Mistaken Identity (Identity 1)

“Can I walk you out?”

“I’d rather not be mobbed by fan girls.”

“Yeah, there is that.” He sighed. “I guess this is goodbye.”

“I prefer ‘see you laters’ myself.”

“Then I’ll see you later.”

Say something clever, and witty. You write!

“I guess so.” She grabbed the handle behind her and pulled down the lever. “I’m going to go before this becomes drawn out.”

“Yeah.” He nodded.

Pushing the door open she stepped out and closed the door behind her. The wistful expression he wore lingered in her mind.

Chapter Three

When he reached the hospital Jett’s eyes were red and itchy. His body and his heart felt heavy. They’d called an end to things to prevent this. Bile rose in the back of his throat as he tried to mentally prepare himself for what she’d look like. Hovering in front of the elevator doors on her floor his feet were glued to the floor as fear paralyzed him. An image of an emaciated zombie-like waif creature flashed in his head. Can I pretend to be unaffected by that? Should I? No. This ain’t the time to play nice or sugar-coat. I need to go in there kick her boney ass, and get to the bottom of what made her shut down. Why do this now?

Ready for war he started toward her room, steps sure, and his face set in stern expression. I didn’t let her go just to watch her wither away. He rounded the corner, purpose in every step he took. When he reached room 489 he knocked.

“Come in.” The familiar voice of the man would’ve been his-father-in-law called out. The hushed tone radiated worry. He turned the knob, pushed the door open a sliver, and poked his head in.

“Jett.” The stark expression of relief that passed over the white-haired man’s face broke his heart.

“Hey, Greg.” He looked at the tiny lump in the bed and sighed. Even with the blanket over her body he could see the damage she’d done. Her limbs were stick thin underneath the light blue blanket covering her body. “How is she?”

Greg shook his head. “Not good.”

“What happened?”

“She was doing fine the first four months or so, but then she started to struggle, and things went downhill.” He sighed. “Pam will be up soon. I sent her to get some lunch and take a breather.”

Jett nodded. “What triggered it?”

“I have no clue. Pam doesn’t either. We tried to get her to open up and talk. When that didn’t work we tried to get her to go to a therapist here.”

“She wouldn’t do it? What about Dr. Talons?”

“Shut her out, too.”

“Jesus.” Jett covered his mouth his hand. “How did she end up here?”

“We didn’t realize how dire the situation was. You know how good Lis is at hiding it. We went out for dinner, came home, and found her passed out on the floor in the kitchen.” His face paled. “Her pulse was too fast, and she was sluggish. Her speech was so slurred we feared she might have had a stroke, scared the hell out of me.”

Jett reached out, put his hand on Greg’s shoulder and squeezed. “If you think I can help I’ll try.”

“Thank you, Jett.”

“Anything for family. The fact that we didn’t make it down the aisle doesn’t change that.”

“That goes both ways, son.” Greg cleared his throat.

“Did you tell her I was coming?”

“No, we didn’t want to upset her.” Greg shook his head.