybe a week ago. Today she hadn't eaten anything nothing. Ah!!! I remember…we had breakfast together this morning at 7 a.m. it was soup, dessert, milkshake and bread… Since then, she hasn't eaten anything. We found her lying on the bathroom floor, soaked. The sink was running. Water was overflowing. It was falling over her, going down the stairs. Her hand was on her stomach."
"Ma'am! Please calm down," the nurse interrupted. "The doctor's here. Don't worry we've got her now." And with that, she gently but firmly pushed Venelope aside and drew the curtain around the stretcher.
Her father sat nearby, hands on his knees, trembling.
Venelope came and sat beside him.
"I didn't know she was allergic…" he murmured.
Venelope said nothing.
"I didn't know she'd been taking all sorts of medicine…"
Still, no reply.
"I didn't know she wasn't eating. I didn't know she kept peppermint with her… that she even bought peppermint… I didn't know she had stress issues."
Venelope's lips parted, then shut. But finally, as his voice grew softer, she couldn't stop herself.
"Stress Issues? Uncle… you've wronged her."
As soon as she said this, tears ran down his eyes and he started crying like a baby. He covered his face and turned his back against her.
As this was going on, a young man in his mid-twenties came running into the emergency. He was looking here and there hysterically. Finally, as he saw him, he ran up to him and cried,
"WHERE IS SHE?! WHERE IS MY WIFE?!"
Fuel my caffeine addiction, feed my cat, and join the awesomeness! Support me on Patreon for exclusive goodies, behind-the-scenes shenanigans, and irreversible creativity 😉 😉 😉 .