Eric answers the call as soon as he gets to his phone. Whenever the hospital calls, he gets an anxious feeling in his chest. At first it was only Ally in the hospital, but later the calls could have been about Alex or Bennet that was admitted in the same hospital. Eric knows that Bennet is discharged because he ambushed him in his own office.He is not an emergency contact for Alex, but he did ask to be kept in the loop on his condition. He did not receive any calls regarding Alex yet. Thankfully.The woman on the other side of the call greets Eric in a friendly manner.“Mr Symons. I am only calling to inform you that Mrs Symons has been discharged by her physician and will be ready to go home in a bit. Would you like us to keep her comfortable until morning?”“No, I will come to collect her in a few minutes. Thank you.” Eric ends the call and heads to his bedroom to get dressed. He dresses quickly and leaves for the hospital as soon as he is done.Eric dreads seeing Bennet’s car at t
Eric takes a step back and looks at Ally carefully. She has dark circles under her eyes. Her hair looks thinner than it used to and the tone of her skin looks a little less bright than he can remember.The nurse comes into the room and apologises for making them wait for her to get the right kind of medication for Ally. She is still trying to explain when she sees the expression on Ally’s face. Ally looks angry and worried. She has a deep frown on her forehead and is visibly very upset.“Is everything alright here?” The nurse asks Ally.“No,” Ally replies instantly, “I want my friend to come pick me up to take me home. I do not want to go home with a stranger.” Ally tells the nurse in an upset tone.The nurse looks from Ally to Eric and then back again.“Honey, he came to take you home.” The nurse tells Ally in a soothing voice.“I will not go with someone I do not know. Please just call Megan. She will come to take me home.” Ally tells the nurse. She is getting more upset by the minu
Eric is slightly worried as he walks away from the manager’s office. Ally will only be able to go home with him if she agrees to do so. As Eric approaches the hospital room door where Ally was when he left, he notices that there is a strange atmosphere in the hospital. The nurses look worried and they are talking in hushed tones.The doctor is standing in Ally’s room’s doorway, looking very worried. Eric approaches the doctor and looks into the room. The room is empty. The wheelchair that Ally was sitting in is still in the room but there is no sign of Ally.“Where is she?” Eric asks the doctor.“I have sent a nurse to check in the scan department.” The doctor replies, trying to sound as if he is in control of the situation. Eric quickly picks up on his nervousness and gathers that this doctor does not know where Ally is.“You sent someone to check? You did not arrange for scans?” Eric asks, his blood starting to boil. He has been very patient in this hospital thus far. He has not yel
Ally wakes up in a large room she does not recognise. The room is beautifully decorated. The sunlight shining in through the open windows makes the room look warm and inviting. Ally sits up in the bed. Her body aches and she feel a little nauseous. Ally looks around the room for anything that would give her a clue as to where she is.Nothing in the room looks familiar. She slides her legs off the bed and rest her feet on the soft carpet. She tries to stand up but her legs feel weak and she is afraid that she will fall down.Ally sits a little while longer, waiting for her body to catch up with her mind. She rubs her hands over her face. She is awake but still feels tired. Judging by the height of the sun, it must be afternoon already. She shifts to the other side of the bed to get a better view of what is outside her window. She can make out that she is on the second floor. The view outside looks more like the country side than anything closely resembling the city. Ally is sure she ca
When Ally wakes, she opens her eyes slowly. She still feels nauseous but, at least, now she knows why. She pushes herself up in a sitting position. Her body is sore from laying still for so long.The room is dark. There is a feint light shining into the room through the open door. Ally looks around and is able to see more as her eyes adjust to the darkness. The curtains are drawn and there is a throw over her bed that was not there when she went to lay on it.Ally slides her feet off the bed and remembers how she struggled to stand up, when she feels the soft carpet under her feet. She closes her eyes and draws in a deep breath, which she lets out in a rush. She opens her eyes quickly when she hears a soft shuffle in the room. She focuses her eyes on the spot where she heard the sound come from. The corner of the room where she heard the movement, is too dark for her to make out what is hiding in the darkness.Ally fumbles until she reaches the bedside table. There has to be a lamp on
Benson Ash.Ally tries to remember ever hearing the name. She cannot. It doesn’t even sound remotely familiar. The frown on Ally’s forehead deepens. She watches Benson closely. He has strong features and she can imagine that she would have found him very attractive when she met him. She may even have swooned when she met him. He is a very beautiful man. She tilts her head to the other side. She just cannot remember anything about him.“Well then, Ally. Let us find out how much time you lost. How old are you?” Benson asks Ally. His voice is less soothing now and more inquisitive. Ally looks up towards the ceiling, trying to remember her own age. The last birthday she can remember is her twenty first birthday. She had to do a very difficult culinary exam on her twenty first birthday. It was her final exam and it lasted for hours. She was exhausted when she finished and her feet was so sore. Her legs were aching and she just couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. She went straight home aft
Ally waits patiently the following day for Benson to come visit. She is not sure what time he usually comes; she was asleep the previous day when he arrived. She only woke when he was already here. She stays in her room for the entire day.Ally is not really sure if she is allowed to leave the room. Even if she could, her legs do not carry her very far. Gayle checks in frequently with snacks and drinks. Ally found a book that she liked and started reading it. She sits in the winged back chair where Bennet fell asleep and read while listening to the birds and horses outside. The atmosphere is peaceful and even though her loss of memory makes her nervous at times, she feels at peace.Ally puts the book down on the table and stands up slowly. She still finds it a bit difficult to walk the entire stretch of the room. There is a soft knock on the door and she slowly turns her head to see who is there.A strange man is standing in the doorway. He is wearing a denim pants and white sneakers.
Ally goes to sleep with a heavy heart that night. Benson never came to visit her. She asked Gayle to call him and ask why he didn’t come. Gayle only told her that she could not reach him. Ally lays in bed, staring at the ceiling in the dark room. She tries to remember anything she possibly could about her life with Benson. Ally finally falls asleep just after midnight. Her mind is tired of thinking about the life she cannot remember.Ally wakes just as the sun rises. Her heart feels heavier than before. She gets out of bed and makes her way to the bathroom. She is glad that, even though she is in a hospital of some sort, she is still able to wash herself in a private bathroom. She pours herself a hot bath and adds bubbles in the water. Ally lays in the hot water for a few long minutes. She feels her body relaxing in the hot water as the tension seeps out of her body.When she leaves the bathroom, she feels a lot fresher than when she woke up. She wraps a large towel around her body an
Megan waits in her room most of the day. She looks up when she hears a soft knock on the door. Agatha stands in the doorway, waiting for her to acknowledge her. Megan stands up and takes a few steps towards Agatha.“Morning.” Megan tells her.“Good morning, Mrs Symons. The doctor is here to see you. Would you like to meet him in the downstairs room or should he come up here?” Agatha asks her. There is no emotion on Agatha’s face. She does not let it be known what she is thinking or feeling.“I will see him in the downstairs room. Thank you.” Megan tells her.Agatha nods and turns to go to the downstairs bedroom. Megan follows her in silence. Megan cannot ignore the pounding of her heart as she approaches the bedroom. She does not know how she will be able to get the doctor to keep her secrets. Agatha stops next to the open door and indicates with a gesture of her open hand for Megan to go in. Megan nods at Agatha and enters the room before Agatha pulls the door closed behind her.The
Eric wakes up the following morning. The first thought that crosses his mind, is that Ally has not been for a check up since she came back. He wonders how the baby is doing. When he found out she was pregnant, he was so excited to become a father. He could never share this excitement with her because she was not in a good place and when she was discharged from hospital, she was taken. Even when she came back, he couldn’t share his excitement with her. She was just not the same person anymore.Eric gets out of bed with effort. He will have to arrange someone to go see her at the house. He cannot trust her to go to an appointment. Eric takes a hot shower to force himself to wake up fully. He steps out refreshed and ready for the day. He gets dressed and ready for work. He smiles as he steps out of his hidden bedroom into his office. No commute today. He missed staying here. He lived here for a long time after he had a fallout with his father. He only moved back to the house after Ally w
After dealing with the staff member, Benson goes to Ally’s room. He unlocks the door and opens it slowly. He never knows exactly where she is. She may be behind the door. He enters to find her laying in bed. She has her back turned towards the door and is staring towards the window.Benson walks up to the bed and waits for her to acknowledge his presence. She does not.“Good afternoon, Ally” Benson tells her. She does not move or respond. He stares at her for a few more seconds. It irritates him that she treats him like this. If she only knew what he had to do to keep her alive after the stunt she pulled with Ronald. He was able to deal with Ronald, having him fired at the facility. He is not afraid that Ronald will ever come into her life again. He also got word that Doctor White was in on the plan and have dealt with her too. She will never be able to practice again in this country.“I would like to show you something.” Benson tells Ally. Ally lays in her bed. Not moving at all and
Benson sits at his desk in his home office. He watches the screen of his laptop. The security cameras he installed to keep an eye on Ally is displayed on the screen. He watches her lay in bed. She does not move around much. After he brought her home, he placed her in the same room Megan was in.She was distraught after Eric and Megan left the hotel, crying for days. She refused to eat and she spent most nights walking around in the room. Today, when her meals were taken to her, she ate some of it but not really enough to call it a healthy meal. If things go on like this, he will have to bring a doctor in to see her.Benson sees the screen of his mobile phone flashing on his desk. He takes the phone in his hand and reads the number on the screen.“Yes?” he answers. He waits a second before the person on the other side starts talking.“It’s Megan. We have a problem.” She tells him.“What is the problem?” Benson asks. He is a little tired of having problems. Nothing worked out the way it
Eric is furious. He cannot stand the way Ally does not care about anything. This selfish nature of hers is driving him up the walls. Eric looks at his desk, he already finished his work early this morning. There is nothing left for him to do in here. He refuses to go home and he cannot sit in this office all day with nothing to do. He cannot stand going back to Ally’s restaurant.Eric goes into his hidden bedroom and gets his chef jacket from his closet. He puts it on and takes the bandana from the pocket. Wrapping the bandana around his head to cover his hair, Eric heads out of his office towards his own restaurant kitchen. When he enters the kitchen there is a moment of quick silence. Eric walks straight to a young chef that is busy chopping vegetables. Her work is neat and her station is tidy. He holds his hand out to her.“May I?” Eric asks. The young chef looks at his hand and then at the knife in her own hand. She carefully hands him the knife she is holding. Eric nods and the y
Eric and Jane sort out most of the issues that Jane had within an hour. Jane looks a lot happier when Eric is done talking to her. He applies himself to sorting out the mess on Ally’s table. There are unpaid bills on her table. He looks through them and can now understand why some suppliers refused to deliver to the restaurant. Eric sorts out everything that needs attention. When he leaves the office, there is nothing left to do. Eric shakes his head as he enters the elevator. Ally could have sorted out most of these problems yesterday, if she had not laid on her sofa playing games.Eric stops by the kitchen to check on the mood. The kitchen staff is seemingly working harder than before. All the work surfaces are clean and the head chef is doing his rounds and making sure everyone is ready for tonight’s service. Eric is happy with the immediate change in personnel morale. It was a problem for him when he walked in here and saw all the doom and gloom in the world under one roof.Eric w
Eric walks into the dining area. He finds one of the waiters who are standing next to a wall with her hands behind her back. She stares out in front of her. Eric takes a stance beside her and stares in the direction she is staring in. There is nothing there.“Oh! Mr Symons!” the young girl exclaims when she realises that he is standing beside her.“Why are you so absentminded?” he asks the young girl.“I was just thinking how much everything has changed since I started working here.” The girl answers. She immediately regrets telling this to him when she realises that she is speaking to her boss’ husband. Why did she not think of this sooner?“How long have you been working here?” Eric asks in a soft tone. He has long since realised that when speaking to women, you cannot use your demanding voice. Except when you are in the kitchen. Those women expect you to speak in a strong demanding voice.“I have been here since the restaurant opened.” The girl tells him.“What is it that changed?”
Eric takes the number and dials it from his personal phone.“Good day, Mrs Johnson. This is Chef Symons. Your husband works in our restaurant.” Eric introduces himself. There is an immediate sense of panic from the woman on the other side.“Oh, no! Did something happen to him?” she asks quickly. Eric can hear the dread in her voice.“Not at all. Please do not worry. Your husband is fine.” Eric assures her as quickly as possible. He hears the sigh of relief over the phone. To Eric, this is a positive sign that this woman still loves this man. Eric is somewhat surprised that he is so invested in saving this relationship. Ally would do exactly this. Well, Ally that he married, would have done this.“Mrs Johnson, it has come to our attention that you and your husband has had a couple of difficult years. And to add to that, we have had an admin issue in our offices in the last few days that caused salaries to pay out late. I apologise for that inconvenience.” Eric tells her. He hears how s
Eric watches as all the staff members who have not received their salaries quickly take out their phones. Most of them receive their messages as they unlock their phones. The looks of relief on their faces gives Eric a sense of guilt. He did not know that these staff members were under so much pressure.Eric straightens his shoulders and claps his hands once to draw everyone’s attention.“Good morning chefs.” Eric says. He takes the stance he usually would in his own kitchen. His feet slightly apart and his hands behind his back. He looks at each of them, making eye contact.“Good morning, Chef!” they all greet in unison.“I apologise for any inconvenience regarding the late payment of your salaries. If you were affected negatively in any way, by paying penalties or anything of that sort, please report it to Mrs May. I will gladly compensate you for any of your losses.” Eric watches as some of the staff members start to smile with relief. There is always something that causes chaos wh